The various discussion in the below article gave rise to the creation of this article. In previous discussions on the community and my blog, we have extensively covered the steps for performing a clean installation of Windows Server, reinstalling Veeam Backup & Replication (VBR), and migrating the configuration database.
If you wish to have your VBR running on the latest Windows Server 2025. I have crafted a very detailed article discussing the steps here “how to perform an in-place upgrade from Windows Server 2022 to Windows Server 2025”.
Windows Server 2025 comes in the following editions tailored to different organisational needs. They are the Essential Edition, the Standard Edition for lightly or non-virtualized environments, the Datacenter Edition for highly virtualised datacenter and cloud environments, as it is in my case, and the Datacenter: Azure Edition for seamless integration with Microsoft Azure in hybrid cloud scenarios.
In this article, I touched on “Microsoft Windows Server Lifecycle”, and why you should use the latest version of Windows whenever possible. Why not? Running the latest version of Windows Server allows you to use the latest features. This includes running the latest security features that deliver the best performance.
Microsoft’s Fixed Lifecycle Policy guarantees support and servicing for its products over a defined timeframe. This policy covers many commercial and consumer products, ensuring a clear and predictable lifecycle from launch, and allows you to plan your server refresh cycles around set dates.
Also, as shown in the table below, Windows Server has two primary release channels which are the Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) and the Annual Channel (AC).
Application Use Case: Veeam Backup and Replication, PostgreSQL and MSSQL
According to the article shared above, a question was raised on if it is recommended to perform an “in-place Upgrade on B&R System on Windows”. From all responses, a lot suggested that a “Clean installation is preferred. But an in-place upgrade should work”. Others suggested migrating to a newer OS (I actually do not like this method for VBR). Some also said that they have performed in-place upgrade of their OS without issues.
I added a comment myself by saying, “It depends”. If you are using VBR solely on the server, I recommend a clean installation. Running VBR only is often recommended. But this is not the case for everyone. I have a Microsoft SQL Server Engine running, VeeamOne instance and PostgreSQL. Therefore, an in-place upgrade is sufficient for me. But you may want to take a look at this response from Veeam Support for more information, as quoted below.
Generally speaking an in place OS upgrade should not directly affect Veeam, though some precautions could be made to ensure things go smoothly.
When upgrading the VBR Server: First I would ensure that you have the Veeam configuration database backed up, preferably in an encrypted format so that it includes the system credentials.
Next, I would ensure that the backup jobs are disabled during the upgrade process, depending on the types of jobs / actions being taken it is possible to corrupt certain types backups if the system is restarted at inopportune times, particularly during incremental merges, so manually ensuring that none of the jobs will be interrupted is probably for the best.
Finally, should something go wrong it’s not a complicated process to uninstall all Veeam software and reinstall, importing the configuration backup that was made previously.
Aside from that, the only other potential issues that I can foresee are related to the SQL Server that Veeam is using for the Veeam Backup database.
Recommendation for VBR Test before Upgrade
I recommend performing the upgrade from Windows Server 2022 to Windows Server 2025 in a Veeam Virtual Lab first to ensure a smooth transition before upgrading the Veeam Backup & Replication (VBR) server itself. This allows you to test the upgrade process in an isolated environment without impacting production.
Additionally, creating a VM snapshot before proceeding ensures you can quickly revert to a stable state if any issues arise.
Kindly take a look for some of the latest features of Windows Server 2025 “What’s New” from this link.
Perform In-place Upgrade
Ensure the backup jobs have all completed successfully. Stop Veeam services when upgrading to Windows Server 2025 to prevent issues during the upgrade process and backup corruption or failures. Stopping Veeam services ensures that no backups are running during the OS upgrade.
Now, right-click on the ISO and select Mount. Next, you should the setup file as shown below.
Alternatively, you can navigate to the VM settings, select the SCSI controller, and attach the installation image.
Once the virtual drive appears, launch the setup from the newly mounted drive.
Please follow the steps in the wizard to perform the in-place upgrade.
I will accept the Applicable notices and License Terms
Select keep files, settings and apps. This will preserve the settings, server roles, features, and data.
On the “ready to install” window, click on “Install”.
I will select “Required Only” to send diagnostic data to Microsoft, and click Accept
Do not forget to check if the VBR services have started automatically. Usually, due to the service startup configured, they are started automatically.
As you can see, I have Windows Server 2025 running on this VM.
As you can see, the activation state is “Not active”. To fix this, click on Change.
Enter the Product Key and click next
Windows activation state chnaged to active
If there are Windows Updates, please run and apply them.
Now that the server has been upgraded, we need to verify that backup jobs run smoothly and complete successfully. This includes checking job statuses, and ensuring all scheduled tasks execute as expected.
As you can see below, some jobs have already completed successfully
