Windows Server

Build it on PVE, break it safely, rebuild it from a template. Learn the role and the licence, not just the next-next-finish.

51 hosting guides · Windows Server 2025 · E1 docs + E2 lab

Start with the boundary

The licence decides what you may run

Read the edition and licensing boundary before you install a role. A homelab is not a licence exemption.

Licensing boundary

Editions & licensing

Standard vs Datacenter, OSE counts, core licensing and CALs — the part that decides what you may run.

→Lab method

Build it on PVE

PVE templates, evaluation lifecycle, snapshots and what counts as E2.

→

The homelab path

Install, snapshot, then add roles

Keep the evaluation lifecycle visible. Rebuild from the template; do not rely on a “rearm” trick.

1. 01

   Install Evaluation

   Server 2025 Evaluation, 180 days, on PVE with VirtIO drivers.

2. 02

   Snapshot clean

   Snapshot the clean state; clone per role instead of mutating one VM.

3. 03

   Add roles

   AD DS + DNS, then file services, then Hyper-V — one change at a time.

4. 04

   Track expiry

   Record the evaluation expiry and rebuild from the template.

Build the base, then the roles

Evaluation, domain, file services

Install once, snapshot clean, then clone per role. These are lab guides, not production designs.

Install

Server 2025 Evaluation on PVE

q35/OVMF, VirtIO, 180-day evaluation, clean snapshot.

→Role

First AD DS domain

Static IP, DNS, DSRM, forest promotion and verification.

→Role

SMB share & permissions

Share + NTFS permissions, access-based enumeration, restore test.

→Install

Server Core vs Desktop

Management, app compatibility and patch surface before you install.

→Role

DNS & DHCP

Forwarders, scopes, options and DHCP authorization without a rogue server.

→Role

Hyper-V role

Nested lab, virtual switch and the Standard/Datacenter licensing boundary.

→Ops

Backup & restore

System state, bare metal and a restore you actually tested.

→Ops

Quotas & shadow copies

FSRM limits, screening and previous versions — not a backup.

→Ops

Windows Admin Center

Browser management without exposing RDP to the internet.

→

Hosting · 51 guides

Put a real web app on Windows

Five pillars: web server, runtime versions, TLS and traffic, security operations, and reliability. English is the source; every guide has a Chinese mirror.

18 guides

Web server: IIS, Nginx, Apache, Caddy, HTTP/3

Sites, app pools, bindings, rewrite, ARR, PHP/FastCGI, logging, request limits, TLS, HTTP/3 limits.

→14 guides

Runtime versions: PHP, Java, Node, Python, .NET, Go

Side-by-side versions, per-app pinning, Tomcat instances, services, WSGI, reverse proxies and EOL.

→6 guides

TLS and traffic

DNS, win-acme, Schannel, HTTP/2, compression, proxy headers and large-file limits.

→9 guides

Security operations

Baseline, headers, WAF, auth, least privilege, upload safety, logging, patching and incident response.

→4 guides

Reliability and delivery

PerfMon counters, health checks, proxy HA and artifact/DSC/container delivery.

→Downloads

Server evaluation media

2025, 2022, 2019 and 2016 ISOs, Hyper-V Server, ADK and MDT — vendor links only.

→

Start here · IIS hosting

The first three IIS guides

Role install, PHP FastCGI and the logs that explain a 500 — the fastest path from a blank VM to a served page.

Setup

Install IIS without everything

Minimum role services, W3SVC check, default-site cleanup.

→Runtime

PHP 8.4 on IIS FastCGI

NTS build, VC++ runtime, php.ini and a real phpinfo test.

→Troubleshoot

IIS logs & failed tracing

Read 500/503 before reinstalling the server.

→

01

Licence first

No activation tools, no “rearm” shortcuts, no ISO mirrors.

02

Rebuildable

PVE template + snapshot + a written role order. Break it safely.

03

E1/E2 separate

Licensing is E1; a reproduced lab step is E2. The page says which.