Recommendations for Upgrading Hyper-V Host from 2019 to 2022

Question

I have upgraded Hyper-V Guests from 2019 to 2022, but not the Host.

What are some recommendations for upgrading a Hyper-V Host running 2019 Standard to 2022 Standard?

Can I export the VMs and clean install Server 2022, then import the VMs without any potential issues?

Answer 1

Hey,

In-place upgrade is supported and is an option if you don't have another storage for backup.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/get-started/install-upgrade-migrate#in-place-upgrade

It is recommended to perform clean install. You can export VMs and import them after installation. It is supported to import VMs with a lower version to a higher version. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/virtualization/hyper-v/deploy/export-and-import-virtual-machines

You can also perform backup and restore, which can make the process easier.

If you want to avoid downtime and have another host, you can build a Failover Cluster which will allow you to upgrade hosts one by one. As an example: https://www.starwindsoftware.com/resource-library/starwind-virtual-san-for-hyper-v-2-node-hyperconverged-scenario-with-windows-server-2016/

Cheers,

Alex Bykovskyi

StarWind Software

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