Windows Server on a VPS

Windows Server runs on the same KVM platform as our Linux images. You reach it with Remote Desktop instead of SSH, the evaluation images give you 180 days to bring your own licence, and the security advice is the same as ever: lock down the door you use to get in.

Deploy#

Choose a Windows Server 2019, 2022, or 2025 evaluation image at order time or from the Reinstall tab in the cloud portal. The Administrator password is shown once in the portal after provisioning; if you miss it, use Reset password. Give Windows a few extra minutes on first boot; it finishes setup after the portal reports the server as running.

Connect with Remote Desktop#

1. Open a client. Windows: mstsc. macOS: Microsoft Remote Desktop from the App Store. Linux: Remmina or xfreerdp.
2. Enter the server's IP and the username Administrator with the password from the portal.
3. Accept the certificate prompt on first connection (self-signed) and you land on the desktop.

Locked out, or RDP not responding? The VNC console in the cloud portal shows the Windows login screen exactly as a monitor would.

First-hour checklist#

• Change the Administrator password to something of your own (Ctrl+Alt+End inside the RDP session opens the security screen; the VNC console has a Ctrl+Alt+Del button).
• Run Windows Update and reboot until it is clean.
• Restrict RDP in Windows Defender Firewall to your own IP addresses, or put it behind a VPN. Open RDP is the most attacked service on the internet, and Network Level Authentication should stay on. See Manage the Firewall on Your VPS for the PowerShell.
• Consider changing the RDP port only as an extra layer, never as the only one.
• Set the timezone and, if you send mail, a reverse DNS record.

Licensing: evaluation and bring your own#

The images are Microsoft evaluation editions, which run fully featured for 180 days. Beyond that you bring your own licence: a retail or volume key, or licensing arranged through your reseller. To activate an evaluation with your key, convert the edition and activate from an elevated PowerShell:

DISM /Online /Get-CurrentEdition
DISM /Online /Set-Edition:ServerStandard /ProductKey:XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX /AcceptEula
# reboot, then confirm
slmgr /dlv

Use ServerDatacenter if that is what your key is for. We do not sell Windows licences, so we say that plainly: sort the key with Microsoft or your reseller, and if the licensing model for your case is unclear, ask us and we will point you at the right documentation rather than guess.

Everything else works the same#

Snapshots, backups, rescue mode, reinstall, additional IPs, and reverse DNS all behave exactly as they do for Linux servers; the guides in VPS and VDS apply. Rescue mode boots a Linux environment, which can still mount an NTFS disk to copy data off; for Windows-native repair, the VNC console plus Windows' own recovery tools is the route.