Fast in-place upgrade of a Windows 10 VM with Citrix PVS, MCS and VMware

The Support for Windows 10 is coming to an end - a quick upgrade to Windows 11 is therefore required. But how does this work with virtual machines under VMware with Citrix PVS or MCS? This article offers a compact quick guide based on practical experience.

1. Preparation: Convert MBR to GPT

Before an upgrade is possible, the system partition must be converted from MBR to GPT.

Step by step:

1. Boot from Windows 10/11 ISO and switch to the command line.

2. Check with:mbr2gpt /validate

   ❗ Error message "OS Partition not found"?
   → Start Windows 10 normally and in the command line use: bcdboot C:\Windows /s C: to fix the entries.
   Then boot from ISO again and start with: mbr2gpt /validate and than mbr2gpt /convert Convert to GPT.

3. Adjust the VM settings in VMware:

• • Firmware: EFI
  • Secure Boot: activate

2. Preparations for the inplace upgrade

All system-related programs should be uninstalled before the upgrade:

• Antivirus-Software
• Citrix VDA
• Citrix PVS-Agent

Do not remove: e.g. Microsoft Office, standard software

Afterwards:

• Restart VM
• Install all Windows updates
  
  
  

3. Start Windows 11 Inplace-Upgrade

After logging in under Windows 10:

1. Insert Windows 11 ISO
2. Start setup via administrative command line: setup.exe /product server
    

❗ Note: This method bypasses the compatibility check (CPU, TPM 2.0). Even if "Server" is displayed, a regular upgrade to Windows 11 takes place. There are registry values from Microsoft that are supposed to enable a "bypass", but in my experience this did not work with an inplace upgrade.

4. After the upgrade: cleanup and reinstallation

• Windows 11 starts successfully
• Reinstall uninstalled software with Windows 11-compatible versions
• Under Storage settings:
  • Delete old Windows version (Windows.old)

5. Integration with Citrix PVS 

Citrix PVS: DHCP-Konfiguration

• DHCP-Optionen:
  • Option 11
  • Option 67 → pvsnbpx64.efi

Problem: Parallel operation can be disrupted
Solution: Use DHCP policy:

• Assignment by MAC address or client identifier

Configure network boot

• In EFI-BIOS: Set network boot to first position
  
  

Conclusion

This method enables a fast and reliable in-place upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11 - even in complex environments with VMware, Citrix PVS or MCS. It is important to prepare properly and specifically bypass the compatibility check.