This is now available for download from this location. http://www.Microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/virtualserver/downloads/servicepack.mspx

This version of Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1  - Beta 2 will work with Vista. However a little tweaking needs to be carried out first.

For the Virtual Server environment to work correctly under Vista, IIS settings need configuring in the following way;

To do this, go to Control Panel and under the Programs category click on Windows Features to Turn Windows features on and off. Here you will see a long list of features that can be enabled/disabled in Vista

Under Web Management Tools enable:

  • IIS Management Console

Under IIS 6 Management Compatibility enable:

  • IIS Metabase and IIS6 configuration compatibility

Under Application Development Features enable:

  • CGI

Under Common Http Features enable:

  • Default Document
  • Directory Browsing
  • HTTP Errors
  • Static Content

Under Health and Diagnostics enable:

  • HTTP Logging
  • Request Monitor

Under Performance Features enable:

  • Static Content Compression

Under Security enable:

  • Windows Authentication

To install Virtual Server you will need to run the Install process using elevated privileges;

Open up an elevated Command prompt – Start->All Programs->Accessories, right click on Command Prompt, and select “Run As Administrator"

Once Virtual Server is installed if you want to access the following;

Accessing the Virtual Server Administration Website from the local machine:

You’ll need to run Internet Explorer with elevated privileges. Click the start menu, select Internet Explorer, right click, and “Run as Administrator”.

Accessing the Virtual Server Administration Website from a remote machine (Windows Vista Only):

An entry for IIS needs to be created in the firewall. However, in my experience, going to Control Panel->Network and Internet->Allow a program through Windows Firewall doesn’t work as expected (due to LUA). However, you can follow this set of steps to create a new firewall entry:

  1. Click Start, and then select Control Panel.
  2. Select View network status and tasks under Network and Internet.
  3. Click “View Sharing Settings”, and allow LUA to run the program as an elevated program.
  4. In the Windows Firewall tab, select Exceptions, and then click the “Add Port” button.
For the name field, enter in HTTP, and 80 for the port number (and leave the TCP button checked)

Thanks to  Mike Sterling  Program Manager Windows Virtualization for the very useful information re the setup and configuration information for getting the Beta Version of Virtual Server  to work under Vista.