Windows 10 preserve HWID across VM Rebuilds

[PalouseTech]

Hi all:

I have a ProxMox VM server that I have a few Win10 VMs that I experiment with. I HAVE bought separate licenses for each VM. I can get them all online and all is good.

Then I play around and break one in my learning (they're for my lab), so I delete the proxmox vm and recreate it with same settings and same ID, reinstall windows 10, but it won't license automatically (and of course, won't reuse the same license key I used to register it in the first place).

I've done a lot of research on this, and its because of HWID 3 changing. HWID 3 is:

Manufacturer + Family + Product Name + SKU Number + Baseboard Manufacturer + Baseboard Product

I'm not sure what proxmox variables are affecting any of these values as seen by the installed OS. How can I wipe and recreate a VM while preserving these changes? Normally I start as a linked clone from a master (unregistered) image, then license it after first boot (yes, its been sysprepped, etc). So, I don't think I can just delete the storage and re-link it while preserving the rest of the VM.

For comparison purposes, I found this article on how to do what I aim to do on hyper-v:
https://www.elevenforum.com/t/hyper-v-preserve-virtual-machine-digital-license-activation.80/

I would imagine with proxmox there are some advanced settings somewhere that I can copy and paste and keep it the same that way. Other internet posts have mentioned the VM UUID on some platforms does this...

In any case, I'd greatly appreciate any info/advice on how to proceed. Thanks!

 

[apoc]

so I delete the proxmox vm

Why?
A simple reinstall should do the trick?

In the VM config file is a uuid. My guess would be to start there with a further investigation. That guide changes for sure when a new VM gets created.

 

[PalouseTech]

Because rather than do a full reinstall, I re-clone the template I base all my tests on. And it appears in order to "re-clone" the template, I have to destroy the VM then re-create it from the template.

It appears that there is an entry in the config section that is exactly what I was looking for : smbios settings, including a UUID, and the opportunity to set the rest of the values used in the hwid 3. So I'll give that a go and see if it fixes my issues!

 

[herzkerl]

Because rather than do a full reinstall, I re-clone the template I base all my tests on. And it appears in order to "re-clone" the template, I have to destroy the VM then re-create it from the template.

It appears that there is an entry in the config section that is exactly what I was looking for : smbios settings, including a UUID, and the opportunity to set the rest of the values used in the hwid 3. So I'll give that a go and see if it fixes my issues!

Do you have any follow-up on this topic?

 

[BobhWasatch]

Have you tried taking a backup right after you install and the restoring that backup when you break it?

 

[PalouseTech]

The UUID field worked perfectly. Under a VM, Options -> SMBIOS settings, there's the UUID field.

When I install and license a Win10 VM, I record that UUID with some identifier for the machine/license.

When I later destroy this VM and want to use that license again, when I create the new VM, I put that license in it.

I generally use this for cases where I created a master image (with sysprep/etc), and deploy it. First time, I buy licenses and register them, and capture the UUIDs. My clones are referenced to the master image, so as time goes on and they diverge from the master image, the start taking up more and more disk space. Eventually, I recreate a new master image with all the new updates and versions of software installed. I'll destroy the old instances and create new instances, making sure to re-use the UUID.

I've also had instances where after creating and messing with a VM, I had to recreate it due to needing substantially different hardware specifications (machine type, UEFI, etc). It is easiest to destroy and re-create, and as long as I paste the same UUID back in, my old licenses is back. In one case with substantial hardware changes, I had to run the activation wizard manually, but then it took the license and all was good!

I haven't tested any of this with Win11 yet; I'm still working with Win10 at this point.