Windows Server 2022 Downgrade to 2019

Question

Hello,

We recently purchased two Windows Server 2022 Standard 16 Core licenses. We need both of these downgraded to windows server 2019 to work in our cluster.

I have already installed 2019 on one host and VM. What is the best way to exercise downgrade rights?

Thank you.

Answer 1

Hi Vito_943,

to exercise downgrade rights, you will need to contact Volume Licensing Support Info. | Microsoft Learn (VLSC) or your Microsoft reseller to obtain the Windows Server 2019 product keys. Once you have the product keys, you can use them to activate the Windows Server 2019 installations on your hosts and VMs.

To activate Windows Server 2019, you can use the following steps:

1. Open the Server Manager on the host or VM.
2. Click on the "Local Server" option.
3. Under the "Properties" section, click on the "Change product key" link.
4. Enter the Windows Server 2019 product key and click "Next".
5. Follow the prompts to complete the activation process.

Repeat these steps for each host and VM that you need to downgrade to Windows Server 2019.

Hope it helps.

Kind regards,

Lei