How to create a VM Image with Windows Server 2012

In order to maximize the infrastructure you should use Images to deploy your virtual machines. Images reduce the Operating System Deployment time substantially.

Add the Windows 2012 ISO to the Virtual Machine
Turn On the Virtual Machine
In the Windows Setup screen press the desired language and press Next.
Press the Install Now button.
Select the appropriate version of Windows 2012 for your image. In this example we will select Windows Server 2012 Datacenter.
Accept the license terms and press Next
Select to Custom: Install Windows only (advanced).
Configure your disk. Select to use the default partitions for the installation. You should have a 350MB partition for System and the rest of the disk for Primary.
Wait until the installation finishes.
Press Restart Now to finish the installation.
Type the password for the administrator account.
Install all required Windows updates and applications.
Open a Windows Explorer by clicking on the Windows Explorer icon in the taskbar.
Browse to C:WindowsSystem32Sysprep. Execute sysprep.exe
In the Sysprep tool Select: Enter System Out-Of-Box Experience (OOBE), Generalize and Shutdown. Then press OK.
The sysprep tool will prepare the image and will shut down the VM.
After the VM is shutdown, copy the VHD or VHDX file to a central location so you can share it with other VMs.
Rename the file to something descriptive . Example Win2012RTM.vhdx and change the image to read only.