Introduction
Windows Server 2022 is still the version a lot of businesses are actually running in production, even with Server 2025 out the door. If you're setting up a lab to test Active Directory, practice for a certification, or spin up a file server you can tear down and rebuild without touching anything real, Proxmox VE is one of the cheapest and most reliable ways to do it.
The tricky part isn't Windows Setup itself — it's the point where the installer stares back at you with an empty disk list, because Proxmox doesn't use the disk controller Windows expects out of the box. That single screen is where most first-time installs stall out. This guide walks through the whole process, including that step, so you don't end up stuck at a blank drive selector wondering what went wrong.
What You Will Learn
By the end of this tutorial you'll know how to create a properly configured VM for Windows Server 2022, load the storage and network drivers Windows needs during setup, get the QEMU Guest Agent running afterward, and fix the two or three errors that trip up almost everyone doing this for the first time.
What Is This Feature?
Windows Server 2022 is Microsoft's long-term servicing release from 2021, built on the same kernel family as Windows 11's early releases (build 20348). "Long-term servicing" means Microsoft ships it once, then supports it with security patches for years — mainstream support runs to October 2026, extended support to October 2031 — instead of pushing new feature updates every few months the way the newer annual channel does.
Proxmox VE is the virtualization platform doing the hosting here. It runs on top of KVM (the Linux kernel's built-in hypervisor), which means your Windows Server VM gets near-native CPU performance rather than the heavier emulation you'd get from something like VirtualBox. The catch is that KVM's default virtual hardware — the disk controller in particular — isn't something Windows has a driver for in the box. That's the whole reason step 6 below exists.
Why Would You Use It?
A few reasons people reach for this specific combination:
- You want to practice Active Directory, Group Policy, DNS, or DHCP without risking a production domain.
- Your workplace hasn't moved off Server 2022 yet, and testing against the same version you'll actually deploy to matters more than testing against whatever's newest.
- You're studying for an MCSA/MCSE-successor cert or an AZ-800/801 exam and need a disposable lab you can snapshot and roll back.
- You need a Windows file or print server for a small office and don't want to pay for a second physical box.
Honestly, if you're building a brand-new lab with no constraints, Server 2025 is the more future-proof pick. But if the goal is matching what you'll actually manage day to day, 2022 is still the right target for a lot of people.
Prerequisites
Before you start, get these sorted:
- A working Proxmox VE 8.x or 9.x host with enough free disk space (plan for at least 40 GB for the VM disk).
- A CPU with virtualization extensions enabled in BIOS (Intel VT-x or AMD-V). Most modern hardware has this on by default, but it's worth checking if VM creation later throws a KVM error.
- The Windows Server 2022 ISO, downloaded from Microsoft's Evaluation Center or your organization's volume licensing portal.
- The VirtIO drivers ISO for Windows, from the Fedora-hosted virtio-win project. This single ISO contains the storage, network, and guest agent drivers you'll need — grab whichever build is marked "stable," not the "latest" development build.
- At least 4 GB of RAM free on the host for the VM (2022 will boot on 2 GB, but the Desktop Experience GUI is noticeably sluggish below 4).
Upload both ISO files to your Proxmox storage before you start creating the VM — it's a lot less annoying than pausing mid-wizard to go fetch them.
Step-by-Step Tutorial
Step 1: Upload the ISOs
In the Proxmox web interface, click your storage (usually local) in the left tree, open ISO Images, and click Upload for both the Windows Server 2022 ISO and the virtio-win ISO. On a decent connection this takes a few minutes each, depending on file size — the Windows ISO alone is usually 5–6 GB.
Step 2: Create the VM
Click Create VM in the top right. On the General tab, give it a name like win2022-lab and pick a VM ID (Proxmox suggests the next free one automatically, which is fine to leave alone).
On the OS tab, select your Windows Server 2022 ISO and set Guest OS Type to Microsoft Windows, version 11/2022. Proxmox uses this to pick sensible defaults for the rest of the wizard.
