VMware Communities
whorsfall
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

VMWare workstation 15 and Hyper-V / Credential Guard Compatibility

Hi,

I am aware that VMWare workstation and Hyper-V and credential guard in Windows 10 are not compatible. However I was curious as why they don't work together. I am interested from a technical standpoint what makes Hyper-V not compatible with other Virtualization solutions.

Thanks,

Ward

6 Replies
wila
Immortal
Immortal

Hi,

See this thread:

VMWare Workstation and Hyper-V at the same time

and read the answers provided by former VMware employee jmattson.

--

Wil

| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva
Reply
0 Kudos
whorsfall
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Hi wila,

Great answer much appreciated,

Ward

Reply
0 Kudos
Paul_Coddington
Contributor
Contributor

That thread is 10 years old and a lot has changed since then.

Windows 10 now has advanced security features, sandboxing, a Linux subsystem all requiring Hyper-V to be enabled. For all we know, more Hyper-V dependent features are on the way.

After many hours of searching, I cannot find any information published by VMware regarding plans to resolve this problem. All I can find is an article recommending switching off Windows features as a workaround. It would be good to have some indication of what the future holds.

Disabling useful and/or critical parts of the OS is not a long-term solution.

According to Microsoft, an API has been provided for 3rd party virtualisation products to resolve this problem (https://twitter.com/WSV_GUY/status/1144834284450021376). Apparently, Oracle VirtualBox has already done so. The implication of this tweet, from a Microsoft employee, one of the Azure program managers, is that VMware has been dragging its feet on this matter.

Many of us have invested a lot of time, effort and money in using VMware Workstation over the years. Now we do not even know if the product has a viable future, whether we should quit now and try to find another solution or hang on and wait for the problem to be fixed. It is frustrating being kept in the dark.

Now, perhaps the API is insufficient. Perhaps using the API would restrict VMware Workstation to Hyper-V limitations, such as limited Guest OS support, no access to USB devices, no ability to implement a fully interactive multimedia enabled workstation emulation that can play games, edit video, connect to a webcam and scanner, etc. If this is the case, fair enough, but at least keep customers informed about it so we can weigh up the issues and make informed decisions.

I am sold on VMware Workstation superiority over Hyper-V for my needs. I'm not sure I can justify disabling more and more useful/vital components of Windows 10 for years to come in order to keep using it.

I am frustrated that I have no information on which I can make decisions about the future. I am frustrated I am blocked from contacting VMware to ask for clarification because I am not a corporate customer. I am frustrated that VMware seems reluctant to provide customers with any concrete information about such an important issue.

Perhaps it is time someone updated the KB, or wrote a blog article on this critical issue?

jziobro
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

I have to second what Paul wrote. I will not be upgrading to the next version of VMware Workstation if they cannot resolve this issue. I have been using this product for over ten years now but MS is adding too many useful features which rely on Hyper-V. As stated, there is sandboxing, WSL2, and Docker for Windows that can't be used if Hyper-V is disabled. No matter what, to use these features I am going to have to switch my virtualization platform. Dual-booting is out of the question. The number one reason I want to use these features is so I can do all of my work from one desktop without having to run a separate macine, virtual or physical, and dual-booting is the worst possible solution. I still need virtual machines to test new builds and do development work on. I work as a contract software engineer and I create VM(s) for each customer to keep there work seperate from my other customers. When I go to a customers site, I bring their VM(s) with me along with my laptop.

Currently I'm testing the latest Windows 10 Insider release in a VMware VM and I can enable Hyper-V in that VM and use all of these new features. Perhaps VMware should consider moving the Workstation product from a type-2 to a type-1 hypervisor similar to what MS has down with Hyper-V, including a special case for the default "boot" O/S?    

IrreverentMonk
Contributor
Contributor

I agree with #3 and #4.  I was looking to buy a copy of VMware Workstation to complement my work at my new place, and now, it looks like I'll have to go VirtualBox.

Oh well.

Reply
0 Kudos
mfelker
Expert
Expert

It is certainly possible that MS "upgraded" WSL to ver 2, in part, to combat VMware WS 15 which runs quite well on the Insider previews I've installed.  Fortunately WSL ver 1 still works although I'd like to use the improvements.  I'm happier with VMware on Linux since the kernel problem has been solved.   I am actually running it on Ubuntu 19.19 with kernel 5.3.0-050300rc2-generic. 

Still no WS 16 2019 - compatibility with Hyper-V is probably the only reason I could justify shelling out big bucks for an upgrade from ver 15.1

Reply
0 Kudos