

After a short moment, you will be presented with the Graphical Windows Setup program, which looks awfully similar to the Windows Setup for clean installations of Windows Server 2012:

The screen will turn blue while displaying the text Setup is copying temporary files and next Setup is starting. The Windows Server 2012 installation splash screen shows. From the installation media, run setup.exe to start the in-place upgrade. If you’re upgrading from a network location, use net.exe to map the location to a drive letter. Of course, you won’t have AutoPlay functionality in a Server Core installation, so change to the location of your installation media first. This can be a DVD, a USB flash device, an ISO, or the installation files copied to a second or removable hard drive or shared network location from one of the three earlier mentioned formats. To upgrade Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2-based Server Core installations, you will need the Windows Server 2012 installation media. In-place upgrade Server Core to Windows Server 2012 Then, you can successfully in-place upgrade the server, re-apply the DNS Server Role, and promote the server again. Another option is to demote the Server Core installation and remove the DNS Server role. Until a solution is available, it is recommended that you install a new domain controller running a Server Core installation of Windows Server 2012 instead of in-place upgrading an existing domain controller that runs a Server Core installation of Windows Server 2008 R2. The upgrade will hang on a solid black screen late in the upgrade process. However, an issue exists at the time of this writing that prevents you from upgrading Server Core installations with either the Active Directory Domain Services Role or the DNS Server Role installed. These are the only requirements besides the above cross-SKU and cross-language upgrade limitations. When you want to in-place upgrade a Windows Server 2008 R2-based Server Core installation to Windows Server 2012, you will need 15GB of free space and at least Service Pack 1 installed. Upgrade from Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Core
