The new Windows Server 2025 Preview Build brings the much needed Server Flighting

Windows Server Preview Build 26236 is now available for Windows Server Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC), as stated by Microsoft. The preview build provides the Desktop Experience and Server Core installation choices in Datacenter and Standard editions, Annual Channel for Container Host, and Azure Edition for virtual machine evaluation.

What are the new Windows Server 2025 features?

The most awaited feature for Windows Server 2025 is finally here: Windows Server Flighting. Until now, you required to download every fresh build manually and do either a clean installation or an in-place upgrade. You may still do that if you want, but Windows Server Flighting allows you to get newer builds as Feature updates, or otherwise known as in place OS upgrades straight from Windows Update within Settings. Also, the Feedback Hub app is now available for Server Desktop users.

Another new feature is Delegated Managed Service Accounts (dMSA), a fresh type of account that permits the shift from typical service accounts to machine-based accounts having managed and completely randomized keys, simultaneously shutting down unique service account passwords. The verification method for dMSA is associated with the gadget identity; this implies only designated machine identities mapped in AD can use this particular account.

Unfortunately, as with many other updates, Windows Server Preview Build 26236 has some known issues. For certain users, there could be problems with the upgrade that causes the downloading process to not move forward from 0%. For this situation, Microsoft suggests you to do an upgrade by making use of ISO media download option for getting a newer build. You might also encounter other documented issues such as access denied error when utilizing Diskpart —> Clean Image on Winpe.vhdx VMs made using WinPE and so on.

You can get the ISO form of Windows Server LTSC Preview in 18 languages and VHDX format in English, while for Windows Server Datacenter Azure Edition Preview it’s only available as ISO and VHDX format in English. Keys for Server Standard and Datacenter are available in preview, with symbols on the public symbol server.

The preview will end on September 15, 2024. If you’re an insider, you can get the preview from the Windows Server Insider Preview download page.

What are your thoughts on the new Windows Server Preview Build 26236? Tell us all about it in the comments below.