Version Compatibility for Integration Services

Updated: July 14, 2010

Applies To: Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2

Hyper-V includes a software package for supported guest operating systems that improves integration between the physical computer and the virtual machine. This package is referred to as integration services. You should verify that the management operating system (which runs the Hyper-V role) and virtual machines are running the same version of integration services.

Compatibility between versions

For optimal performance, we recommend that the management operating system and guest operating system run the same version of integration services. To upgrade the integration services on a guest operating system to a newer version, perform the upgrade when the virtual machine is running on the version of Hyper-V that includes the version of integration services you want to upgrade to. For example, to upgrade a virtual machine running Windows Vista with Service Pack 2 (SP2), perform the upgrade from a server running Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2. Vista SP 2 is supported as a guest operating system only on Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 with SP2 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

The following table shows various combinations of versions that may be installed in the management operating system and guest operating systems, and what the support policy is for each combination of versions. For more information about which operating systems are supported for use on virtual machines, see About Virtual Machines and Guest Operating Systems.

Integration Services Version in Management Operating System	Integration Services Version in Guest Operating System	Supported Guest Operating Systems
Windows Server 2008 + KB950050 (Hyper-V V1 RTM)	Windows Server 2008 + KB950050 (Hyper-V V1 RTM)	All supported guests on Windows Server 2008 + KB950050 (Hyper-V V1 RTM)
Windows Server 2008 + KB950050 (Hyper-V V1 RTM)	Windows Server 2008 with SP2	Windows Server 2008 with SP2 only
Windows Server 2008 + KB950050 (Hyper-V V1 RTM)	Windows Server 2008 R2	Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 only
Windows Server 2008 with SP2	Windows Server 2008 + KB950050 (Hyper-V V1 RTM)	All supported guests on Windows Server 2008 with SP2
Windows Server 2008 with SP2	Windows Server 2008 with SP2	All supported guests on Windows Server 2008 with SP2
Windows Server 2008 with SP2	Windows Server 2008 R2	Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 only
Windows Server 2008 R2	Windows Server 2008 + KB950050 (Hyper-V V1 RTM)	All supported guests on Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows Server 2008 R2	Windows Server 2008 with SP2	All supported guests on Windows Server 2008 R2
Windows Server 2008 R2	Windows Server 2008 R2	All supported guests on Windows Server 2008 R2

Determining the integration services version

To determine the version of integration services that is installed on the management operating system, check the registry key that has the version of the current Hyper-V Guest Installer: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Virtualization\GuestInstaller\Version\Microsoft-Hyper-V-Guest-Installer-Win60-Package. The value in the Data column is the version number.

To determine the version information for a guest operating system, log on to the guest operating system and check the version of the drivers installed in the \System32 folder. For example, C:\Windows\System32\drivers\vmbus.sys has a file version that should match the number found in the registry key on the management operating system.