Windows 11 compatible CPUs for VDI

Atorli 56 Reputation points
2023-11-28T15:41:10.17+00:00

I'm currently trying to test the Windows 11 upgrade on our Windows 10 VDI that are hosted on HP DL380 G9 servers. However, the upgrade refuses to install with the reason being an incompatible CPU. This error happens whether I try the upgrade from WSUS, from Windows Update, or from a Windows ISO.

Looking at the Panther log files, I can see that the upgrade is blocked due to an incompatible CPU:

windows11-vdi-compatdata

If I run the PC Health Check app, I get the following message

windows11-vdi

However, if I check the official Microsoft list of supported processors at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/minimum/supported/windows-11-supported-intel-processors the "Xeon Gold 6254" is listed as being supported.

Has anyone had a similar experience? Is the upgrade check bugged, or is the website with the supported CPUs incorrect?

I know I can set the registry key AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMOrCPU to install the upgrade anyway but I would rather not do that in a production environment.

Windows for business | Windows Client for IT Pros | User experience | Other
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  1. Anonymous
    2024-01-05T07:29:27.92+00:00

    Hi,

    The Processors must meet the requirements below.

    Processors/CPUs (Central Processing Units): 1 Ghz or faster with 2 or more cores and appearing on our list of approved CPUs

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-11-system-requirements-86c11283-ea52-4782-9efd-7674389a7ba3

    Please change the number of virtual processors to 2 or more in the VM setttings and try again.

    Best Regards,

    Ian Xue


    If the Answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it.


  2. Atorli 56 Reputation points
    2024-11-18T11:43:07.3866667+00:00

    By the way, the issue turned out to be with VCenter. These VMs used to be part of an "instant migration" farm that used to contain older servers. These servers were decommissioned, but apparently VCenter kept running the CPUs of the older servers in some kind of compatibility mode that confused Windows.

    As an example, CPU-Z on the affected VMs showed the CPU as a Xeon 6254 on Socket 2011: https://i.imgur.com/aP7KPPy.png

    Which is obviously wrong because the 6254 is a Socket 3647 CPU. This must have confused the Windows 11 upgrade.

    We resolved the issue by deleting the instant migration farm and creating a new one that contained only new servers and the issue disappeared.

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