Install Windows 11 Insider Preview on an Azure VM

Update: You can now deploy Windows 11 using the Azure Marketplace image by selecting “Create a resource” in the Azure portal and typing “Windows 11 Preview” and then following the standard VM create process

1. Deploy Windows 10 Enterprise (2004) in an Azure VM
   (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/windows/quick-create-portal)

2. Open Settings, search for “Windows Insider” and review the message

3. Open Regedit.exe, navigate to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\System\AllowTelemetry” and delete this entire key:

4. Navigate to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Datacollection”. Modify settings “AllowTelemetry” and “MaxTelemetryAllowed” to 3:

5. Open Services.msc and restart the “Connected User Experiences and Telemetry” service:

6. Confirm Diagnostics & feedback are now set to “Optional diagnostic data”:

7. Navigate to Windows Insider (use search box), then click “Get started”:

8. Sign in with a Microsoft account which is already registered with Windows Insider:
   (or register here and then try this step: https://insider.windows.com/en-us/)

9. Click “Continue”:

10. Pick the appropriate channel -> Dev Channel will have the latest bits and so is preferred.
    
11. Click “Confirm”: 

11. Click “Confirm” again:

12. Click “Restart Now”:

13. Log back into the VM, open Settings, then Windows Insider and confirm your settings:

14. Download and install any updates that are pending:

15. Restart as required, then “Check for Updates” again:

16. After Windows 11 Insider Preview downloads, it will automatically start installing:

My recommendation is to not reboot the VM until this completes and you see “Pending restart” under Windows 11 Insider Preview.

17. Check “Boot Diagnostics -> Screenshot” in the Azure portal to track when the VM is ready to log into, that is, when you see the logon screen below:

18. Say hello to Windows 11 on Azure! ❤