Windows Server 2012R2 cannot find License terms

Details: Category: Microsoft Stuff

Installing Windows Server 2012R2 as a virtual machine on a Windows Server 20112 Hyper-V host is easy. Mostly.

There IS a small caveat that had me pulling my hair out, though: Just quickly throwing a small vm into operation - accepting all the defaults - would result in a pesky error regarding the licensing terms. The message said "Windows cannot find the Microsoft Software License Terms. Make sure the installation source is valid and restart the installation."

License terms error

Hmm, the ISO of the DVD came straight from our Software Assurance download section. As an alternative I downloaded one from Technet - same error. And the checksum checked out. So what gives?

Well, the answer had nothing to do with the installation source - and everything with the default (memory) value Hyper-V suggests when putting up the VM: The default is 512Mb. More than enough - especially if you use dynamic allocation - but NOT enough for the installer.

So? Setting the memory to something higher (I usually use 768, just because I'm a nerd) does the trick.

Easy. Once you know it.