If you need to upgrade the operating system on your Technology Solutions hosted Windows VM (from Windows Server 2012 R2 to Windows Server 2019, for example), two options are available.
Migrate to a new VM
You can request a new VM with the new operating system from us, through the VM request form. Note in the request that this is for an upgrade. Once we provision the new VM for you, you will need to work on migrating your applications from the old VM to the new VM. As long as you complete your migration in a reasonable time-frame (generally one month) and can decommission your VM by then, we will only charge you for one VM. If you do not complete your migration in a reasonable time-frame, you may be charged for both VMs.
In-place upgrade
You can attempt an in-place upgrade of your VM. This option is generally not recommended, but there are cases in which it works. How well in-place upgrades work depends on the applications that you have installed on the VM.
Note that in-place upgrades are limited in that you can only upgrade the version by a maximum of two releases. For example, you can upgrade Windows Server 2012 R2 to Windows Server 2016 or 2019, but would not be able to upgrade 2012 R2 directly to Windows Server 2022.
Microsoft has instructions regarding in-place upgrades of Windows Server at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/get-started/perform-in-place-upgrade.
If you plan to do an in-place upgrade, we recommend contacting us through the Ask an IT Question form and requesting that we create a snapshot of your VM before you attempt the upgrade. This will allow the upgrade to easily be reverted, if it doesn't work as expected.
If you need Windows Server ISOs to use for the upgrade, you can download those from the Webstore at https://webstore.illinois.edu. Search under Unit Purchases for "Microsoft Windows Server Standard". You can download the ISO to your VM and mount it within Windows.
When running in-place upgrades, we recommend connecting to your VM through vSphere and the VM console rather than remote desktop. Instructions on how to do that are available at How do I connect to my Windows virtual server? under option 2.