Anyone know whether there will be a Hyper-V Server 2022? i.e. the free version which is just for running VMs and has no GUI?
I've seen mentions on forums that this SKU is being dropped, but not found anything official.
Thanks
Forum Discussion
Hyper-V Server 2022
Free 'Microsoft Hyper-V Server' product update
Since its introduction over a decade ago in Windows Server 2008, Hyper-V technology has been, and continues to be, the foundation of Microsoft’s hypervisor platform. Hyper-V is a strategic technology for Microsoft. Microsoft continues to invest heavily in Hyper-V for a variety of scenarios such as virtualization, security, containers, gaming, and more. Hyper-V is used in Azure, Azure Local, Windows Server, Windows Client, and Xbox among others.
Starting with Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2019, the free ‘Microsoft Hyper-V Server’ product has been deprecated and is the final version of that product. Hyper-V Server 2019 is a free product available for download from the Microsoft Evaluation Center: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/evaluate-hyper-v-server-2019
Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2019 will continue to be supported under its lifecycle policy until January 2029, see this link for additional information: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/hyperv-server-2019.
While Microsoft has made a business decision to no longer offer the free 'Microsoft Hyper-V Server' product, this has no impact to the many other products which include the Hyper-V feature and capabilities. This change has no impact to any customers who use Windows Server or Azure Local.
For customers looking to do test or evaluation of the Hyper-V feature, Azure Local includes a 60-day free trial and can be downloaded here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-local/ . Windows Server offers a free 180-day evaluation which can be downloaded from the Evaluation Center here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter
Microsoft remains committed to meeting customers where they are and delivering innovation for on-premises virtualization and bringing unique hybrid capabilities like no other can combined with the power of Azure Arc. We are announcing that Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2019 was the last version of the free download product and that customers begin transitioning to one of the several other products which include Hyper-V or consider Azure.
Thank you,
Elden Christensen
Principal Group PM Manager
Windows Server Development Team
The business case for keeping Hyper-V Server is simple.
There are NO freeloaders using Hyper-V Server. Only customers.
Allow me to explain.
There's only two (practical) main OSes for VMs you can put on a Hyper-V Server.
Windows and Linux. (There are others sure, but they're a very small minority and for purposes here, can fall into the Linux camp)
***Anyone invested in ONLY a full Linux stack isn't going to be using a Microsoft Hypervisor.***
Especially since it's very difficult to manage without a Windows machine, EVEN with Windows Admin Center.
People use a Microsoft Hypervisor because they use Microsoft products SOMEWHERE.
If someone is putting only Linux on a Hyper-V Server, it's because they're using Windows and Hyper-V somewhere else and want to manage them using a common interface.
So I again assert, there are *no* freeloaders off Hyper-V Server.
The only use cases for a standalone Hyper-V Server are:
1. Test environments (Which are free anyway)
2. Low footprint/attack surface host installs that contain at least 1 Windows Server VM (Which cost wise can be replaced by Standard Server Core, but with a larger attack surface, and larger footprint)
3. Hyper-V hosts running Linux only that are being managed alongside other Hyper-V installs using Windows. Because again, nobody using ONLY LINUX would use a Microsoft Hypervisor. It just wouldn't make sense.
Case #3 is the only one being really killed here, since #2 can be replaced with Server Standard Core.
Azure Stack HCI doesn't make any sense in the context of Case #3. At present, these systems are a "free addition" to other uses of Hyper-V. Nobody is going to pay $10 per core to run just a bunch of free Linux Systems. All it does is deprive the admins who manage multiple systems of a Microsoft based unified way of managing Windows AND Linux systems together.
What this encourages instead is Admins finding a *different* way to have a unified infrastructure to manage their different systems. So instead of running Hyper-V for case #2, you get mass migrations OFF of case #2 to 3rd party alternatives so admins can have a unified infrastructure, OR Admins sucking it up and running Windows hosts on Hyper-V and Linux hosts on something else without a unified infrastructure.
So from a business position, it doesn't make any sense. It just makes customers angry for no benefit to anyone involved.
Microsoft already knows Linux use is HUGE since Azure uses more Linux than Windows right now.
So burning bridges with Mixed infrastructure environments will absolutely cost them tons of business.
If nothing else, it will cause massive distrust in the future of Hyper-V as anything other than a "cloud" hypervisor, seen as "unfit for local deployments."
