This post contains the steps required to build a Windows Server 2025 VM in VirtualBox via PowerShell using the currently available Insider Preview build of Windows Server 2025.
Some relevant links:
- Windows Server 2025 announcement on Microsoft Tech Community
- Windows Insider Program for Windows Server on Microsoft Learn
- Windows Server Insider Preview Downloads page
I’m running Oracle VirtualBox 7.0.14 on a Windows 11 Pro host.
The image ISO file that I’ve downloaded for this, is the Windows Server VNext Preview ISO (Canary) – Build 26085 one.
Building the VM
I’ll be using PowerShell for this, but if you’re interested in the GUI steps they’re pretty similar to the ones in my Windows Server 2022 post.
First, I load the path to the VIrtualBox binaries in my PATH variable for this PowerShell session.
| 1 | $Env:Path += ";C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\" |
Then I search for an appropriate OS ID in VirtualBox
| 1 | VBoxManage list ostypes | Select-String -Pattern "windows202" -Raw |
Since VirtualBox 7.0.14 does not have Windows Server 2025 in its list of operating systems, I’ll use the OS ID for Windows Server 2022, namely Windows2022_64
I use that OS ID to create and register an empty VM.
| 1 2 | $VmName = "WinSrv2k25" VBoxManage createvm --name $VmName --ostype Windows2022_64 --register |
Take note of the VM’s settings file location since that directory will also be the VM’s base directory.
Now, I can add the CPU cores, RAM, and VRAM. Set the graphics controller, and I configure the network type as bridged as well as specifying the name of the host’s NIC that will be used.
| 1 2 3 | VBoxManage modifyvm $VmName --cpus 4 --memory 12288 --vram 128 ` --graphicscontroller vboxsvga --nic1 bridged ` --bridgeadapter1 "Intel(R) Ethernet Controller I225-V" |
I then add a SATA controller, specify the its chipset, port count, and set it as boot-able.
| 1 2 | VBoxManage storagectl $VmName --name "SATA" --add sata ` --controller IntelAHCI --portcount 3 --bootable on |
And create a 60GB disk file that will be the VM’s system drive.
| 1 2 3 | $VmPath = "F:\VirtualBoxVMs\WinSrv2k25" VBoxManage createhd --filename $VmPath\$VmName.vdi ` --size 61440 --variant Standard |
Optionally, I create a second drive sized to 40GB that will be the D drive.
| 1 2 | VBoxManage createhd --filename $VmPath\$($VmName)_1.vdi ` --size 40960 --variant Standard |
In order for the VM to actually be able to use the two disks, I have to attach them to its SATA controller.
| 1 2 | VBoxManage storageattach $VmName --storagectl "SATA" --port 0 ` --device 0 --type hdd --medium $VmPath\$VmName.vdi |
| 1 2 | VBoxManage storageattach $VmName --storagectl "SATA" --port 1 ` --device 0 --type hdd --medium $VmPath\$($VmName)_1.vdi |
I attach the Windows Server 2025 Insider Preview ISO.
| 1 2 3 | VBoxManage storageattach $VmName --storagectl "SATA" --port 2 --device 0 ` --type dvddrive ` --medium E:\Windows_InsiderPreview_Server_vNext_en-us_26085.iso |
And boot up the VM.
| 1 | VBoxManage startvm $VmName |
Installing Windows Server 2025 Insider Preview
Once the VM boots, it prompts to select the desired language and time format, I then press Next.
Note that until VirtualBox guest additions can be installed, it’s going to be a bit cumbersome to navigate between the VM and host since you’ll have to press right Ctrl (or whatever your designated host key is) to be able to move the mouse outside of the VM window.
The next prompt is about the keyboard input method.
The next prompt asks what I want to do, in this case I leave “Install Windows Server” selected.
I check the “I agree everything will be deleted, including files, apps, and settings.” since otherwise the Next button just stays grayed out.
At the product key prompt, I click on “I don’t have a product key”.
In the “Select Image” section, I opt for “Windows Server 2025 Standard (Desktop Experience)”.
I read and accept the EULA.
When prompted to select the location where Windows will be installed, I create a partition from the first disk
This also results in a 100MB system partition being created from the same disk.
If you want to have the second disk available as a partition as soon as the install completes, you can create a partition from it and format it during this step.
Now, I select Disk 0 Partition 2 as the partition where Windows Server will be installed and click Next.
The installer asks me to confirm again that I’m ok with installing the new OS and wiping everything hat might have existed before on the disk.
Once I click Install, I confirm the above choices and kick of the installation.
The installation completes within a few minutes.
At the product key prompt, I click on “Do this later” and then on Next so that I can use the OS in Evaluation mode.
I then set the password for the Administrator account and click Finish.
Post installation steps
To get to the login screen, I have to press Ctrl+Alt+Del, this is done either by pressing right Ctrl+Del or through the Input menu.
After I log in, I opt to only send required diagnostics data to Microsoft. Since this is an Insider build, you can’t completely opt out of this.
At this point, I remove the installation media and mount the VirtualBox Guest Additions ISO.
Once the disk is mounted, I navigate to it in File Explorer and install of the guest additions. Right click on VBoxWindowsAdditions.exe and run as admin, then just proceed through the install without making any changes.
I reboot the VM when the install process prompts me.
After the VM reboots I enable the shared bidirectional clipboard to make things easier.
To rename the VM and change the network type to private, I run the following commands on the VM in PowerShell opened as admin.
| 1 2 3 | Rename-Computer WinSrv2k25 get-netconnectionprofile | Select -ExpandProperty name | %{ set-netconnectionprofile -name $_ -networkcategory "private" } |
I reboot the VM again for the name and the name change takes effect.
And this is how Windows Server 2025 looks like, at least in the current insider build.
In case of poor VM performance
If you notice that your VM is slow, freezes or crashes, you might want to check out this post for a potential fix.