Step 3: System tab settings
Set SCSI Controller to VirtIO SCSI single. This is the setting that determines which driver Windows will need to load later — it's the fastest, most current option, and it's what the rest of this guide assumes. Leave Qemu Agent checked; you'll install the matching software inside Windows in step 10.
Step 4: Disk tab settings
Set Bus/Device to SCSI (it should follow automatically from the controller you just picked). Give the disk at least 40 GB — Server Core will squeeze into less, but Desktop Experience wants room to breathe, and you don't want to be resizing partitions on day one. Set Cache to Write back if your host storage is fast (NVMe or SSD); leave it on Default (No cache) if you're on spinning disks and value data safety over speed.
Step 5: CPU, Memory, and Network
Give it at least 2 cores. For CPU type, host gives the best performance by exposing your physical CPU's full feature set directly to the VM, but it only works cleanly if you're not planning to migrate this VM to a different node with a different CPU model later. For a single-node lab, host is the right call.
Set memory to at least 4096 MB. For the network device, make sure it's set to VirtIO (paravirtualized) — this is Proxmox's default and it's the fast, modern option, but it's also a driver Windows doesn't ship with, which is why step 6 matters.
Step 6: Attach the driver ISO as a second CD drive
Before you boot the VM, go to Hardware, click Add > CD/DVD Drive, and attach the virtio-win ISO as a second drive. This is the step people skip, and it's the reason the disk selection screen in Windows Setup comes up empty — Windows literally cannot see a VirtIO SCSI disk without this driver loaded first.
Step 7: Run through Windows Setup
Start the VM and open its console (the >_ Console button). Windows Setup boots from the primary ISO. Pick your language and keyboard layout, then Install Now.
Choose Windows Server 2022 Standard (Desktop Experience) or Standard (Server Core) depending on whether you want a GUI. If you're not sure, pick Desktop Experience — you can always drop the GUI later, but adding it back after the fact on Core is more of a hassle than it's worth for a lab.
When you reach the disk selection screen and see nothing listed, click Load driver, then Browse, and navigate to E:\vioscsi\2k22\amd64 on the driver ISO (the drive letter may differ — look for the one that isn't your Windows ISO). Select the Red Hat VirtIO SCSI controller entry and click Next. Your disk should now appear. Select it and continue.
Step 8: Set the Administrator password and log in
Setup finishes the copy and reboot cycle on its own. On first boot you'll be prompted to set the local Administrator password — use something you'll actually remember, because there's no password reset disk in a VM.
Step 9: Install the rest of the VirtIO drivers
Once you're at the desktop (or a Server Core command prompt), open Device Manager. You'll likely see an unrecognized Ethernet Controller under "Other devices" — that's the network card waiting for its driver. Right-click it, choose Update driver > Browse my computer, and point it at E:\NetKVM\2k22\amd64 on the driver ISO. Repeat for anything else flagged with a yellow warning icon (the balloon driver, for memory management, is a common one, under E:\Balloon\2k22\amd64).
Step 10: Install the QEMU Guest Agent
Browse to the root of the driver ISO and run virtio-win-guest-tools.exe. This installs the QEMU Guest Agent, which lets Proxmox get accurate IP address reporting, coordinate clean shutdowns, and quiesce the filesystem for consistent backups. Without it, Proxmox can still run the VM fine, but it's flying a bit blind about what's happening inside.
Step 11: Eject both ISOs
Back in the Proxmox web interface, go to Hardware for the VM, select each CD/DVD drive, click Edit, and set it to Do not use any media. There's no harm leaving them attached, but it avoids any confusion on a future reboot, and it's one less thing mounted that you don't need anymore.