I don't particularly care what decision Microsoft makes, as I'm happy to move to other Hypervisors. I've enjoyed having a Microsoft provided unified infrastructure. Being able to manage and backup hosts running Linux alongside my hosts running Windows has been fantastic. But there's no shortage of vendors willing to offer me a unified infrastructure. And if MS is intent on removing theirs because they can't see the business value of it, I can't see them being able to direct the future of virtualization very well.athendrix I fully agree.
I myself have environments exactly as you described. So it's very good point - there are no freeloaders of hyper-v server. Running hyper-v for Linux only VMs is a nonsense. Linux admins have their own hypervisors.
I myself will survive the death of Hyper-V server SKU as well, because I will use core server instead. But as you said, hyper-v server SKU has smaller footprint and therefore it's a bit safer to use and makes more sence - it should be as thinner as possible and do one thing and one thing only - provision VM environment.
I'm also quite interested if there will be some sort of official statement from Microsoft.
Because I would love to hear the reasons behind this decision... and no, migrate to Azure should not be the ultimate answer
Not sure how this post devolved (but I can imagine). This is an extraordinarily unfortunate decision. Time to move back to the other guys.
- What does this mean for the Hyper-V feature in Windows Server 2022 Standard install? Can we continue to install that and run a virtual instance of the OS in Hyper-V?
I am referring to the following license terms from Windows 2019: Standard edition permits use of one Running Instance of the server software in the Physical OSE on the Licensed Server (in addition to one Virtual OSE), if the Physical OSE is used solely to host and Manage the Virtual OSE.- EldenChristensen
Microsoft
An important point, we are discussing the free download of Microsoft Hyper-V Server SKU.
The Hyper-V feature is the backbone of what we run in the public cloud with Azure, and on-prem. The Hyper-V feature is being heavily invested in and is not going anywhere. We are discussing the strategic shift of Azure Stack HCI as the premier hypervisor platform, which of course uses Hyper-V feature as well. Windows Server (Standard / Datacenter SKU's) remain unchanged as well, and also use Hyper-V feature.
Thanks!
Elden
Whatever happened to Hyper-V Server and other Windows Server 2022 questions | ZDNet
"One of the biggest (and hardest to get answered) questions about Server 2022 among readers has been whether Microsoft also is planning to offer a standalone Hyper-V Server 2022 product as part of this release. Hyper-V Server 2019 is a free, GUI-less product optimized for running virtual machines.
I found the answer buried in the Microsoft Technical Community forums. Spoiler alert: It's a no from Microsoft."I see this thread has gone off-topic, to things like Azure. Is it going to return to the original topic, or should I unsubscribe so as to not receive spam messages?
Hyper-V Server hasn't existed since the 2019 version. Azure Stack HCI / Azure Local is the nearest current equivalent, so it hasn't really gone off topic.
Not sure what more you are expecting to be posted directly on Hyper-V Server, given that there won't be any new versions now.
It has gone off topic, as it is not an equivalent. It doesn't cover all the same use cases.
I don't expect much if anything to be posted, but also for unrelated things to not necro this thread.
I'm running the Insider Preview version of Server 2022 in my lab on Hyper-V 2022 with Desktop Experience. But I expect that it will also work in the Core version. So I don't expect them to remove that in the final release.
- Sorry, that wasn't quite what I was asking - I'm sure that Hyper-V will still exist as a server role in the main SKUs - what I'm asking is whether the standalone (free) Hyper-V Server would be available as one of the 2022 editions.
- EldenChristensen
I encourage you to check out Azure Stack HCI, it has a free trial offering:
Azure Stack HCI Registration | Microsoft AzureThanks!
Elden
- This is extremely disappointing
Anyone considering deploying XCP-ng or Proxmox in place of Hyper-V Server is probably going to want to be aware that you probably won't be eligible for support from Microsoft for any Windows Server guest VMs that you run on those platforms.
Microsoft's Support policy for Microsoft software that runs on non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software states that 'Microsoft does not test or support Microsoft software that's run in conjunction with non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software.' unless you have Premier-level support (an annual paid contract), the vendor has established a support relationship with Microsoft that covers virtualization solutions, or the vendor is part of the Server Virtualization Validation Program (SVVP) (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/virtualization/software-runs-on-non-microsoft-virtualization-software)
The list of support partners for non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software currently includes the following:
- Canonical, Ltd
- Citrix Systems, Inc.
