Support for Windows 2008 R2 and Windows 7 on ESX 3.5

[dfehse]

Hi,

maybe I'm just too stupid to find this information, but will there any official support for Windows 2008 R2 and Windows 7 on the ESX Virtual Infrastructure 3.5 Plattform?

Thx for any feedback

Daniel Fehse

[lreesey-old]

Check this document out. It appears they are supported:

http://www.vmware.com/pdf/GuestOS_guide.pdf

-larryr

[bulletprooffool]

Make sure to enable VT in your bios if possible

[AntonVZhbankov]

VT is needed for 64bit versions only.

Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2 are not really supported since they are not yet released to public. They are in experimental support mode, means that both OSes can run but there can be issues with them. So there is no guarantee.

---

VMware vExpert '2009

http://blog.vadmin.ru

[RedLimey]

I would think by now VMWare would know if they will be supporting Win2k8R2 (and Win7) on ESX Server v3.5.

I don't necessarily see myself as being untypical of customers out there who still have a sizable Windows 2000 VM presence in the field with the intent of migrating straight to Win2k8R2 VM's to leverage new features and I would sure like to know if I have to rush-ship (certainly undesired) vSphere media to 70+ remote locations so I can upgrade (oops, did I say upgrade? I meant ESX OS reinstall) if VMWare decides to snub the v3.5 and Win2k8R2 combo.

-Red

[jcridge]

I am also trying to determine if there will be official support for Windows 2008 R2 and Windows 7 on the ESX Virtual Infrastructure 3.5 Plattform?

Does anyone know if there is an update with this informaiton? I have not been able to find anything specific on VMware's website.

[DSTAVERT]

As Anton said there is experimental support. When and if there is official support ie sometime after the products have shipped then it will be official. If this is about a production environment why would you risk jumping on a platform the instant it is released or in this case before it is released. If you are in charge of some companies data, it is your responsibility to make sure that the corporate processes are protected. After some exhaustive testing and evaluation of the merits of using a new platform and watching forums for issues trends then you can make a decision to put something in place. Knowing whether something works is only relative. It may work well in one environment but fail miserably in another.

[RedLimey]

DSTAVERT - My question isn't whether they support now, but whether they are going to support Win2k8 R2 on v3.5. If they don't know this now to be able to make an official announcement, then that's extremely poor business.

Regardless on the timing of deploying Win2k8 R2, I need to know if I need to upgrade Hosts from v3.5 to vSphere4. Taking your 'editoral' logic, then we shouldn't even be deploying vSphere4 since it's so relatively new. In which case, VMWare absolutely should support Win2k8 R2 on v3.5.

[DSTAVERT]

If you are currently using "Windows 2000 VM" then you obviously don't rush to support. I wouldn't suggest anyone deploy vSphere unless they have done adequate testing to determine it's suitability to their environment. W28k requires a lot more resources than w2k or w2k3. Just the RAM requirements alone should cause you concern. Fewer VMs per host. You do want to make sure your current environment is suitable for ANY move. Editorial no just common sense.

[clindloff]

Any word on this?

I find the silence from VMware ridiculous honestly. My company is 95% Virtualized, moving to 100%. We use VDI and SRM as well. We have held off from deploying Vista and Windows 2008 for Windows 7 and Windows 2008R2. The whole freaking planet has known about Windows 2008 R2 and Windows 7 and millions of people have been using the beta's and RC's. Its not like it was OS X 10.6 and it just dropped out yesterday.

My first step is to upgrade my Windows 2003 domain to Windows 2008 R2. We are ready. We have had the final R2 code since August 7th, and total silence from VMware. I don't want a single Windows 2008 server at this point I just want to migrate to R2. Fusion and Workstation have support for it but ESX 3.5 U4????? Not to even mention that vSphere wont work on Windows 7 with out a major hack.

I bet it all works on Hyper V!!!

[clindloff]

November 20th and total silence from VMware. When will 2008R2 and Windows 7 be offcially supported on ESX 3.5 or higher? I understand there is video driver problems, when will this be fixed?

VMware has been frustrating me lately. Fusion 3.0 was a failure out the door and now this.

[steveanderson3]

I realize this isn't an answer to the question, but just a quick bit of information. I've installed the released 2008 r2 on ESX 4.0, and it runs very well. Even tested the memory and cpu hot add support, it works like a champ. Runs faster than 2008 server, better interface, etc. I have no doubt that vmware will officially release 'support' for this OS soon, but I would not expect it on ESX 3.5. 2008 r2 is 64-bit only, ESX 3.5 is 32-bit, and while it can run a 64-bit guest OS, I wouldn't recommend it.

[john_gallucci]

I am not sure what your virtualization experience is, but your response "ESX 3.5 is 32-bit, and while it can run a 64-bit guest OS, I wouldn't recommend it" is incorrect. My experience has been different as I have been using VI3 for 3 years ever since ESX 3.0, and it has fully supported 64-bit operating systems, and 3.5 and 4.0 continue to do so today. It has everything to do with the Processor CPU, not the Service Console of ESX.