Commands Explained
This install is mostly GUI-driven, but a couple of things are worth knowing if you want to check on the VM from the Proxmox shell:
qm status 105Shows whether VM ID 105 is running, stopped, or paused — swap in your own VM ID.
qm agent 105 pingConfirms the QEMU Guest Agent is installed and responding inside the VM. If this hangs or errors out, the agent either isn't installed yet or the service isn't running — check Windows Services for "QEMU Guest Agent" and start it manually if needed.
qm config 105Prints the VM's full configuration — useful for confirming your SCSI controller, disk bus, and network model actually got saved the way you set them in the wizard.
Common Errors
"We couldn't find any drives" on the partition screen means the vioscsi driver hasn't been loaded yet. Go back to step 7 and load it from the driver ISO before continuing.
VM won't start, KVM-related error in the task log usually means virtualization extensions aren't enabled in your host's BIOS, or another hypervisor is already claiming them. Reboot into BIOS and check for VT-x/VT-d or AMD-V/SVM.
No network inside the VM after install almost always traces back to the NetKVM driver not being installed yet. Check Device Manager for an unrecognized adapter under "Other devices" and load the driver from step 9.
Guest agent shows as "not running" in the Proxmox summary tab even after you ran the installer — open services.msc inside Windows and confirm the QEMU Guest Agent service is set to Automatic and actually started.
Troubleshooting
If Setup seems to hang for a long time on "Getting ready" or during the file copy phase, give it a few extra minutes before assuming it's frozen — a VM with 2 cores and a cache setting of "No cache" on slower storage can genuinely take 15–20 minutes for a Desktop Experience install, which feels a lot longer than it sounds when you're staring at a spinner.
If the console goes black after the first reboot, it's often just the display switching from the SeaBIOS/UEFI boot screen to the Windows boot loader resolution. Click into the console window and press a key; if that doesn't help, check that your VM's display is set to a supported type on the Hardware tab (the default works fine for the vast majority of setups).
If networking works but is oddly slow, double-check that the VM's network device is actually VirtIO and not falling back to an emulated Intel E1000 card — that happens if the driver failed silently during step 9 and Windows quietly kept using a slower emulated fallback instead of throwing an obvious error.
Best Practices
Take a snapshot right after the initial setup and driver install, before you join it to a domain or install any roles. That gives you a clean rollback point if you break something experimenting later — and in a lab environment, you will break something eventually.
Turn on automatic Windows Updates or at least check for them manually before you start relying on this VM for anything. Server 2022 gets monthly security patches, and a fresh install from an ISO is often a year or two out of date the moment it finishes.
If you're building more than one Windows Server VM, consider converting this one to a template after Sysprep, rather than repeating this whole process from scratch each time. It's more setup up front but saves real time on VM number three.
I'd also skip Desktop Experience if this VM is going to sit as a background domain controller you rarely touch directly — Server Core uses noticeably less RAM and has a smaller patch surface, and most day-to-day administration can be done remotely with RSAT anyway.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use the free evaluation edition for a permanent lab?
The evaluation edition activates for 180 days and can be extended a few times with slmgr /rearm, but it will eventually force a shutdown timer. For anything long-term, use a real license key.
Do I need Secure Boot enabled for this to work?
No. Server 2022 installs fine on Proxmox with either SeaBIOS or OVMF (UEFI). If you do use OVMF and want Secure Boot, make sure you've added an EFI disk on the Hardware tab first, or the VM won't boot at all.
Why does my VM show 100% CPU usage on the host right after install?
That's almost always Windows Update or driver installation running in the background during first boot. It settles down within a few minutes once those finish.
Should I use VirtIO SCSI single or plain VirtIO SCSI?
VirtIO SCSI single gives each disk its own controller and queue, which scales better if you add more disks later. For a single-disk lab VM the practical difference is small, but there's no downside to starting with the option that scales.
Conclusion
Getting Windows Server 2022 running on Proxmox VE really comes down to one thing: loading the VirtIO drivers before Windows needs them, not after. Once that clicks, the rest of the install is the same wizard you'd click through on physical hardware. From here, a reasonable next move is joining this VM to a test domain, or snapshotting it clean and using it as a template for future Server 2022 builds.