- Nutanix, Inc.
- Red Hat, Inc.
- SUSE Linux Products GmbH
- Virtuozzo International GmbH
- VMware, Inc
And the Server Virtualization Validation Program includes a number of products, but Proxmox and XCP-ng are not yet on the list
https://www.windowsservercatalog.com/svvp.aspx?svvppage=svvp.htm
As far as I can tell there's nothing to stop them from joining - 'SVVP is open to any vendor that delivers a machine virtualization solution that runs currently supported versions of Windows Server.' and they can do the testing themselves - 'All testing for this program is done by the virtualization product vendors, with the results of that testing submitted to Microsoft for review and approval.' but if the product isn't on the programme you won't be able to access normal Windows Server technical support.
That's the purpose of the programme:
'The program enables vendors to validate various machine virtualization products so that Microsoft customers running copies of Windows Server they have acquired and licensed from Microsoft directly can receive technical support for Windows Server in virtualized environments.'
Worth considering the risks of this when proposing solutions like these to any clients.
- and?
I doubt that will come into play for normal software issues unless hardware/stability type issues are at the crux of the matter. On that note I can't even remember the last time we've needed to engage MS support for any OS/Hardware issues.- I’m just pointing out another factor to consider. Any consultant worth consulting should consider and present the potential risks to their clients. It might never present itself as an issue the majority of the time, but when it does, it will be one.
Yes, this is important in the consultancy space where business strategy conversations around business continuity planning (or BCP - of which ICT is just one part) carry significant weight.
Arguably, the feedback solicited from us in this forum was supposed to be purely technical, so I don't want to waste my time or anybody else's deep-diving on the commercial aspect, but support comes up frequently in at least two components of BCP: risk (cyber insurance) and staff contingency planning (knowledge transfer and intellectual property capture and retention), both of which can be reduced - through estimation - into a discussion about dollars and cents in the context of risk versus reward.
For many businesses, it doesn't matter which channel is leveraged (Premier Support, pay-per-incident, etc.), just that there is a formal escalation process so they are not left carrying the hot potato when things go wrong - particularly for something as important as their virtualisation platform (which can most definitely influence your cyber insurance).
Stepping back out to avoid that rabbit hole, and linking it back to what losing the free Hyper-V Server means, it's simple: the value (tangible and perceived) to the customer of the Microsoft ecosystem (not just this specific product).
I was just about to post similar question, now that full Server 2022 is GA.
- > I've seen mentions on forums that this SKU is being dropped
Could you tell me the URL of the post where you heard that?- Afraid I can't remember which forum it was now - but it wasn't an official source, hence asking on here.
- EldenChristensenI just returned from vacation to find that this thread had unfortunately taken a very unproductive turn... I've cleaned up the posts and ask that everyone keep it professional. Yes David, this is a perfectly valid place and is monitored by the development team. Sorry for the delayed response.
Azure Stack HCI is Microsoft’s premier hypervisor offering for running virtual machines on-premises. For testing and evaluation purposes Azure Stack HCI includes a 60-day free trial and can be downloaded here: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/azure-stack/hci/hci-download/
Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2019 will continue to be supported under its lifecycle policy until January 2029, see this link for additional information: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/hyperv-server-2019
- No Hyper-V Server 2022. Hyper-V Server 2019 is the last one. However, extended support goes until 2029. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/hyperv-server-2019
- Yes, that is why we are asking the MS representative if he "perhaps thinks" that he can reverse this decision.
I have no idea of "stack hci" ... I try AZ900 twice, failed twice ... AWS is clear to me, but Azure is so complicated ...
So I am currently planning the migration on other candidates (I only know VMware, so I am trying to understand the other free third parties)SpenceFoxtrot
" AWS is clear to me, but Azure is so complicated ..."
I have to disagree, is what you have used and are used to , I find the reverse Azure is clear and easy to understand, I use it a few times a week , AWS is a nightmare , but my use is limited in AWSMicrosoft have a "free" trail of like $200, so you can go in and setup an test bed and try it out, across all there services.
Goggle AWS to Azure both have similar products , but different names , But I find Azure superior in almost every way.
