Opt-In Windows Server 2025 Feature Update from the WS 2022 and WS 2019 Settings Dialog

This capability allows customers who want to in-place upgrade their servers to Windows Server 2025 to upgrade using the Windows Update service, and without the need for Windows Server 2025 physical media. On the Windows Server team, we aim for 100% application compatibility, and we are confident that most applications and services will continue to work well after the in-place upgrade to Windows Server 2025.

We recognize that in-place upgrade will not be used by all organizations for all of their servers – some organizations will prefer to perform a clean install, I.E., reformatting the system drive, installing Windows Server 2025, and then re-installing applications and services. Other organizations embrace in-place upgrade because it’s quick and they can avoid re-installing applications and services. Some organizations will use a combination of clean install and in-place upgrade approaches, depending on the role of each server.

Planning For the Upgrade

Plan on a gradual roll-out of Windows Server 2025 across your server estate, starting with the least critical servers. We encourage customers to verify upgrade to Windows Server 2025 in a test environment to gain experience with the upgrade process, before upgrading production servers. The time needed to upgrade each server will depend on the performance of the server, the number of applications running on the server, and the number of users on the server. Backup / snapshot and upgrading to Windows Server 2025 usually takes two hours per server.

1. Check with your system administrator – server upgrades should be carefully coordinated to avoid downtime and workload outages – a maintenance window may need to be scheduled.
2. Check that Group Policy configuration is correct – in some cases Windows Updates can be installed by non-administrative users. To learn more about blocking users from scanning and applying Windows Updates, see Step 4 - Configure Group Policy Settings for Automatic Updates | Microsoft Learn. Note that some organizations will create a special upgrade OU for their server upgrade process. Customized GPOs can also be used to schedule and manage server updates, to implement a rolling upgrade of servers and managing maintenance windows.
3. Check if you need to purchase a product key for Windows Server 2025. Windows Server 2019 and Windows Server 2022 volume license customers with active Software Assurance do not need to purchase a product key for Windows Server 2025. However, customers who are using the Retail or OEM licensed versions of Windows Server 2019 and Windows Server 2022 will have to purchase a Windows Server 2025 product key.
4. Check and validate successful activation with your organization’s KMS for Windows Server activation, to validate that it has been loaded with a valid Windows Server 2025 key. After upgrading to Windows Server 2025, each server will need to be activated using a valid activation method: KMS, Active Directory‑based Activation, or MAK using slgmr or VAMT tools.
5. Check that you are not using in-place upgrade on a domain controller. We recommend a clean install of Windows Server 2025 for domain controllers, first joining at the Windows Server 2016 domain and forest functional levels, and then upgrading the domain and forest functional levels after all the domain controllers are running Windows Server 2025. See this guidance for the steps to upgrade domain controllers: Upgrade domain controllers to a newer version of Windows Server | Microsoft Learn.
6. Check that you are not using in-place upgrade on a failover cluster node in isolation – we recommend following the failover clustering upgrade guidance for upgrading failover cluster nodes: Upgrade the OS of a Windows Server failover cluster by performing a cluster OS rolling upgrade | Microsoft Learn.
7. Check that each server has at least 30-40 GB of free space on the System Disk – low amounts of free space can cause the upgrade process to fail, and is the leading cause of In-place Upgrade failures.
8. Check pricing, best practices, license terms, and privacy policy: Windows Server pricing guide: Windows Server 2025 Licensing & Pricing | Microsoft. Server Upgrade planning guidance: Plan Your Windows Server Upgrade Path | Microsoft Learn. Windows Server licensing terms are here: Useterms. Microsoft’s privacy policy: Microsoft Privacy Statement – Microsoft privacy
9. Check online documentation for in-place upgrade for further details: Upgrade Windows Server in Place | Microsoft Learn.
10. Opt-In Windows Server 2025 Feature Update from the Windows Server 2022 and Windows Server 2019 Settings Dialog should work for any system, physical or virtual – if it can connect to Windows Update, and if the system meets the prerequisites.

Steps for Installing the Windows Server 2025 Feature Update on Windows Server 2019 or Windows Server 2022 Desktop Experience

1. Install the 2026-03 Cumulative Update for Microsoft server operating system version 21H2 for x64-based Systems (KB5078766) or later for Windows Server 2022.

