Deployment Overview Windows Server 2016 Version 1709

Last week, Microsoft released Windows Server 2016 Version 1709, the first version of the now Semi-Annual Channel release for Window Server.

In this blog, I’ll show you the Installation steps of version 1709 on Windows Server 2016 Hyper-V host as a Virtual Machine.

First announced five months ago, Windows Server 2016 version 1709 released as a Semi-Annual Channel with 18 months support (more details below).

Long and Semi-Annual Channel

As Announced a few months ago, Windows Server will be available in two release modules.

  1. Long-Term Servicing channel – This Is the current and most familiar module where a new operating system version is released every 2-3 years with 5 years support cycle.
  2. Semi-Annual Channel – This new module will offer two new releases every year with new features and roles, support will be available for 18 months.

The Semi-Annual Channel is only available for Volume Licensing Customers with Software Assurance.

If you don’t have Software Assurance you can use it within Microsoft Azure where it’s available for deployment as a Virtual Machine.

No GUI Interface

Before I start, I want to stress the point that Windows Server 1709 doesn’t come with a GUI Interface and there are no plans to add GUI it.

Make sure you know how to manage it and check that your application can work on Windows Core before making any design plans.

Download and Install

To get version 1709 you must have access to the Volume Licensing Website and download it from there because Server 1709 Is not available for the public.

The VLC website you will find it under Windows Server Standard or Enterprise.

As you can see below, The ISO Image size is 2.856 GB.

From here onwards Installation takes around 5 minutes

When I run Get-ComputerInfo the Build Version will show:

16299.15.amd64fre.rs3_release.170928-1534

By default, the roles and features are available, the main one is PowerShell 5.1 which is the same version that was shipped with Windows Nano Server 2016.

Windows Defender is also Installed by default and .NET 4.7.

Conclusion

Windows Server 2016 Version 1709 Is lighter but 20% compared with the current release, it’s also more secure and comes with the latest features.

My take is that you should get used to the idea that Windows Server has no GUI interface anymore and management will be done via the new Web Server Manager or PowerShell.


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