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About Virtual Machines and Guest Operating Systems
Updated: May 6, 2013
Applies To: Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1
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 Windows Server® 2012, see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=234785.
 Important |
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| 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 (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=196706) |
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Note |
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| 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. |
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Note |
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Microsoft provides support for the operating systems listed in the tables below in the following manner:
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| Server guest operating system (Windows) | Editions | Virtual processors | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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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 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2744129.
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Enterprise and Datacenter |
1,2,3, or 4 |
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Windows Server 2008 R2 with Service Pack 1 |
Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, and Web editions |
1, 2, 3, or 4 |
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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 |
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Windows Server 2003 R2 with Service Pack 2 |
Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, and Web |
1 or 2 |
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Windows Home Server 2011 |
Standard |
1, 2 or 4 |
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Windows MultiPoint Server 2011 |
Standard, Premium |
2 |
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Windows Small Business Server 2011 |
Essentials |
1 or 2 |
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Windows Small Business Server 2011 |
Standard |
1, 2, or 4 |
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Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 Edition with Service Pack 2 |
Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter |
1 or 2 |
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Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 2 |
Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, and Web |
1 or 2 |
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Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition with Service Pack 2 |
Standard, Enterprise, and Datacenter |
1 or 2 |
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Windows 2000 Server with Service Pack 4
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Server, Advanced Server |
1 |
| Server guest operating system (Linux) on Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2 | Editions | Virtual processors |
|---|---|---|
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CentOS 6.0-6.3 |
x86 edition and x64 edition |
1, 2, 3, or 4 |
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CentOS 5.5-5.8 |
x86 edition and x64 edition |
1, 2, 3, or 4 |
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.0-6.3 |
x86 edition and x64 edition |
1, 2, 3, or 4 |
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.9. Red Hat certified. https://hardware.redhat.com/show.cgi?id=907582 |
x86 edition and x64 edition |
1, 2, 3, or 4 |
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5-5.8 |
x86 edition and x64 edition |
1, 2, 3, or 4 |
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SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 with Service Pack 1 or Service Pack 2 |
x86 edition and x64 edition |
1, 2, 3, or 4 |
|
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 with Service Pack 4 |
x86 edition and x64 edition |
1, 2, 3, or 4 |
| Server guest operating system (Linux) on Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 with Service Pack 2 | Editions | Virtual processors |
|---|---|---|
|
CentOS 6.0-6.3 |
x86 edition |
1 |
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CentOS 6.0-6.3 |
x64 edition |
1, 2, 3, or 4 |
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CentOS 5.5-5.8 |
x86 edition |
1 |
|
CentOS 5.5-5.8 |
x64 edition |
1, 2, 3, or 4 |
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.0-6.3 |
x86 |
1 |
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.0-6.3 |
x64 edition |
1, 2, 3, or 4 |
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5-5.8 |
x86 edition |
1 |
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.5-5.8 |
x64 edition |
1, 2, 3, or 4 |
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SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 with Service Pack 1 or Service Pack 2 |
x86 edition |
1 |
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SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 with Service Pack 1 or Service Pack 2 |
x64 edition |
1, 2, 3, or 4 |
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SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 with Service Pack 4 |
x86 edition |
1 |
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SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 with Service Pack 4 |
x64 edition |
1, 2, 3, or 4 |
| Client guest operating system | Editions | Virtual processors | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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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 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2744129. |
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4 |
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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 |
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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 |
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Windows Vista with Service Pack 2 (SP2) |
Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate, including N and KN editions |
1 or 2 |
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Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (SP3)
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Professional |
1 or 2 |
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Windows XP with Service Pack 2
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Professional |
1 |
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Windows XP x64 Edition with Service Pack 2 |
Professional |
1 or 2 |
Integration services are available for supported guest operating systems as described in the following table. This includes information about Linux distributions for which integration services are available. Microsoft provides support for issues found in these integration services.
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Important |
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| When a service pack is listed, the service pack is required and the guest operating system is not supported without the listed service pack. |
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Note |
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| 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. |
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Guest operating system |
Device and service support |
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Windows Server 2008 R2 |
Drivers: IDE, SCSI, networking, video, and mouse Services: operating system shutdown, time synchronization, data exchange, heartbeat, and online backup |
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Windows Server 2008 with Service Pack 2 (64-bit editions and x86 editions) |
Drivers: IDE, SCSI, networking, video, and mouse Services: operating system shutdown, time synchronization, data exchange, heartbeat, and online backup |
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Windows Server 2003 (x64 editions) with Service Pack 2 |
Drivers: IDE, SCSI, networking, video, and mouse Services: operating system shutdown, time synchronization, data exchange, heartbeat, and online backup
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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 |
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Windows 2000 Server with Service Pack 4
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Drivers: IDE, networking, video, and mouse Services: operating system shutdown, time synchronization, data exchange, and heartbeat |
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Windows 2000 Advanced Server with Service Pack 4
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Drivers: IDE, networking, video, and mouse Services: operating system shutdown, time synchronization, data exchange, and heartbeat |
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CentOS 6.0 - 6.3 (x86 edition and x64 edition) |
Drivers: IDE, SCSI, networking, and mouse Services: Time synchronization, operating system shutdown, and heartbeat Integration services are distributed through a download available at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=34603 |
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CentOS 5.7 – 5.8 (x86 edition and x64 edition) |
Drivers: IDE, SCSI, and networking Services: Time synchronization, operating system shutdown, and heartbeat Integration services are distributed through a download available at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=34603 |
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.0 – 6.3, x86 edition and x64 edition |
Drivers: IDE, SCSI, networking, and mouse Services: Time synchronization, operating system shutdown, and heartbeat Integration services are distributed through a download available at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=34603 |
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.9, x86 edition and x64 edition |
Red Hat certified. https://hardware.redhat.com/show.cgi?id=907582 Drivers: IDE, SCSI, networking, and mouse Services: Time synchronization, operating system shutdown, and heartbeat Integration services are built-in and do not require a separate download and installation. |
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Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.7- 5.8 (x86 edition and x64 edition) |
Drivers: IDE, SCSI, and networking Services: Time synchronization, operating system shutdown, and heartbeat Integration services are distributed through a download available at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=34603 |
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SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 (x86 edition and x64 edition) with Service Pack 2 |
Drivers: IDE, SCSI, networking, and mouse Services: Time synchronization, operating system shutdown, and heartbeat Integration services are built-in and do not require a separate download and installation. |
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Open SUSE 12.1 |
Drivers: IDE, SCSI, networking, and mouse Services: Time synchronization, operating system shutdown, and heartbeat Integration services are built-in and do not require a separate download and installation. |
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Ubuntu 12.04 |
Drivers: IDE, SCSI, networking, and mouse Services: Time synchronization, operating system shutdown, and heartbeat Integration services are built-in and do not require a separate download and installation. |
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Windows 7 |
Drivers: IDE, SCSI, networking, video, and mouse Services: operating system shutdown, time synchronization, data exchange, heartbeat, and online backup |
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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 |
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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 |
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Windows XP Professional (x86 editions) with Service Pack 2 or 3
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Drivers: IDE, SCSI, networking, video, and mouse Services: operating system shutdown, time synchronization, data exchange, and heartbeat |
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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 |
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On Windows operating systems, you may need to close the Found New Hardware Wizard to start the installation of integration services.
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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.
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Integration services for the supported versions of Linux distributions are distributed through the Microsoft Download Center. 5.2
