Domino 14.5 is not supported on Windows Core Server
Daniel Nashed – 19 February 2026 14:54:24
Microsoft offers two different installation modes for Windows Servers for the two different editions (Standard & Datacenter).
- "Windows Core server" an installation mode without full graphically UI
- The full server installation with a full administration GUI
Windows Core Server Standard Edition is meanwhile the default when you run the installer.
But even the Domino System Requirements does not explicitly exclude Windows Core server it is not a supported configuration yet.
There is an AHA idea to vote for, which only has 7 votes today.
https://domino-ideas.hcltechsw.com/ideas/DOMINO-I-2524
I am not sure if nobody has the requirement or nobody knows it is not supported yet.
Windows Core Server needs less resources and is the recommended installation mode by German BSI because also from security point of view.
Specially for smaller servers since Windows 2025 it is important to reduce the footprint of the Windows server, because it tends to use more memory out of the box.
It comes with a simple configuration menu for the most important tasks and works well with Domino.
The installer, the classical configuration wizard and also the Jconsole GUI just works unchanged.
Only the service.exe doesn't launch. But to start and stop services you can either use sc command line or use the services part of taskmgr.
RDP works as well. But Windows 2025 also comes with OpenSSH installed and you can just enable for administration via a SSH session -- But that's maybe something for another post.
This post is to raise awareness and to see if someone is currently using it or plans to use it.
If you have a requirement to install it, please vote for my AHA idea.
- Comments [11]
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1Henning Heinz 19.02.2026 15:36:58 Domino 14.5 is not supported on Windows Core Server
Without a GUI I would probably prefer Linux but afaik the Active Directory password synchronization still needs a Windows machine.
2Daniel Nashed 19.02.2026 22:42:19 Domino 14.5 is not supported on Windows Core Server
@Henning I would always prefer Linux. But there are some applications cases which need Windows.
Windows Core server has a simple GUI for Domino. Windows admin tasks you need for Domino is still fine.
Yes but Linux is the better move.
3Christian Henseler 20.02.2026 8:01:30 Domino 14.5 is not supported on Windows Core Server
As core is the default flavour of a Windows server installation and one needs a Security clearance for every single server to get the Desktop installation in our environment, I've asked for Windows core support in the EAP forum for Domino 14.0.
Answer HCL: you are the first and only customer asking for it, no plans to support core.