View source for Windows 2008 guest best practices

==Introduction==

This is a set of best practices to follow when installing a Windows Server 2008 R2 guest on a Proxmox VE server 2.x (2.3 at time of writing).  Right now it's a work in progress but hopefully soon it will be a comprehensive and reliable document. Please feel free to add to it, even if just to pose a potential best practice.

==Install==

===Prepare===
* After clicking "Create VM" enter a Name: for your vm, select your Resource Pool (if you have one) and click Next
* Select Microsoft Windows 7/2008 in the OS tab and click Next.
* Select an ISO Image: for Windows Server 2008 in the CD/DVD tab and click Next.
* Select Bus/Device: IDE, Storage: "your preferred storage" and Cache: Write back in the Hard Disk tab and click Next.
* Select number of Sockets and cores (the default of 1 is mostly sufficient) in the CPU tab and click Next.
* Select Automatically allocate memory and set the Maximum memory to a number you may require in the memory tab and click Next.
* Select Model: VirtIO (paravirtualized) in the Network tab and click Next
* Click finish and go to the Hardware tab of your newly created VM and click Add -> CD/DVD drive
* Select Storage:local and ISO image: virtio-win-x.x.iso and click create.
* To add a temporary disk for installing VirtIO block driver go to the Hardware tab of your newly created VM again and click Add -> Hard Disk
* Select Bus/Device: VIRTIO, Storage: "your preferred storage" and Cache: Write back and click Add

===Launch Windows install===
* start your newly created virtual machine using the "Start" link in the upper right. 
* wait until the vm icon has turned white before you login using the "Console" link in the upper right. (NOTE: Sometimes the java console does not start at the first attempt. Please click refresh/reload in this case)
* Start the server install with "Install Now" and select the Operating System Flavor you like and click next and select "Custom: Install Windows only"
* Wait until Windows is installed and select a Password for the local Administrator account and login to Windows.

===Install addtional VirtIO drivers===
* Start Explorer, Go to CDROM, copy folder WIN8\AMD64 to C:\Program Files\ and rename AMD64 to C:\Program Files\VirtIO
* open Device Manager and right click on Other Devices -> Ethernet Controller and select update driver software
* select "Browse my computer" select folder "C:\Program Files\VirtIO" and click "Install" for Red Hat VirtIO Ethernet Adapter.
* again in Device Manager right click on Other Devices -> PCI Device and select update driver software
* again "Browse my computer" select folder "C:\Program Files\VirtIO" and click "Install" for VirtIO Ballon Driver.
* open a powershell window, cd to "C:\Program Files\VirtIO" and enter: blnsvr.exe -i.
The BallonService that can help free up memory is installed. The BallonService is also responsible for displaying the correct amount of memory in the Proxmox console.

==further info==

===raw vs qcow2===
Raw file format provides better performance while qcow2 offers advanced features such as copy on write and snapshots. As of Qemu 1.4 / PVE 2.3 qcow2 is expected to provide superior performance.

===virtio drivers===
Use virtio dirvers for best performance. More info:
[[Paravirtualized Block Drivers for Windows]]

latest iso with virtio drivers :
http://alt.fedoraproject.org/pub/alt/virtio-win/latest/images/bin/


=== Power settings  ===

* In order to make '''Windows 2008 R2''' guest shutdown cleanly on the event of a shutdown (power button) on the Proxmox VE host you need make the following changes:
** Control Panel -> System and Security -> Power Options -> Edit Plan Settings -> Turn off the display: '''Never'''


[[Windows 2003 guest best practices]]

[[Windows 2012 guest best practices]]

[[Category: HOWTO]]