WINDOWS SERVER 2016 DEFINITION

Microsoft Windows Server 2016, previously referred to as Windows Server vNext, is a server operating system (OS). The server operating system is specifically developed to serve as a platform for running networked applications. … Windows Server Containers will run directly on the OS but are isolated from each other.

What is VMware Workstation?

VMware Workstation is a line of Desktop Hypervisor products which lets users run virtual machines, containers and Kubernetes clusters

How do VMware Workstation products work?

VMware Workstation products workby using special functions in modern 64-bit x86 CPUs to create fully isolated, secure virtual machines that encapsulate an operating system and its applications. The VMware virtualization layer maps physical hardware resources to a virtual machine’s virtual resources, so each virtual machine has its own CPU, memory, disks, and I/O devices, as well as the full equivalent of a standard x86 machine. VMware Workstation installs onto the host operating system and provides broad hardware support by inheriting device support from the host.

What types of applications can I run in a virtual machine?

Any application that will run on a standard PC will run inside a virtual machine on VMware Workstation. VMware Workstation is the equivalent of a full PC, with full networking and devices — each virtual machine has its own CPU, memory, disks, I/O devices, etc. This allows you to run any application that runs on the supported guest operating systems, including Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop, Apache Web Server, Microsoft Visual Studio, Kernel debuggers, Firewalls, VPN software and much more.

Do I need to dual boot or repartition the disk?

No. VMware Workstation uses your computer’s file system and creates files that map to a virtual machine’s disk drives, so there is no need to create a partition for each operating system. If you already have another operating system with dual boot installed on your computer, you can use VMware Workstation to run the other operating system in a virtual machine on your host operating system. Instead of dual booting, you can run both operating systems simultaneously and seamlessly switch from one operating system to another with a click of your mouse.

Installing Windows Server 2016 on VMware

Like the previous versions (Windows Server 2012…), the Windows Server 2016 installation is simple, what’s new is the editions that you can choose them wisely during installation.

In order to install Windows Server 2016, first, you must have an ISO image file of it and also make sure you have pre-planned choosing which edition of Windows Server 2016 and have fulfilled the system requirement

Download Now: Windows Server 2016

Create and Customize the Virtual Machine

1. Open VMware and click on the Create a New Virtual Machine(Ctrl+N) icon. If you don’t have VMware installed on your computer, click here to download one.

2. Now select Custom (Advanced) option to specify the virtual machine with advance options. If you want you can create virtual with less options, click on Typical option. When you are finished here, click on Next button.

3. Leave the Virtual Machine Hardware Compatibility settings as default. If you want you can select your VMware version. Then click Next button.

4. Here you should add an installer image into the virtual machine. Select the Installer disc image file (ISO) optionand click on the Browse button. Specify .iso file path and import it. Then click on Next button.

Note: Make sure that you are using an ISO image file, otherwise unzipped file won’t boot.

5. Specify which operating system type you want to install on the virtual machine. Select Windows Server 2016 version from the dropdown menu and click on Next button.

6. Enter a name for the virtual machine and browse a place where you want to store the installation files. For the purpose click on Browse button and specify the place. When finished, click on Next button.

7. On the Processor Configuration specify then number of processors your server need to use and click on Next button. Also notice that it refers to your virtual machine speed that how much speed the server should be.

8. Specify the amount of the memory for the virtual machine (based on MB) and click on Next button.

9. Select Use Network Address Translation(NAT) or Use bridged networking to directly connect and use internet, as a network type. Then hit Next.

10. Let the I/O Controller types by default because you don’t have the option to change the SCSI type. just hit Next.

11. Now to create new virtual disk, select create a new virtual disk for the virtual machine.

12. Specify the disk amount by typing the disk size(Recommended 60 GB) and click on Next button.

13. At this point, just check out the settings you’ve done or you can customize if you want and click Next.

Step 2. Install Windows Server 2016

Now it’s time to boot up and start the virtual machine, just click on Power on this virtual machine then wait until it boots.

1. Open VMware Workstation on your host computer. Click on Power on this virtual machine in top left.

2. When the virtual machine powered on, specify the language, time zone and keyboard then click Next.

3. Install now to install the windows server 2016 on virtual machine.

4. Select one the Windows Server editions you’ve decided and click on Next button.

5. Put a mark in the box next to I accept the license terms, then click on the Next button.

6. Go on and click on the Custom: Install Windows only (Advanced) option for installing the server custom.

7. Select the disk, you want to install the widows on and select the disk, click on New, then specify the amount (based on MB) and click on Apply button then click on Next button.

8. Now the server copies all the files to the disk, amount the files from the windows image, install features, updates, so it will take time and when finished it will reboot.

9. After the reboot, type a complex password composed of (uppercase, lowercase, symbols and numbers) and click on Finish button.

10. When the customization finished, now you’ll need to sign in, but first click on the button that is composed of three buttons (ctrl+alt+del) shown in image below or simply press Ctrl+Alt+Del and sign in to Windows Server.

And that’s it, after you have signed in, your windows server installation is completed like the shot below.

Conclusion

The Windows server 2016 is installed successfully and your server is now ready to work now. But before doing that don’t forget to install VMware tools + do initial configuration of Windows Server from the article below. For any questions, leave a comment.

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