This article describes the full build of a two-server Windows Server 2022 home lab in Proxmox VE. Together, the two virtual machines provide Active Directory Domain Services, DNS, Group Policy and a Certificate Authority (ADCS). RDP connections are secured with PKI certificates so the Mac Mini M1 management workstation connects without certificate warnings.

This is part 3 of the series on building a Windows DevOps lab in Proxmox. In part 1 I described how to create a VM, and in part 2 how to prepare the template.

This is part 2 of the series on building a Windows DevOps lab in Proxmox. In part 1 I described how to create the VM. In this article I prepare the VM as a reusable Proxmox template. All future VMs — the CA server, member servers and other roles — will be cloned from this template.

Important: After Sysprep, never start the VM again. If you do, the generalization is consumed and the template must be rebuilt from scratch.

]]>https://vandenboom.online/de/posts/ws2022-proxmox-vm-creation/Mon, 30 Mar 2026 10:00:00 +0200https://vandenboom.online/de/posts/ws2022-proxmox-vm-creation/ Download as Word document

In this article I describe step by step how I create a Windows Server 2022 VM in Proxmox VE 9.1.6. The guide is based on real-world experience and includes all corrections and lessons learned along the way. This is part 1 of a series on building a fully functional Windows DevOps lab in Proxmox.

Lab Environment

Component	Value
Proxmox host	macpro2013.local — Mac Pro 2013 Trashcan
Proxmox version	9.1.6
RAM	128 GB
Storage	3.6 TB NVMe (local-lvm pool)
Network bridge	vmbr0 — internal lab network (192.168.178.x)
Proxmox WebUI	https://192.168.178.205:8006

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Why a CA Is Needed — the SSL Warning

Anyone who opens the Proxmox WebUI via macpro2013.local in Safari will immediately see a certificate warning. Proxmox uses a self-signed certificate by default.

]]>https://vandenboom.online/de/posts/windows_server_2022_ad_dns/Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0100https://vandenboom.online/de/posts/windows_server_2022_ad_dns/This article describes step by step how I installed Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) and DNS on a Windows Server 2022 Datacenter VM in a VMware Fusion lab environment. The result is a fully functional domain controller for the domain lab.local, serving as the foundation for a Windows DevOps lab.

Environment

Component	Value
Virtualization	VMware Fusion (macOS)
Guest OS	Windows Server 2022 Datacenter (Desktop Experience)
Hostname	DC01
Domain name	lab.local
NetBIOS name	LAB
Lab network adapter	Ethernet1 — 172.16.37.10 (static IP)
Internet adapter	Ethernet0 — DHCP via VMware NAT

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Step 1 — Configure Networking

Before installing Active Directory, the domain controller needs a static IP address. AD DS and DNS depend on a stable address.

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