Windows 2012 hyper V does it support Windows 2022 as a VM

[autumn]

G day all

Well as the Subject says, will a Server 2012 Hyper-V support a VM with Server Std 2022 on it?

Back story:
You know the drill, software company is doing a software upgrade and their specs don't list Server 2012 as a listed supported OS. Software company has started the process of updating and now gone back to the customer and said they need to install Server 2019 or 2022. Luckily I have them setup with VM's however it is a Server 2012. Worst case is I upgrade the Hyper V server to 2022 as well but....

 

[Sky-Knight]

No, Server 2022 is Windows 11 Server, and as such you need TPM and modern processors. There is no secure boot option that works with TPM support pass-through or otherwise in HyperV 2012.

Worse, officially speaking Microsoft does not support operating younger edition guest OSs on an older edition host. It is expected that you'll install a new host, and migrate workloads to it. This is particularly true from Server 2016 to current, since all of those OS's can be upgraded in place safely, as it's just a feature update. (Windows 10 server, to Windows 10 Server, to Windows 11 Server) Think about the Windows 10 feature updates along that pathway.

You will not be able to "upgrade" a Server 2012 host to Server 2022. That's not only extremely foolish since it's Windows 8 server to Windows 11 server, but the hardware requirements changed for Server 2022. The latest OS you're going to be able to run on any platform that started at 2012 server is Server 2019. For all of the same reasons that old hardware cannot run Windows 11.

You will not the documentation is clearly spelled out here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/w...uest-operating-systems-for-hyper-v-on-windows

And you'll also note the specifics on Server 2022: Windows Server 2022 240 for generation 2;
64 for generation 1 Built-in Hosted on Windows Server 2019 or above, Azure Stack HCI, version 20H2 or above.

I really wish they'd point out the TPM bits, because generation 2 VMs are REQUIRED for Server 2022, not sure why they mentioned gen 1. Gen 2 does secure boot, which 2022 requires. And again TPM pass through happens if the host supports it, but is not visible in the configuration.

In these cases I recommend the host be upgraded to Server 2019, and Server 2019 guests be utilized until the next hardware refresh. Alternately you can rebuild the host based on VMWare ESXi 8.0, which has a virtual TPM solution that is far more flexible. Of course that's additional licensing if you want more than 4 VMs.

 

[autumn]

No, Server 2022 is Windows 11 Server, and as such you need TPM and modern processors. There is no secure boot option that works with TPM support pass-through or otherwise in HyperV 2012.

Worse, officially speaking Microsoft does not support operating younger edition guest OSs on an older edition host. It is expected that you'll install a new host, and migrate workloads to it. This is particularly true from Server 2016 to current, since all of those OS's can be upgraded in place safely, as it's just a feature update. (Windows 10 server, to Windows 10 Server, to Windows 11 Server) Think about the Windows 10 feature updates along that pathway.

You will not be able to "upgrade" a Server 2012 host to Server 2022. That's not only extremely foolish since it's Windows 8 server to Windows 11 server, but the hardware requirements changed for Server 2022. The latest OS you're going to be able to run on any platform that started at 2012 server is Server 2019. For all of the same reasons that old hardware cannot run Windows 11.

You will not the documentation is clearly spelled out here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/w...uest-operating-systems-for-hyper-v-on-windows

And you'll also note the specifics on Server 2022: Windows Server 2022 240 for generation 2;
64 for generation 1 Built-in Hosted on Windows Server 2019 or above, Azure Stack HCI, version 20H2 or above.

I really wish they'd point out the TPM bits, because generation 2 VMs are REQUIRED for Server 2022, not sure why they mentioned gen 1. Gen 2 does secure boot, which 2022 requires. And again TPM pass through happens if the host supports it, but is not visible in the configuration.

In these cases I recommend the host be upgraded to Server 2019, and Server 2019 guests be utilized until the next hardware refresh. Alternately you can rebuild the host based on VMWare ESXi 8.0, which has a virtual TPM solution that is far more flexible. Of course that's additional licensing if you want more than 4 VMs.

Thanks. I hadn't even thought about the TPM. And couldn't remember about the host/guest arrangement, I had thought that was the case.

So looks like quoting on a the whole kit will need to be it. I don't know what this software company was thinking. They notified me on Monday and wanted to do their upgrade this weekend. well that's not going to happen.