Quickly and Permanently convert Windows Server Evaluation Edition to the Retail Edition
Windows Server you got from Microsoft homepage is evaluation version and it has been attached 180-day trial license. As a result, you can not install another key on your machine, in this case, KMS client key. For that reason, today I will show you how to convert the evaluation version to the retail one.
Convert Windows Server Evaluation to Retail version
Determine your edition of Windows you are using.
In this case, I am using Windows Server 2019 Standard Evaluation.
List the editions that you can convert your one to.
As you can see, I can convert my OS to the retail version of the Standard edition or upgrade it to the Datacenter one.
Convert your Windows to the edition you want.
“<-Edition->” and “X-X-X-X-X” are the version of Windows you want to convert to in the 2nd step and the correlative KMS client key.
Here is the list of all product keys.
I just want to make a conversion, not an upgrade so the above command is.
Convert Windows Server Evaluation to Retail version
Determine your edition of Windows you are using.
Open the command prompt as administrator then execute this command.
dism /online /get-currenteditionIn this case, I am using Windows Server 2019 Standard Evaluation.
List the editions that you can convert your one to.
Run the following command.
dism /online /get-targeteditionsAs you can see, I can convert my OS to the retail version of the Standard edition or upgrade it to the Datacenter one.
Convert your Windows to the edition you want.
Execute the command below to start a conversion process.
dism /online /set-edition:<-Edition-> /productkey:X-X-X-X-X /accepteula“<-Edition->” and “X-X-X-X-X” are the version of Windows you want to convert to in the 2nd step and the correlative KMS client key.
Here is the list of all product keys.
I just want to make a conversion, not an upgrade so the above command is.
Restart your machine then check the properties again.dism /online /set-edition:serverstandard /productkey:N69G4-B89J2-4G8F4-WWYCC-J464C /accepteula
After completing the 3rd step, you will be asked to reboot your server. Just answer ‘Y’.
All done! Now you can back to this post then try activating your Windows again.
If you would have any questions or concerns, please leave your comments. I would be glad to explain in more details. Thank you so much for all your feedback and support!
The possibility of converting a Microsoft OS isn't new, but previously, back in the day, this was not really possible.
Although in this post we'll focus only on converting licenses or editions, you might be looking also for upgrade options. There's support for some use cases but not others.
Supported and unsupported cases ^
There are situations when an upgrade won't work. Let's have a look.
If you think that upgrading between server versions is easy, it might be in some situations. You should not underestimate it. But you need to be aware of some considerations first.
Here are a couple of known facts about upgrading from a previous release of Windows Server (WS 2012 or WS 2016):
- There's no support for upgrading from one language to another. You'll have to upgrade to the same language. You can then change the language UI only.
- If you have a domain controller (DC), you'll need to run a Forestprep and Domainprep prior to the upgrade. You should follow the usual Microsoft checklist concerning DCs before the upgrade.
- There's no support for converting the Core edition to Server with the UI, even though some sources have been saying Microsoft will finally implement this in WS 2019. They have not.
- You can't downgrade from Standard back to Eval. There's no support for upgrading from a previous Windows Server installation to an evaluation copy. You can and should install evaluation versions as clean installs.
- You can convert the evaluation version of Windows Server 2019 Standard to either Windows Server 2019 Standard (retail) or Datacenter (retail).
