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Windows Configuration

Gallium Edge runs Windows virtual machines and templates alongside Linux guests. This page covers what differs for Windows; for the general creation flow, see Creating a Virtual Machine.

Supported Windows Versions​

Gallium Edge ships VirtIO storage, network, and balloon drivers for the following Windows releases, which are the versions we test and recommend:

Windows VersionVirtIO Driver Code
Windows Server 20222k22
Windows Server 20252k25
Windows 10w10
Windows 11w11

Older releases such as Windows Server 2019 may still install and run, but they are outside the tested driver set and may require newer VirtIO drivers for full device support.

Provisioning Windows on Edge​

Provisioning instructions go through the User Data or Script field described in Creating a Virtual Machine. On a Windows template the field accepts #cloud-config user data or a PowerShell script prefixed with #ps1, which runs on the guest during first boot. There is no separate Autounattend answer-file or configuration-drive wizard.

In the Users section, Windows templates accept an optional password for the default account, but the SSH keys selector is hidden, since Windows guests do not consume SSH keys through this flow. Supply additional account or remote-access configuration through your PowerShell script.

Licensing and Image Availability​

Because of Microsoft's licensing terms, Gallium cannot distribute Windows installation media or pre-built Windows images. How you obtain a usable image depends on your licensing:

  • Commercial licensees: upload your own Windows media and license key, and Gallium's image-build process can prepare templates that are ready to deploy.
  • Evaluation customers: contact support to discuss access to evaluation images.
  • Community users: supply and upload your own Windows images into templates.

Building a Windows Template Manually​

You can build a Windows template directly from a Windows ISO plus the VirtIO driver CD, installed by hand through the VM console. Where possible, contact support to have a template prepared from your Volume License media instead; use the manual process only when that is not an option.

Prepare the media and the template:

  1. Obtain a Windows or Windows Server ISO for the version you want to install.
  2. Download the VirtIO driver ISO from the Gallium CDN here.
  3. In the Console, create a new template with Operating System Type set to Windows and a minimum memory of 4 GB.
  4. Give the template three devices: the Windows ISO, the VirtIO ISO, and a blank OS disk of at least 32 GB.
  5. Upload both ISO images and finalize the template.

Install Windows through the console:

  1. Create a VM from the template and open its console.
  2. When Windows Setup reaches the disk-selection screen, it will not see the blank VirtIO disk. Choose Load driver, browse to the VirtIO CD, and load the viostor storage driver so the disk becomes visible.
  3. Select the disk and continue the installation as normal.
  4. Once Windows is installed, open the VirtIO CD in the guest and install the remaining VirtIO drivers, at minimum the network driver, along with the QEMU guest agent.
  5. Shut the VM down and remove both ISOs from its disk layout so it boots cleanly from the OS disk. Add further disks later from Virtual Disks.

The QEMU guest agent reports the guest's operating system details and IP addresses back to the Console, so install it even for a manually built template.