How to Mount Custom ISO and Install Windows Server on Netcup: Complete VirtIO & Network Guide

Netcup’s Root Server (RS) series—powered by 100% dedicated AMD EPYC 9645 physical cores, high-speed DDR5 ECC memory, and enterprise PCIe 4.0 NVMe arrays—serves as an outstanding platform for virtualization, Windows Server applications, Active Directory, and remote developer workstations.

While Netcup offers automated Linux deployments (Debian, Ubuntu, AlmaLinux, Alpine), administrators frequently require custom installations: Windows Server 2022/2025, Windows 10/11, or specialized distributions like Proxmox VE and pfSense.

Here is how to deploy custom ISOs using the Server Control Panel (SCP), configure dual DVD controllers, inject VirtIO bus drivers, and establish network connectivity.

1. Prerequisites & Preparation

Before beginning deployment, gather the following details:

1. Direct HTTP/HTTPS Download Link for your ISO:
   • A direct URL pointing to your desired operating system image (Windows Server Evaluation ISO, Windows 11 clean image, or your private cloud storage link).
2. SCP Access Credentials:
   • Log into https://www.servercontrolpanel.de/ using your server-specific username (v220xxxxxxxx) and password.
3. Assigned IP & Gateway Information:
   • In the SCP sidebar, navigate to Network. Record your Assigned IPv4 Address, Subnet Mask (Netmask), and Default Gateway.

2. Step 1: Fetching Custom ISO to Netcup Hypervisors

Netcup allows you to download remote ISOs directly onto local datacenter SAN storage at multi-gigabit speeds:

1. Log into your Server Control Panel (SCP).
2. Select your target Root Server or Cloud VPS from the machine list.
3. In the left navigation menu, click Media ➔ Images.
4. In the Download Image (from URL) input box, paste your direct ISO download URL.
5. Click Download. Netcup’s datacenter pipeline will pull the image (typically a 5GB image completes within 15 to 30 seconds).

3. Step 2: Configuring Dual Virtual DVD Drives

[!IMPORTANT] Windows setup media cannot detect Netcup’s virtual NVMe disk array without VirtIO controller drivers. You must mount both the OS installer and the driver disk simultaneously.

1. Navigate to Media ➔ DVD Drive.
2. DVD Drive 1 (Primary): Select your freshly downloaded Windows ISO.
3. DVD Drive 2 (Secondary): Select the latest pre-loaded virtio-win.iso from Netcup’s official library.
4. Set Boot Order: Ensure CD-ROM is positioned first, followed by Hard Disk.
5. Navigate to the top menu and select Power ➔ Restart to initiate a clean reboot.

4. Step 3: VNC Installation & Driver Injection

1. In the SCP menu, click Screen and launch the HTML5 VNC Console.
2. As the server reboots, when the prompt “Press any key to boot from CD or DVD…” appears, promptly click inside the VNC window and press Spacebar.
3. Proceed through standard regional preferences and license terms. Choose Custom: Install Windows only (advanced).
4. The disk list will appear completely blank (“We couldn’t find any drives”):
   • Click Load Driver ➔ Browse.
   • Expand the VirtIO CD-ROM drive (typically designated as Drive D: or E:).
   • Navigate to: \vioscsi\ ➔ your OS version (e.g. 2k22 or w11) ➔ amd64. Click OK.
   • Select the Red Hat VirtIO SCSI controller and click Next.
5. The Netcup NVMe storage volume (256 GB, 512 GB, or 1 TB) will now appear!
6. Select the unallocated space and click Next to proceed with the automated file extraction.

5. Step 4: Post-Install Networking & Static IP Configuration

Upon first desktop boot, the network adapter will appear disabled or disconnected due to missing drivers and lack of DHCP broadcast.

1. Installing NetKVM Driver

1. Press Win + X and open Device Manager.
2. Locate the yellow warning symbol under Other Devices ➔ Ethernet Controller.
3. Right-click ➔ Update driver ➔ Browse my computer for drivers.
4. Select the virtio-win drive (check “Include subfolders”) and complete the installation of the Red Hat VirtIO Ethernet Adapter.

2. Configuring Static IPv4 via PowerShell

Open an elevated PowerShell prompt (Run as Administrator). Replace the placeholder IP parameters with the values recorded from your SCP Network tab:

# Replace these values with your actual network parameters from SCP
$InterfaceName = "Ethernet"
$IPAddress     = "188.xxx.xxx.xxx"   # Your assigned public IPv4
$PrefixLength  = 24                  # Subnet mask (255.255.255.0 equals 24)
$Gateway        = "188.xxx.xxx.1"     # Gateway listed in SCP
$PrimaryDNS     = "1.1.1.1"           # Cloudflare DNS
$SecondaryDNS   = "8.8.8.8"           # Google DNS

# Apply static network configuration
New-NetIPAddress -InterfaceAlias $InterfaceName -IPAddress $IPAddress -PrefixLength $PrefixLength -DefaultGateway $Gateway
Set-DnsClientServerAddress -InterfaceAlias $InterfaceName -ServerAddresses ($PrimaryDNS, $SecondaryDNS)

# Verify public internet connectivity
Test-Connection -ComputerName 1.1.1.1 -Count 3

6. Step 5: Production Hardening & Remote Desktop (RDP)

1. Install QEMU Guest Agent:
   • On the virtio-win drive, navigate to guest-agent\ and execute qemu-ga-x86_64.msi. This enables clean hypervisor shutdowns and accurate resource monitoring.
2. Enable Remote Desktop (RDP):
   • Open Settings ➔ System ➔ Remote Desktop and toggle to Enabled.
3. Change Default RDP Port (Security Best Practice):
   • To prevent global brute-force scanner noise, change the default 3389 port to a custom port (e.g. 53389):

   Set-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\RDP-Tcp' -Name "PortNumber" -Value 53389
   New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName 'Custom RDP 53389' -Profile 'Public,Private' -Direction Inbound -Action Allow -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 53389
   Restart-Service -Name "TermService" -Force
   

4. Dismount DVD Media:
   • Return to SCP Media ➔ DVD Drive, dismount both images, and restore your boot order to Hard Disk First.