Install 2026-03 Cumulative Update for Microsoft server operating system for x64-based Systems (KB5078752) or later for Windows Server 2019.

Note that it may be necessary to reboot the server after installing Quality and Security Updates.

2. Backup / snapshot the server, and if time permits, perform a restore test on a separate server.

3. Stop applications and services running on the server.

4. Add the opt-in registry key to the server using PowerShell or using the Registry Editor:

New-Item -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AllowWindowsServerFeatureUpdate"

New-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AllowWindowsServerFeatureUpdate" -Name "AllowWindowsServerFeatureUpdate" -PropertyType DWord -Value 1

Note that adding these values can also be automated using Group Policy Objects (GPO), see: Configure Windows Update client policies via Group Policy | Microsoft Learn.

5. The Windows Server 2025 Feature Update will be offered in the Settings Dialog, in the Windows Update section, select Download and Install.

6. Read the Important Information pop-up dialog, press Accept and install:

7. The Windows Server 2025 Feature Update will download and install (in-place upgrade on the server) and will prompt for Reboot.

See Post-Feature Update (Post In-place Upgrade) section below

Steps for Installing the Windows Server 2025 Feature Update on Windows Server 2022 Server Core using SCONFIG

1. Organizations using Windows Server 2022 Server Core can also get the Windows Server 2025 Feature Update using SCONFIG.
2. Install the 2026-03 Cumulative Update for Microsoft server operating system version 21H2 for x64-based Systems (KB5078766) or later for Windows Server 2022.

SCONFIG Option 6, 1 will scan for applicable Quality Updates and Security Updates.

Note that it may be necessary to reboot the server after installing Quality and Security Updates.

3. Backup / snapshot the server, and if time permits, perform a restore test on a separate server.

4. Stop applications and services running on the server.

5. Add the opt-in registry key to the server using PowerShell or using the Registry Editor:

New-Item -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AllowWindowsServerFeatureUpdate"

New-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AllowWindowsServerFeatureUpdate" -Name "AllowWindowsServerFeatureUpdate" -PropertyType DWord -Value 1

Note that adding these values can also be automated using Group Policy Objects (GPO), see: Configure Windows Update client policies via Group Policy | Microsoft Learn.

6. The Windows Server 2025 Feature Update will be offered in SCONFIG, select option 6 (Install updates):

7. Select option 3 (Feature updates):

8. The Windows Server 2025 feature update will be offered if prerequisite requirements are met. Select Y to download and install the Windows Server 2025 Feature Update:

9. The Windows Server 2025 Feature Update will download and install (in-place upgrade on the server) and will Reboot.

Post-Feature Update (Post In-place Upgrade)

1. After installation and reboot, check that the applications and services are running correctly. If there are any issues, restore the server from backup / snapshot.
2. Activate the server using one of the following activation methods: KMS, Active Directory‑based Activation, or MAK using slgmr or VAMT tools.
3. Check Telemetry settings and any Loopback Adapter settings.
4. After the server is confirmed to be working, the Windows.old directory can be deleted to free up space on the system drive.
5. Check Windows Update for additional updates.
6. Evaluate if Secured-core settings and UEFI Secure boot certificates should be updated. See What is Secured-core server for Windows Server | Microsoft Learn and Secure boot | Microsoft Learn.

Troubleshooting

If there are any issues during the upgrade to Windows Server 2025, use these steps to identify the issue:

1. Examine the setup log file: C:\Windows\Panther\setupact.log and error log file: C:\Windows\Panther\setuperr.log
2. The SetupDiag tool can be downloaded for analysis of these files: SetupDiag | Microsoft Learn
3. Contact customer support who may request that you compress and send them the contents of the C:\Windows\Panther directory.

Send Us Your Feedback

We value your feedback and would love to hear your opinions about this capability (WS 2025 Feature Update from the WS 2019 and WS 2022 Settings Dialog with Opt-In) and any other thoughts you have on Windows Server upgrades. Did it work well for you? What improvements would you like to see in future releases?? Please write to us at this email address: WindowsServerUpdateFeedback@microsoft.com

-Windows Server Update Team.