To add a loopback adapter on Windows Server 2012, 2016 and 2019, follow the steps below:

  1. Click Start and select Server Manager.

  2. Click Tools and selectComputer Management.

  3. Click Device Manager.

  4. Click the computer name, click Action from the top menu bar and select Add Legacy Hardware.

  5. Click Next.

  6. Select Install the hardware that I manually select from a list (Advanced).
  7. Click Next.

  8. Select Network adapters.
  9. Click Next.
  10. Select Microsoft on the left.

  11. Select Microsoft KM-TEST Loopback Adapter on the right.
  12. Click Next.
  13. Click Next again.
  14. Click Finish.
  15. Click Start and select Control Panel.

  16. Click Network and Internet.

  17. Click Network and Sharing Center.

  18. Click Change adapter settings.
    Note: It is a good idea to rename the adapters so that they are distinguishable, for example; rename the new adapter to loopback and the real network adapter to network.

  19. Configure the loopback adapter with the Virtual Service IP.
    1. Right-click the loopback interface and select Properties.

    2. Select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IP) and click Properties.

    3. The TCP/IP properties window will appear. This is where the Virtual Service IP address can be configured. Enter the Virtual Service IP address and click Advanced....

    4. In Advanced TCP/IP Settings, remove the check from the Automatic metric checkbox.
    5. Enter 254 in the Interface metric text box.
      Note: Setting the Interface metric is an important step. This will disable this server so that it will not respond to ARP requests for the MAC address for the Virtual Service IP.
    6. Click OK to activate the change.
    7. Click OK and Close.
      Note: Ensure the “network” adapter is the actual network adapter that will send and receive traffic.
  20. On the Windows command line, run the following commands:
netsh interface ipv4 set interface "network" weakhostreceive=enabled
netsh interface ipv4 set interface "loopback" weakhostreceive=enabled
netsh interface ipv4 set interface "loopback" weakhostsend=enabled