Is it possible to run Windows 10 in powershell/cmd only?

Question

My development environment is Linux, however we have to support older Windows non-GUI software. The software is written in ASP.net (not core).

What I am hoping to be able to do is install Windows inside a VM and build/run the software within that VM. I don't need the UI so I am hoping to reduce the machine load by running Windows in a non-GUI mode.

Is that possible?

Answer 1

Maybe you can use Windows 10 IoT Enterprise . It supports a headless mode (no UI).

Windows 10 IoT Enterprise is a full version of Windows 10 that delivers enterprise manageability and security to IoT solutions. [...] It is a binary equivalent to Windows 10 Enterprise, so you can use the same familiar development and management tools as client PCs and laptops.

Answer 2

There is Windows Server Core which is basically a stripped down variant of Windows server. But it's not possible to run Windows 10 without GUI. The only option is to kill explorer.exe, but that's not a very nice solution in my opinion.