System Requirements: VMM Management Server in System Center 2012 and in System Center 2012 SP1
Updated: May 13, 2016
Applies To: System Center 2012 SP1 - Virtual Machine Manager, System Center 2012 - Virtual Machine Manager
Hardware requirements
The following tables list the minimum and recommended hardware requirements for the System Center 2012 – Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) management server, based on the number of hosts that you manage.
Managing up to 150 hosts
| Hardware component | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Pentium 4, 2 gigahertz (GHz) (x64) | Dual-processor, dual-core, 2.8 GHz (x64) or greater |
| RAM | 4 gigabytes (GB) | 4 GB |
| Hard disk space, without a local VMM database | 2 GB | 40 GB |
| Hard disk space, with a local, full version of Microsoft SQL Server | 80 GB | 150 GB |
Note
If you use the VMM management server as a library server, you must provide additional hard disk space to store objects. For more information about the requirements for a VMM library server, see System Requirements: VMM Library Server in System Center 2012 and in System Center 2012 SP1.
Managing more than 150 hosts
| Hardware component | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Pentium 4, 2.8 GHz (x64) | Dual-processor, dual-core, 3.6 GHz or greater (x64) |
| RAM | 4 GB | 8 GB |
| Hard disk space | 10 GB | 50 GB |
Note
For better performance when you manage more than 150 hosts, we recommend that you use a dedicated computer for the VMM management server and do the following:
- Add one or more remote computers as library servers, and do not use the default library share on the VMM management server.
- Use a version of SQL Server that is installed on a different computer for the VMM database.
Software requirements
Before you install the VMM management server, you must install the following software.
| Software | Notes |
|---|---|
| A supported operating system | For more information, see Supported operating systems in this topic. |
| Windows Remote Management (WinRM) service Note: If the Windows Remote Management (WS-Management) service is not started, the setup process will display an error during the prerequisites check. You must start the service before setup can continue. | - WinRM 2.0 is included in the Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system. By default, the Windows Remote Management (WS-Management) service is set to start automatically (delayed start). - WinRM 3.0 is included in Windows Server 2012 and in Windows Server 2012 R2. By default, the Windows Remote Management (WS-Management) service is set to start automatically. |
| Microsoft .NET Framework: - For System Center 2012 – Virtual Machine Manager: Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 - For VMM in System Center 2012 SP1: Microsoft .NET Framework 4 or Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 |
To obtain the Microsoft .NET Framework: - On a computer that runs Windows Server 2008 R2, if Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5.1 is not installed (it is not installed by default), the VMM setup wizard will install it. - Microsoft .NET Framework 4 is included in Windows Server 2012. - Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 is included in Windows Server 2012 R2and is available from Setup. - Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5.1 is included in the Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 development system. |
| Windows deployment and installation kit: - For System Center 2012 – Virtual Machine Manager: Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK) for Windows 7 - For VMM in System Center 2012 SP1: Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK) for Windows 8 |
To obtain a Windows deployment and installation kit: - Windows AIK is available in the Microsoft Download Center. To install Windows AIK, you can download the ISO file, write the ISO file to a DVD by using a non-Microsoft tool, and then install Windows AIK from the DVD. - Windows ADK is available in the Microsoft Download Center. When you install Windows ADK, select the Deployment Tools and Windows Preinstallation Environment features. |
| SQL Server 2008 R2 Command Line Utilities or SQL Server 2012 Command Line Utilities, depending on which version of SQL Server you install Note: If you do not install these utilities, this will not block the installation. These utilities are required if you plan to deploy services that use SQL Server data-tier applications (.dacpac files). | Locate the Command Line Utilities in the following feature packs: - Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Feature Pack - Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Feature Pack |
| A supported version of SQL Server | For more information about the supported versions of SQL Server, see System Requirements: VMM Database in System Center 2012 and in System Center 2012 SP1. |
Supported operating systems
| For System Center 2012 – Virtual Machine Manager | Edition | Service pack | System architecture |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows Server 2008 R2 (full installation) | Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter | Service Pack 1 or earlier | x64 |
| For Virtual Machine Manager in System Center 2012 SP1 | Edition | Service pack | System architecture |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows Server 2012 (Server with a GUI and Server Core Installation options) | Standard and Datacenter | Not applicable | x64 |
Additional information
The computer on which you install the VMM management server must be a member of an Active Directory domain.
The name of the computer on which you install the VMM management server cannot exceed 15 characters.
Don’t install the VMM management server, or other System Center components other than agents, on servers running Hyper-V. You can install System Center components in virtual machines.
Installing the VMM management server in a virtual machine can help you reduce the number of physical servers that you maintain, and simplify some management tasks.
If you install the VMM management server on a virtual machine and you use the Dynamic Memory feature of Hyper-V, you must set the startup RAM for the virtual machine to be at least 2,048 megabytes (MB).
You can use VMM to install a highly available VMM management server on a failover cluster that runs any supported operating system.
For information about how to install a VMM management server, see Installing a VMM Management Server and Installing a Highly Available VMM Management Server.