What is best activation method for Windows running in a FreeBSD hosted VM?

davidm71 · Feb 28, 2023

Hi,

Was wondering what is the best activation method for Windows running in a FreeBSD hosted VM? I mean does windows even activate inside a VM?

Thanks

NavyLCDR · Feb 28, 2023

davidm71 said:
Hi,

Was wondering what is the best activation method for Windows running in a FreeBSD hosted VM? I mean does windows even activate inside a VM?

Thanks

the same activation used for any other Windows 10/11. Purchase a product key and enter it to activate it.

Bree · Feb 28, 2023

davidm71 said:
....does windows even activate inside a VM?

Yes, a VM is just like any other machine. Each VM has its own unique hardware ID. If you activate Windows a digital licence is stored on Microsoft's activation servers and linked to this hardware ID. As such, if you don't want to loose this digital licence it is essential you do not just delete a VM you have activated when you are done with it, you should preserve its ID for re-use later. How you do that varies, depending on which host software you use for the VM.

Hyper-V - Preserve virtual machine digital license (activation) Tutorial

In case you want to activate your Windows virtual machines, it is important that you will preserve the activation and resulted digital license. When done correctly, you can delete the virtual machine when it is no longer needed, then restore it whenever required. You can even import it to...

www.elevenforum.com

davidm71 · Feb 28, 2023

I'm trying to convert our Windows server into a VM using Freebsd and Bhyve. Have figured out how to clone the install into one that bhyve understands so would imagine I would need a new key at this point. Though I have always wondered how it works and now how you would backup not just the key but the unique hardware id in virtualbox or whatever for future reinstalls. Thanks.

Bree · Feb 28, 2023

davidm71 said:
I have always wondered how it works and now how you would backup not just the key but the unique hardware id in virtualbox or whatever for future reinstalls.

Whatever you use to run the VM, the key is to preserve the unique hardware ID of the VM. For Virtualbox....

The license is linked to the Machine UUID which is held in .vbox file typically in the $HOME/VirtualBox\ VMs/<VM name>/<VM name>.vbox

Can I activate two Windows 10 in the same VirtualBox? - Windows 10 Help Forums - post #2

jimbo45 said:
if copying / moving VM's around you need to get into the config file to ensure the UUID of the VM is the same or you might get prompts to "Reactivate Windows again". VMWare users can have that done automatically at the ist boot of the Guest after creation by chosing the "I Moved it" box rather than the "I copied it" box.

davidm71 · Feb 28, 2023

Cool. Thanks for the info.

Futurdreamz · Mar 3, 2023

Cheapest way is to get a Windows 7 OEM key off Ebay. Last I did it was $15 and was an unused genuine key and it activates 10&11 fine. been using the system for years with no issues. Seems nobody wantes the old keys distributers are offloading despite them still being valid to activate Windows 10/11 at install.