Upgrading of Windows 2012

This is a personal summary of the upgrade options for Windows 2012, extracted from Microsoft Website.

From evaluation edition of Windows 2012:


Availability of Fully functional Evaluation versions of Windows Server 2012 - 64 bits for 180 days:

• Windows Server 2012 Standard
• Windows Server 2012 Datacenter 
• Windows Server® 2012 Essentials 

Run
              slmgr.vbs /dlv
to see the evaluation period remaining.

Limitations of Evaluation Version:

• The following warning appears on the Desktop: Windows License is expired
• When you log on to Windows, you are prompted with the following options:
• Activate now
• Ask me later
• The system shuts down every hour.
• The only updates that can be installed are security updates.
• Event ID 100 from source WLMS “The license period for this installation of Windows has expired. The operating system will shut down every hour.” appears in the Application log.

Upgrade from Evaluation version:

Verified that it is an evaluation copy by running
         slmgr.vbs /dlv

(evaluation versions will include “EVAL” in the output)

For Windows Server 2012 Essentials: You can convert to the full retail version by entering a retail, volume license, or OEM key in the command slmgr.vbs.

For Windows Server 2012 Standard or Windows Server 2012 Datacenter, convert to retail version by:

1. If the server is a domain controller, you cannot convert it to a retail version directly, but rather, you have to do a transition process.
2. Determine the current edition name:
• DISM /online /Get-CurrentEdition. 
• Run DISM /online /Set-Edition:<edition ID> /ProductKey:XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX /AcceptEula

                    providing the edition ID and a retail product key. The server will restart twice.

For the evaluation version of Windows Server 2012 Standard, you can also convert to the retail version of Windows Server 2012 Datacenter in one step using this same command and the appropriate product key.

Upgrade from previous version:
Generally:

• In-place upgrades from 32-bit to 64-bit architectures are not supported. All editions of Windows Server 2012 are 64-bit only.
• In-place upgrades from one language to another are not supported.
• In-place upgrades from one build type (fre to chk, for example) are not supported.
• If the server is a domain controller, see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/library/hh994618.aspx for important information.
• Upgrades from pre-release versions of Windows Server 2012 (such as the Release Candidate) are not supported. Perform a clean installation to Windows Server 2012.
• Upgrades that switch from a Server Core installation to the Server with a GUI mode of Windows Server 2012 in one step (and vice versa) are not supported. However, after upgrade is complete, Windows Server 2012 allows you to switch freely between Server Core and Server with a GUI modes.  
• If you do not see your current version in the left column, upgrading to this release of Windows Server 2012 is not supported.
• If you see more than one edition in the right column, upgrade to either edition from the same starting version is supported.

If you are running:	You can upgrade to these editions:
Windows Server 2008 Standard with SP2 or Windows Server 2008 Enterprise with SP2	Windows Server 2012 Standard, Windows Server 2012 Datacenter
Windows Server 2008 Datacenter with SP2	Windows Server 2012 Datacenter
Windows Web Server 2008	Windows Server 2012 Standard
Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard with SP1 or Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise with SP1	Windows Server 2012 Standard, Windows Server 2012 Datacenter
Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter with SP1	Windows Server 2012 Datacenter
Windows Web Server 2008 R2	Windows Server 2012 Standard

Converting existing Windows Server 2012 versions

At any time after installing Windows Server 2012, you can run Setup to repair the installation (sometimes called “repair in place”) or, in certain cases, to convert to a different edition.

You can run Setup to perform a “repair in place” on any edition of Windows Server 2012; the result will be the same edition you started with.