Windows Server VM Setup on Incus

This guide covers running Windows Server 2022 as a VM inside Incus on a Containarium peer node. Incus uses QEMU/KVM for VMs, providing full hardware virtualization with GPU passthrough support.

Note: Windows cannot run as an LXC container (LXC shares the host Linux kernel). It must run as a full VM using incus launch --vm.

Prerequisites

• Incus installed and initialized on the peer node
• KVM support enabled (kvm-ok should return "KVM acceleration can be used")
• At least 8GB free RAM and 50GB free disk
• (Optional) GPU for passthrough

Step 1: Download ISOs

Windows Server 2022 Evaluation ISO (~5.5GB)

Download from Microsoft Evaluation Center (180-day free evaluation, requires browser):

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/evaluate-windows-server-2022

1. Fill in the registration form
2. Select ISO format, 64-bit edition, English
3. Download and upload to the peer:

scp ~/Downloads/SERVER_EVAL_x64FRE_en-us.iso <peer>:/tmp/windows-server-2022.iso

Virtio Drivers ISO (~600MB)

Required for disk and network I/O performance. Download directly on the peer:

wget -O /tmp/virtio-win.iso \
  "https://fedorapeople.org/groups/virt/virtio-win/direct-downloads/stable-virtio/virtio-win.iso"

Step 2: Create the VM

# Create an empty VM (no image — we boot from ISO)
sudo incus init win2022 --empty --vm \
  -c limits.cpu=4 \
  -c limits.memory=8GiB \
  -c security.secureboot=false \
  -d root,size=50GiB

# Attach Windows install ISO (boot priority ensures it boots first)
sudo incus config device add win2022 install disk \
  source=/tmp/windows-server-2022.iso boot.priority=10

# Attach virtio drivers ISO (accessible as second CD drive during install)
sudo incus config device add win2022 virtio disk \
  source=/tmp/virtio-win.iso

Step 3: Install Windows

# Start the VM
sudo incus start win2022

# Connect to the VGA console (graphical installer)
sudo incus console win2022 --type=vga

During installation:

1. Select language/keyboard, click Install Now
2. Choose Windows Server 2022 Standard (Desktop Experience)
3. Accept license terms
4. Select Custom: Install Windows only
5. At the disk selection screen, the disk won't be visible yet — you need to load the virtio SCSI driver:
   • Click Load driver → Browse
   • Navigate to the virtio CD → vioscsi → 2k22 → amd64
   • Select the driver and click Next
   • The 50GB disk will now appear — select it and continue
6. Windows will install and reboot (takes ~15-20 minutes)
7. Set the Administrator password when prompted

Tip: To exit the VGA console, press Ctrl+a q.

Step 4: Install Virtio Drivers (Post-Install)

After Windows boots, connect to the console again:

sudo incus console win2022 --type=vga

Inside Windows:

1. Open File Explorer → navigate to the virtio CD drive (usually D: or E:)
2. Run virtio-win-gt-x64.exe — this installs all virtio drivers:
   • Network (virtio-net)
   • Balloon (memory management)
   • Serial port
   • QEMU guest agent
3. Reboot when prompted

Step 5: Enable Remote Access

Enable RDP (Remote Desktop)

Open PowerShell as Administrator inside Windows:

# Enable RDP
Set-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server' `
  -Name "fDenyTSConnections" -Value 0

# Allow RDP through firewall
Enable-NetFirewallRule -DisplayGroup "Remote Desktop"

# (Optional) Allow RDP from any network
Set-NetFirewallRule -Name "RemoteDesktop-UserMode-In-TCP" -Profile Any

(Optional) Install OpenSSH Server

# Install OpenSSH server
Add-WindowsCapability -Online -Name OpenSSH.Server~~~~0.0.1.0

# Start and enable SSH
Start-Service sshd
Set-Service -Name sshd -StartupType Automatic

# Allow SSH through firewall
New-NetFirewallRule -Name "OpenSSH" -DisplayName "OpenSSH Server" `
  -Enabled True -Direction Inbound -Protocol TCP -Action Allow -LocalPort 22

Step 6: Remove Install ISO

After installation is complete, remove the ISO to free resources:

sudo incus config device remove win2022 install

Step 7: Access the VM

Find the VM's IP address

sudo incus list win2022 -f csv -c 4
# Example output: 10.100.0.50 (eth0)

RDP Access

From your local machine (assuming SSH tunnel or VPN to the peer network):

# macOS
open rdp://10.100.0.50

# Linux
xfreerdp /v:10.100.0.50 /u:Administrator

# Windows
mstsc /v:10.100.0.50

SSH Access (if OpenSSH installed)

ssh Administrator@10.100.0.50

GPU Passthrough (Optional)

To pass a GPU to the Windows VM for CUDA/DirectX workloads:

# Find GPU PCI address
lspci | grep -i nvidia
# Example: 01:00.0 3D controller: NVIDIA Corporation ...

# Add GPU to VM (VM must be stopped)
sudo incus stop win2022
sudo incus config device add win2022 gpu gpu \
  pci=01:00.0
sudo incus start win2022

Inside Windows, install the NVIDIA driver from https://www.nvidia.com/drivers/.

Note: GPU passthrough requires the GPU to not be in use by the host. If the host is using the GPU, you'll need to unbind it first or use a dedicated GPU for the VM.

Save as Reusable Image

After setup is complete, publish the VM as a local image to avoid repeating the installation:

# Stop the VM first
sudo incus stop win2022

# Publish as local image
sudo incus publish win2022 --alias windows-server-2022

# Now you can create new VMs from this image:
sudo incus launch windows-server-2022 win2022-dev --vm \
  -c limits.cpu=4 -c limits.memory=8GiB

Troubleshooting

VM won't boot from ISO

• Ensure security.secureboot=false is set
• Check boot priority: sudo incus config device show win2022

No disk visible during install

• You forgot to load the virtio SCSI driver — see Step 3.5

No network after install

• Install virtio-net driver from the virtio CD
• Or run virtio-win-gt-x64.exe which installs all drivers

VGA console shows black screen

• Wait 30 seconds — Windows boot can be slow
• Try sudo incus console win2022 --type=vga again

RDP connection refused

• Verify RDP is enabled: Get-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server' -Name "fDenyTSConnections"
• Check Windows Firewall: Get-NetFirewallRule -DisplayGroup "Remote Desktop"
• Verify VM IP: sudo incus list win2022 -f csv -c 4