Activation for Windows Server 2016 using the 2019 ROK key
Activation for Windows Server 2016 using the 2019 ROK key
Hey there, I'm trying to set up Windows Server 2016 Evaluation using a 2019 Datacenter ROK Key. The server is a virtual machine and I've enabled the "SMBIOS.reflectHost TRUE" option. So far, it seems Windows can recognize the HPE hardware. Activating the ROK license worked when installing Server 2019 Datacenter before. I don't have a 2016 key, and the 2019 version isn't officially supported for this setup. I'm not finding any solutions online yet. The main question is: Can I really activate the 2016 Evaluation with a 2019 ROK key? Or is there another issue at play? Thanks in advance!
Windows servers behave differently compared to standard desktop OS. Keys change depending on the version. Rarely, you can perform a downgrade, but only to earlier releases like Server 2018. On desktops, upgrading from Win7/8 to Win10 is straightforward.