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Complex Linux solutions are commonly packaged as virtual appliances.

I'm interested in the Windows side of this, but haven't been able to find much relevant information on the web.

We are building a complex, Windows-based software product that customers will deploy on-site (cloud is not an option), and want to make deployment as easy as possible for customers - a virtual appliance seems to fit the bill.

But I don't know if Microsoft permit this sort of thing, or how it works in terms of licensing.

Ideally we would want to do this for both the evaluation and production versions of our product - but even if we could just use a virtual appliance to allow customers to evaluate the product before purchasing, that would be something.

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For the first time, check with AWS, they coordinate such things. – Andrew Smith Oct 11 '12 at 14:06
@AndrewSmith don't they just do cloud-based solutions? Cloud is not an option for me – Cocowalla Oct 11 '12 at 16:45

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What you are talking about is going to be difficult without running afoul of Windows licensing rules. If you sell a pre-licensed version of your virtual appliance, you would be going against the rules that cover reselling of licenses. I know you are not reselling Windows licenses for profit, but if MS looks at it and thinks that you are, you are in trouble.

MS licenses used in virtualization by one company, but owned by another, is another tricky area. I ran into that with VDI licensing. It is mostly a complication with Windows 7, but you need to be careful with the MS Server licenses also.

What you want to do is difficult, and overly complicated, but not impossible. I would definitely consult with a lawyer that specializes in MS licensing. Sadly, such a thing exists. One option I see to possibly bypass all of your worries would be to prep your VM, install your software and then SysPrep it to remove all licensing. The customer would provide their own license. That is the easiest route, and I think would be a workaround to all of MS's license rules, but consult a lawyer.

If you want to distribute VM's, you really should have started with a Linux platform. Their licenses were made for such a proposition. With MS, you are in shark filled waters. May I ask why you would not package it as an installer for clients to install on their own machines?

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The reason for not wanting to use an installer is that this product is going to have a lot of dependencies (.NET, Java, Erlang...), and I want to keep it as simple as possible for the customer to deploy, as well as making our lives easier on the support side once customers have it in production – Cocowalla Oct 11 '12 at 16:42
I think you are probably right though about the 'shark filled waters' :) I guess I need to give this some more though and see if the Microsoft dependencies can be replaced with something else that will open up the possibility of using Linux instead – Cocowalla Oct 11 '12 at 16:43
Those dependencies can be stated a prerequisites and your installer can check for them before installation. That is not really a reason to not go the installer route. I have installed lots of programs over the years that have pre-reqs for installation. Are you marketing globally or locally? If you have a somewhat localized market, you could always have demo machines to be used for test deployments. This would also have the added benefit of getting you in the door and talking to the customer to sell to them. Think of the problem the other way around, is there another way to solve it? – NeedAGeekIndy Oct 11 '12 at 17:49
Will be marketing globally. I know it can be solved with installers, but I'm trying to reduce complexity for the customer, especially during evaluation – Cocowalla Oct 11 '12 at 17:53
Unless you have a list of many different and obscure dependencies, I believe you are overthinking things. .Net is pretty standard fare, so is Java. If you want to make it truly super easy for them to try it, make it a web app. It cannot get any easier than that. Can you give a few more details about what you are trying to do and perhaps we can help more? – NeedAGeekIndy Oct 11 '12 at 18:14
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