Introduction
This article will outline instructions on setting up Server 2012 R2, Server 2019, or Server 2022 on our new Convoy control panel. To know if your VPS is using Convoy, please check your control panel and it should say whether it is using Convoy on the product page. Our previous control panel supports Windows without any configuration, but it was slightly unstable.
Support Notice
Windows templates on Convoy are currently EXPERIMENTAL, there may be some initial deployment issues while we work to optimize Windows on our infrastructure. We would prefer if you ran Linux, which is fully supported, but we understand why you may need Windows. Our customer support for Windows is extremely limited, and we can only provide support for basic issues that occur. If you have any initial deployment issues, please contact our support as soon as you can and we will try to get it resolved as soon as we can.
Installing Windows
Initiate a reinstall
In order to install Windows, first go to the Settings -> Reinstall page in Convoy.
You will see a few options. Choose Windows under the Template Group and select the version of Windows that you want. Click on Start on Boot and set the password to anything, the password will be changed after the install.
Note: If you do not see Windows under the template group, your host node has not likely been updated with our new templates. Contact support.
noVNC Console
Once the reinstallation is done, go to Overview -> noVNC -> Launch. This will open a console for you.
Note: xTerm.js will not work with Windows, do not use xTerm.js
Once you click the launch button, a window should open which reveals a console where you can access your VPS.
Setting up Administrator password
If prompted, click on the Ctrl+Alt+Delete option on the sidebar of the noVNC. This may not be required for some Windows Server templates.
You may need to then click on the user icon for the Administrator user (on Server 2012 R2)
It will prompt you that you will need to change the Administrator password on first login. Click OK.
Put in the password that you want to use for the Windows VPS, this can be anything, but please make it secure. This will be the password that is used to log into your VPS, Insecure passwords can result in your Windows VPS being brute forced, it is common for botnets to scan the internet and try to brute force Windows VPS.
Once you have inserted your password, click on the arrow or press the ENTER key.
It will notify you that your password has been changed, continue onto the desktop.
Running setup scripts
We have prepared a couple of setup scripts that will assist you, please run them for your VPS to work properly.
Run the first script, setup.bat, on the desktop as Administrator. This first script configures the network settings and puts in the IP address, Netmask, Gateway for you so that you do not have to configure the network manually. Moreover, it extends the evaluation period by 180 days so that you can try out Windows Server for that length of time.
Note: We do not include Windows licenses, after 180 days, you may need to purchase a license or extend the evaluation if you need more time by running slmgr /rearm in the console. Please contact Microsoft for more information.
The output will then look something like this:
Click on OK. You can reboot the VPS after the second script is run.
Now, run the second script:
If prompted to change the execution policy, press Y. This script can take a minute. This script resizes the disk so that it takes up the full partition.
Now, reboot the VPS in order to ensure that the evaluation is renewed from the first script.
The network and VPS should now be fully operational!
