Why Might HyperV HOST Configuration Version Be Set to 5.0 on Server 2016

Question

As you can see in the screenshot below, my customers HyperV host (which is part of a two node cluster) is showing as only supporting HyperV version 5. Server 2016 should support version 8 HyperV Configuration.

Any thoughts on how to upgrade the HOST version would be appreciated, so I can upgrade the VM versions.

Thanks

Answer 1

Hi Ian Matthews,

Hope you're doing well.

To upgrade the Hyper-V version of your host, you need to first ensure that your Hyper-V hosts are upgraded to the latest version of Windows or Windows Server and that the cluster functional level is upgraded. Once you have done this, you can upgrade the virtual machine configuration version to the latest version, which will make the latest Hyper-V features available on your virtual machines.

Here are the steps to upgrade the virtual machine configuration version in Hyper-V on Windows or Windows Server:

1. Check the virtual machine configuration versions by running the following command in Windows PowerShell:

Get-VM * | Format-Table Name, Version

You can also see the configuration version in Hyper-V Manager by selecting the virtual machine and looking at the Summary tab.

2. Shut down the virtual machine in Hyper-V Manager.
3. Select Action > Upgrade Configuration Version. If this option isn't available for the virtual machine, then it's already at the highest configuration version supported by the Hyper-V host.
4. If you need to upgrade the virtual machine configuration version by using Windows PowerShell, use the "Update-VMVersion" cmdlet. Run the following command where "vmname" is the name of the virtual machine:

Update-VMVersion <vmname>

Please note that you should not upgrade the virtual machine configuration version until you have upgraded your Hyper-V hosts to the latest version of Windows or Windows Server and upgraded the cluster functional level. Also, make sure that you won't need to move the virtual machine back to a Hyper-V host that runs a previous version of Windows or Windows Server.

Here're the relevant documents for you reference:

Update-VMVersion (Hyper-V) | Microsoft Learn

Upgrade virtual machine version in Hyper-V on Windows or Windows Server | Microsoft Learn

Best Regards,

Ian Xue

---

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