Windows Server in-place upgrade using an Eval ISO (update)

(Updated) Change the commands and added a few lines after the comment from Roofi.

Hello everyone,

a few weeks ago, we needed to upgrade a few Windows Server 2016 servers to Windows Server 2022. Rather than migrating the applications, we wanted to try an in-place upgrade. The applications were not mission-critical, so having them offline for a few hours, wasn’t an issue.

But unfortunately, when trying to upgrade using the evaluation ISO, Microsoft provides, the option to upgrade without deleting everything was grayed out. After searching for a bit, it turns out, that Microsoft does not allow the evaluation ISO to be used for upgrades, but there is a workaround. We can change the “Edition” of the ISO to ServerStandard or ServerDatacenter.

The whole credit for this process goes to the German blogger Andy. You can find the link to the blog at the bottom.

Let’s begin.

Changing the ISO

First, download the required ISO, and extract it into a folder (C:\W2022 in my case). I will be using the “Windows Server 2022 Evaluation” ISO.

Now, open the CMD and navigate to the root of C: and create 2 folders.

C:\Users\user> cd ..\..
C:\> mkdir mount W2022

After this, we extract the ISO to the folder “W2022” and map the “install.wim” file to the folder “mount”. Once that’s done, we change the edition and commit the information.

# Map the install.wim to the "mount" folder.
C:\> dism /mount-wim /wimfile:C:\W2022\sources\install.wim /mountdir:C:\mount /index:2

# Check the current and available versions.
C:\> dism /image:C:\mount /get-currentedition
Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.26100.1150
Image Version: 10.0.26100.1742
Current edition is:
Current Edition : ServerStandardEval
The operation completed successfully.

C:\> dism /image:C:\mount /get-targeteditions

# Change the edition.
C:\> dism /image:C:\mount /set-edition:ServerStandard
Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 10.0.26100.1150
Image Version: 10.0.26100.1742
Current edition is:
Current Edition : ServerStandard
The operation completed successfully.

# Commit the changes and unmount the install.wim.
C:\> dism /unmount-wim /mountdir:C:\mount /commit

After this, you can either change the files back into an ISO or just start the installation on the server you want to update.

That’s it.

If you want a more detailed guide, check the original blog post.

• Andysblog.de