The tables in this article show you the generations and operating systems that are compatible with some of the Hyper-V features, grouped by categories. In general, you'll get the best availability of features with a generation 2 virtual machine that runs the newest operating system.
Keep in mind that some features rely on hardware or other infrastructure. For hardware details, see System requirements for Hyper-V on Windows Server. In some cases, a feature can be used with any supported guest operating system. For details on which operating systems are supported, see:
Generation 1 on 32-bit and 64-bit Windows versions starting with Windows 8. Generation 2 on 64-bit Windows 10 and Windows 11 versions
Security
Feature
Generation
Guest operating system
Secure boot
2
Linux: Ubuntu 14.04 and later, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 and later, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.0 and later, and CentOS 7.0 and later Windows: All supported versions that can run on a generation 2 virtual machine
Shielded virtual machines
2
Windows: All supported versions that can run on a generation 2 virtual machine
Understand which versions of Windows Server or Azure Local are compatible products for a guest operating system or application that has been validated for Hyper-V.
Lists the Windows operating systems supported for use as a guest in a virtual machine. Also gives links to similar articles for previous versions of Hyper-V.
Lists the maximum supported number for components you can add to or remove from Hyper-V and virtual machines, like how much memory, and how many virtual processors, in Windows Server.
As a Windows Server hybrid administrator, you integrate Windows Server environments with Azure services and manage Windows Server in on-premises networks.