When you say 3.5 is 32-bit, you are referring to the Service Console which is in fact 32-bit, but it has nothing to do with the hypervisor that runs the guest operating system. The Hypervisor has full 64-bit support. I can understand how this can be confusing because when you SSH into a 3.5 host and do a 'uname -a' you see a 32-bit linux kernel. This is for management purposes only. In ESXi this doesn't even exist.

I believe what the author of this article is saying is "when will VMware officially support these operating systems?". Yes it works on 4.0, yes you can find tweaks for VMware tools for R2 graphics drivers, yes you can ignore the "(experimental)" tag, yes you can trick the OS type by saying it's vista,......BUT this is unacceptable behavior for such a large company who supports such expensive datacenters. Going silent for this long having "experimental" support for an OS that not only has passed RTM but public availability is quite strange. Before 2010 Q1 I would expect to see at least something on the subject.

I Google "ESX 4.0.1" everyday in hope that the next update of VMware vSphere will be available and support all the latest stuff Microsoft has had to offer. One day I will wake up a happy man!

To those that are on edge of upgrading production systems to 4.0 from 3.5 I can tell you this. The ESX upgrade to 4.0 was actually the least painful upgrade I've experienced with VMware (waking up to expired licenses with 3.5 Update 2 was so memorable!) . I recommend using the VMware Host Update utility, placing your hosts into maintenance mode, and using the ESX 4.0 ISO image to do the update. Quick, painless, and so far hasn't caused a single issue with the VMs. Of course you must upgrade to vSphere 4.0 which can be some work, but I have both production and development machines running without any downtime since the upgrade (500+ VMs)

[steveanderson3]

My point is that the actual hypervisor kernel in 3.5 is 32-bit. VMware isn't all that forthcoming about it, but the kernel itself is 32-bit. That is one of the great things about 4.0, the hypervisor is now 64-bit. It's correct that vmware does support 64-bit guests on 3.5. My statement about me recommending it or not was not based on a compatibility matrix, it was just my opinion.

By the way, 4.0 update 1 is out, and it does now fully support 2008 r2 and Windows 7. I've not seen an update regarding 3.5 support yet for these OS's

[clindloff]

I run many instances of Windows 2003 64bit now under ESX 3.5 update 4 just fine. I am going to upgrade to 4.0 at some point, I prefer to let it cook a little longer, update 1 or 2. I am sure some people have it running just fine under the .0 release. I will wait.

To the original point. Windows 2008R2 and Windows 7 were widely downloaded by over 1.5 million people. VMware supports them in Workstation 7.0 and Fusion 3.0. There is pent up demand to move these versions from IT shops that skipped Vista and 2008 hoping, as I do, to move to 2008 R2 and 7.0 when I make the move. For me the first move is to upgrade my Windows AD domain to 2008...R2. Since many of my DC's are virtual I cant until VMware officially supports it. I want to build a 2008 R2 template, not a 2008 64bit or Vista 64bit template, minus the video drivers and hope it works well in the future. No thanks.

I love VMware but lately they have fallen asleep at the wheel. Fusion 3.0 is a total and utter disaster for my Mac users. My sales rep wont return my emails or calls because I dont want to buy anything but some training for 4.0. The silence on this matter is crazy. All the while my Microsoft rep would send a team into my place of business to help me convert to Hyper V if I wanted them to....for free.

[john_gallucci]

Now that Update 1 has been officially released, I am going to try to upgrade all my ESX hosts this week. I will post any snags I run into. I created R2 and 7 templates under then experimental version, and will most likely will just upgrade the VMware tools with the new release. Hadn't really seen any issuesother than the SVGA adapter problem with R2using any of the new templates (hopefully it's fixed with Update 1)

I recently upgraded my Windows AD domain to R2 about 3 weeks ago and it has been running solid (all other ADs are 2003). All my ADs are virtualized as well.

I wonder if 3.5 users have run into any issues with 3.5 considering the VM hardware is version 4 (I think?). All my VM templates have been upgraded to version 7 and use the VMXNET3 NIC.

[DSTAVERT]

Update 1 is available and it does support R2 and Win7. The new client supports them as well.

[clindloff]

Wonderful, right after I upgrade to 4.0 I can use them:(

[RedLimey]

We get out tech support through HP. They pointed me to VMWare's Compatibility Guide search tool. If you look at the search results (below the search criteria fields), you'll see no reference to v3.5, only vSphere (v4).

http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php?action=search&deviceCategory=software&advancedORbasic=advanced&maxDisplayRows=50&key=2008&productId=-1&datePosted=-1&partnerId[]=-1&os_bits=-1&os_use[]=16&os_name[]=WindowsServer2008&rorre=0

This is as official a word from VMWare as I've seen.

(Bah - the link has content that is interpreted at html code (?), so you'll have to specify the OS info)

-Red