26 June 2008
Hyper-V RTM announcement. Available today from the Microsoft Download Centre
In the Hyper-V shiproom this morning, we signed off on Hyper-V RTM (Release To Manufacturing). The build and articles are actively working their way through the systems and will be available from Microsoft Download Centre from around noon Pacific time. While waiting, please take a few moments to review the information in this post, plus the appropriate Knowledge Base (KB) articles I’ve linked to. There is a significant amount of information to take on board. It is fantastic for me to be able to publicly state that Hyper-V is released and ready for production deployment.
Resources:
Download links:
KB950050
This is the main KB for Hyper-V RTM. You need to apply the x64 version to upgrade the Hyper-V role in the parent partition to RTM.
I recommend you apply KB950050 to all Windows Server 2008 physical machines to ensure that the Hyper-V beta components (present on the RTM build of Windows Server 2008) are updated, for both x86 architectures and x64 architectures. Make sure you choose the correct download applicable to your machine architecture. This KB also contains the Hyper-V RTM remote management tools for Windows Server 2008.
KB951636
This is a supplementary download for localization of KB950050 in the following languages: Czech (Czech Republic); Hungarian (Hungary); Korean (Korea); Polish (Poland); Portuguese (Brazil); Portuguese (Portugal); Russia (Russia); Swedish (Sweden); Turkish (Turkey); Chinese (People’s Republic of China); Chinese (Taiwan) and Chinese (Hong Kong S.A.R).
KB952627
This download contains the Hyper-V remote management tools for Windows Vista SP1 (Hyper-V Manager and Virtual Machine Connection).
Changes:
The most significant change in Hyper-V RTM is the extended list of supported operating systems running in virtual machines.
- Windows Server 2008 [x64/x86]
- Up to 4 virtual processors (1, 2 or 4 way)
- Standard/Enterprise/Datacentre (including “without Hyper-V” SKUs)
- Web Server
- Windows HPC Server 2008 [x64]
- Up to 4 virtual processors (1, 2 or 4 way)
- Windows Vista [x64/x86]
- Up to 2 virtual processors (1 or 2 way)
- Business, Enterprise and Ultimate
- Minimum service pack: SP1
- Windows Server 2003 [x64] (With or without R2 update)
- Up to 2 virtual processors (1 or 2 way)
- Standard, Enterprise, Datacentre Editions
- Minimum service pack: SP2
- Windows Server 2003 [x86] (With or without R2 update)
- Up to 2 virtual processors (1 or 2 way)
- Standard, Enterprise, Datacentre, Web Editions.
- Minimum service pack: SP2
- Windows XP Professional [x86]
- Minimum service pack: SP2
- SP2: 1 virtual processor
- SP3: Up to 2 virtual processors (1 or 2 way)
- Windows XP Professional [x64]
- Up to 2 virtual processors (1 or 2 way)
- Minimum service pack: SP2
- Windows 2000
- 1 virtual processor
- Server, Advanced Server
- Minimum service pack: SP4
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 [x64/x86]
- Service Pack 1 or 2
- 1 virtual processor
Installation:
To upgrade to RTM, you need to apply KB950050 to the parent partition AND upgrade/install the RTM Integration Services in each virtual machine. For new installations, the general steps are:
- Install RTM Windows Server 2008
- x64 Standard, Enterprise or Datacenter
- Select Core or full installation option as required
- Apply the x64 version of the KB950050 update and reboot
- Add the Hyper-V role (Server Manager or ocsetup)
- After virtual machine operating system installation has completed, Insert the Integration Services setup disk into each virtual machine (Actions menu on Virtual Machine Connection), run setup.exe inside the virtual machine (or use autoplay if enabled), and reboot the virtual machine.
(Note the order of applying the update and adding the role on the parent partition does not matter)
Upgrading:
If you are upgrading from an existing installation running Beta, RC0 or RC1, the steps are essentially same as above except you don’t need to add the role. Be aware of certain incompatibilities for virtual machine configurations, virtual networks, snapshots and saved states. The compatibilities depend on which build you were previously running. I’ve been through all these in previous posts in my previous RC announcements, so take a look through them, plus KB949222 for further information.
It is especially important to install the RTM version of the Integration Services inside the virtual machines. While on some levels, previous versions of the Integration Services may be compatible, there are several fixes which must be applied to ensure you are running a supported configuration. Verification of installation depends on the virtual machine operating system:
- Windows Server 2008: Verify KB950050 or KB951634 is listed as an update
- Windows Vista: Verify KB950214 is listed as an update
- Other Windows Operating system: Check the build number of one of the Hyper-V drivers ends 18016. For example, \windows\system32\drivers\vmbus.sys
A few FAQs:
- KB950050 can only be applied on top of Windows Server 2008 RTM – not on pre-release versions.
- You can apply KB950050 to get to RTM from beta, RC0 or RC1. You do not need to go through interim builds
- If installed correctly, Help/About in Hyper-V Manager will show build 6.0.6001.18016
- If you installing on an HP Proliant Server with the Proliant Support Pack installed, refer to KB950792 before applying the update.
Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008 Remote Management Tools:
If you have been running pre-release versions of the Windows Vista SP1 management tools (KB949758 was RC0, KB949587 was RC1), you must upgrade to the RTM version available in KB952627. The download links are at the top. Once installed, Hyper-V manager will be present under Control Panel\Administrative Tools
If you have been running pre-release versions of the Windows Server 2008 management tools, you must upgrade to the RTM version by applying KB950050. Note that the Hyper-V role does not need to be enabled – the management tools are enabled through Server Manager\Features\Remote Server Administration Tools\Role Administration Tools\Hyper-V Tools. Note that Hyper-V Tools appears out of alphabetical order at the bottom of the list – an FAQ when people are looking for it.
I posted 5 articles on configuring remote management a while back – Part 1 is here. Note that there is configuration required both on the server and the client side.
Similarly, if you are using a Terminal Services gateway for publishing the remote management tools, you should also update them. More information on how to do this is here.
Limits:
This is a summary of the most “FAQ”’’d supported limits for running Hyper-V. Note that not all operating systems running in a virtual machine support all features (for example, SCSI controllers are not available in Windows XP and earlier). The full set of capabilities is available with Windows Server 2008 running as a virtual machine.
- Parent partition:
- Up to 1 TB of physical memory (Enterprise and Datacenter Editions)
- Up to 32GB of physical memory (Standard Edition)
- Up to 16 logical processors
- Up to 128 virtual machines running at any one time
- Up to 512 virtual machines configured
- Virtual machines:
- Up to 4 virtual processors (more information in the “Changes” section)
- Up to 64GB of RAM (requires Enterprise or Datacenter running on the parent partition and sufficient available resources)
- Up to 4 SCSI controllers per virtual machine, each controller having up to 64 disks
- Up to 8 NICs per virtual machine plus up to 4 legacy NICs per virtual machine
- Up to 4 devices on IDE controllers
- Up to 50 snapshots per virtual machine
There you go! Please make sure you read through the appropriate KB articles as I’m sure I will have missed some bits. (KBs are official statements – blogs are not, even if they are from people working in the Hyper-V team). There are several other items of documentation coming online soon – I’ll provide pointers as and when they go live.
Cheers,
John.
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