Windows Server 2016 is gaining significant traction in OpenStack and other clouds, thanks to the support for Windows Docker containers and lots of other new features.

While there’s no OpenStack Windows Server 2016 image directly available for download, the good news is that our automated build scripts will do all the work for you. All you need is a Windows Server 2016 ISO.

The automated build tools are publicly available on GitHub, allowing the generation of virtual (Hyper-V, KVM, VMware ESXi) or bare metal (MAAS, Ironic) images, including Cloudbase-Init, VirtIO drivers (KVM), latest Windows updates, etc.

You can kickstart the image generation on any Windows host (e.g. Windows 10, Windows Server 2016, etc) with Hyper-V enabled and the Windows ADK installed.

Edit the create-windows-online-cloud-image.ps1 in the Examples directory to match your environment and requirements.

If you need to make any changes to the image generation (e.g. adding storage or networking drivers for bare metal servers), you have an extensive Readme which will guide through the entire process.

For KVM, a frequent use case, the tool supports the latest Fedora VirtIO drivers, improving considerably the stability and performance of the OS.

You are now all set to generate your Windows Server 2016 images, let us know if you have any questions!