About Virtual Machines and Guest Operating Systems
Applies To: Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1
Important
Windows Server 2012 is the last version of Windows that will be supported as a guest operating system on this platform. There will be no further additions to the list of supported Windows guest operating systems.
Supported guest operating systems
The following tables list the operating systems that are supported for use on a virtual machine as a guest operating system. You can run 32-bit and 64-bit guest operating systems at the same time on one server running Hyper-V. The guest operating systems are supported for Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2, Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 with Service Pack 2, and Hyper-V version 1 (KB950050, “Hyper-V Update for Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition”).
For similar information about Hyper-V in other versions of Windows Server, see:
Supported Windows Guest Operating Systems for Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1
Supported Windows Guest Operating Systems for Hyper-V in Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8
Important
Support for Windows 2000 Server and Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (x86) ended on July 13, 2010. Support for Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 ended on July 12, 2011. After support ends, integration services for these operating systems are not updated and support is not available for any issues arising from using these operating systems in virtual machines. For more information about the end of support, see Support for Windows 2000 and Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) Ends on July 13, 2010 (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=196706)
Note
A virtual machine running on a version of Hyper-V earlier than Windows Server 2008 R2 can be configured with 1, 2, or 4 virtual processors, regardless of the number of processors that the guest operating system supports.
Note
Microsoft provides support for the operating systems listed in the tables below in the following manner:
- Issues found in Microsoft operating systems and in integration services are supported by Microsoft support.
- For issues found in other operating systems that have been certified by the operating system vendor to run on Hyper-V, support is provided by the vendor.
- For issues found in other operating systems, Microsoft submits the issue to the multi-vendor support community, TSANet.
| Server guest operating system | Editions | Virtual processors | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Windows Server® 2012, only on a server running Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1), with a hotfix applied. To read about and download the hotfix, see https://support.microsoft.com/kb/2744129.
|
Enterprise and Datacenter |
1,2,3, or 4 |
||
Windows Server 2008 R2 with Service Pack 1 |
Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, and Web editions |
1, 2, 3, or 4 |
||
Windows Server 2008 with Service Pack 2 |
Standard, Standard without Hyper-V, Enterprise, Enterprise without Hyper-V, Datacenter, Datacenter without Hyper-V, Windows Web Server 2008, and HPC Edition |
1, 2, 3, or 4 |
||
Windows Server 2003 R2 with Service Pack 2 |
Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, and Web |
1 or 2 |
||
Windows Home Server 2011 |
Standard |
1, 2 or 4 |
||
Windows MultiPoint Server 2011 |
Standard, Premium |
2 |
||
Windows Small Business Server 2011 |
Essentials |
1 or 2 |
||
Windows Small Business Server 2011 |
Standard |
1, 2, or 4 |
||
Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition with Service Pack 2 |
Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter |
1 or 2 |
||
Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 2 |
Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, and Web |
1 or 2 |
||
Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition with Service Pack 2 |
Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter |
1 or 2 |
||
Windows 2000 Server with Service Pack 4 Important Support for this operating system ended on July 13, 2010. For more information, see the notice at the beginning of this article.
|
Server, Advanced Server |
1 |
||
Linux |
For detailed information about running Linux as a guest operating system on Hyper-V, see Linux Virtual Machines on Hyper-V. |
4 |
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Note| Client guest operating system | Editions | Virtual processors | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Windows® 8, only on a server running Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1), with a hotfix applied. To read about and download the hotfix, see https://support.microsoft.com/kb/2744129. |
4 |
|||
Windows 7 with Service Pack 1 |
Enterprise, Ultimate, and Professional. This applies to both 32-bit and 64-bit editions, as well as N and KN editions. |
1, 2, 3, or 4 |
||
Windows 7 |
Enterprise, Ultimate, and Professional. This applies to both 32-bit and 64-bit editions, as well as N and KN editions. |
1, 2, 3, or 4 |
||
Windows Vista with Service Pack 2 (SP2) |
Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate, including N and KN editions |
1 or 2 |
||
Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (SP3)
|
Professional |
1 or 2 |
||
Windows XP with Service Pack 2 Important Support for this operating system ended on July 13, 2010. For more information, see the notice at the beginning of this article.
|
Professional |
1 |
||
Windows XP x64 Edition with Service Pack 2 |
Professional |
1 or 2 |
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ImportantIntegration services
Integration services are available for supported guest operating systems as described in the following table.
For more information about integration services for Linux as a guest operating system on Hyper-V, see Linux Virtual Machines on Hyper-V.
Important
When a service pack is listed, the service pack is required and the guest operating system is not supported without the listed service pack.
Note
Some guest operating systems do not support the Volume Shadow Copy Service. As a result, online backup service is not available and is not listed for those guest operating systems.
Note
Guest operating system
Windows Server 2003 (x86 editions) with Service Pack 2
Drivers: IDE, SCSI, networking, video, and mouse
Services: operating system shutdown, time synchronization, data exchange, heartbeat, and online backup
Windows 2000 Server with Service Pack 4
Important
Support for this operating system ended on July 13, 2010. For more information, see the notice at the beginning of this article.
Drivers: IDE, networking, video, and mouse
Services: operating system shutdown, time synchronization, data exchange, and heartbeat
Windows 2000 Advanced Server with Service Pack 4
Important
Support for this operating system ended on July 13, 2010. For more information, see the notice at the beginning of this article.
Drivers: IDE, networking, video, and mouse
Services: operating system shutdown, time synchronization, data exchange, and heartbeat
Windows 7
Drivers: IDE, SCSI, networking, video, and mouse
Services: operating system shutdown, time synchronization, data exchange, heartbeat, and online backup
Windows Vista (64-bit editions) with Service Pack 2
Drivers: IDE, SCSI, networking, video, and mouse
Services: operating system shutdown, time synchronization, data exchange, heartbeat, and online backup
Windows Vista (x86 editions) with Service Pack 2
Drivers: IDE, networking, video, and mouse
Services: operating system shutdown, time synchronization, data exchange, heartbeat, and online backup
Windows XP Professional (x86 editions) with Service Pack 2 or 3
Important
Support for Windows XP with Service Pack 2 ended on July 13, 2010. For more information, see the notice at the beginning of this article.
Drivers: IDE, SCSI, networking, video, and mouse
Services: operating system shutdown, time synchronization, data exchange, and heartbeat
Windows XP Professional x64 Edition with Service Pack 2
Drivers: IDE, SCSI, networking, video, and mouse
Services: operating system shutdown, time synchronization, data exchange, and heartbeat
Linux
For detailed information about running Linux as a guest operating system on Hyper-V, see Linux Virtual Machines on Hyper-V.
Additional considerations
On Windows operating systems, you may need to close the Found New Hardware Wizard to start the installation of integration services.
If you installed a prerelease version of integration services on a guest operating system, we recommend that you upgrade to the release version. For supported Windows operating systems, the release version of integration services is included with the release version of the Hyper-V role. For more information about the role update package, see Installing Hyper-V [Node]. For more information about version compatibility, see Version Compatibility for Integration Services.