SOLVED [SOLVED] FN11 VM Windows Server 2016 System Service Exception on install

[f8340fidsolfwhf20]

I have FreeNAS-11.0-U2 and am trying to setup a VM for Windows Server 2016.

I've followed the instructions in this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbTrG3HRrds), however when I try to install Windows Server it:
- Goes through the installer and copies/installs the files
- Performs the restart at the end of the install
- When booting again after installing, it eventually fails with the blue Windows error screen reporting a SYSTEM SERVICE EXCEPTION
- It attempts to reboot itself but each boot eventually runs into an error, bringing up a pop-up saying windows encountered an error during install and needs to reboot, creating a loop

I've found other users reporting similar issues below, but no one mentions a solution (at least not one that works for me):
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/windows-server-vm-virtio-drivers.47027/
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/windows-vm-recommended-settings.49811/

Anyone know of a solution/have any recommendations? Thanks all!

 

[f8340fidsolfwhf20]

Update: For anyone that comes across this later on, I was trying to install Windows Server 2016 Essential. I guess there's some sort of issue with it's compatibility with bhyve since it refuses to work. I tried Windows Server 2016 Standard instead under the exact same conditions and it worked just fine. Double checked there was nothing wrong with the Essentials .iso as well.

So if you're having this issue with Essentials: switch to Standard :) Wish there was a better solution than that, and maybe there is, but this is what I ended up doing

 

[khaosryder]

Thanks for the info this caused me quite the headache. Did you buy a Standard key or did you find a workaround to get Essentials to work after installing it?

You can't downgrade licences so installing Standard is only a partial fix unfortunately.

 

[f8340fidsolfwhf20]

Thanks for the info this caused me quite the headache. Did you buy a Standard key or did you find a workaround to get Essentials to work after installing it?

You can't downgrade licences so installing Standard is only a partial fix unfortunately.

I was lucky enough to have access to both Standard and Essentials keys, so I just ended up going with Standard.

I agree, it's only a partial fix and not one I was satisfied with, but I tried different VM configurations with Essentials about 8 times before giving up on it. I'm assuming the issue is somewhere between bhyve and Windows Server 2016 Essentials, and can't say which, but hopefully the lack of compatibility gets solved soon.

 

[khaosryder]

The current 11.1-nightly fixed the issue for me for anyone else getting this problem.