Azure VM Gen2 Nested Virtualization

Christopher Isidora 26

Hi,

I'm trying to make WSL2 and Hyper-V work on Windows 10/11 Gen2 in Azure VM. Can someone confirm that Nested Virtualization is not supported in Gen2 Azure VM's?
I can to this conclusion: When I create a Azure VM with an Windows 10 Gen1 image (with size: Standard D4s v3), I am able to install WSL2 and Hyper-V does work, also in the TaskManager I can see: Virtualization: Enabled. But when I create a Azure VM with an Windows 10 Gen2 image (with size: Standard D4s v3), Hyper-V and WSL2 is not working and Virtualization: Enabled is not present in the TaskManager.
Can someone please shed some light in this case? Ideally I would like a Gen2 for the vTPM and also the ability to use WSL2 (and or Hyper-V).

Christopher Isidora 26 Reputation points

2022-01-13T09:29:04.323+00:00

UPDATE: I created a support request and was contacted by a support engineer. We were able to come to an conclusion that When using Gen2 with Trusted Launch Security Configuration (vTPM and Secure Boot) the Nested Virtualization is Disabled. This is still under investigation to check if Trusted Launch + Nested Virtualization is a bug or just not supported, based on the results the documentation might be updated

3 answers

Prrudram-MSFT 24,191 Reputation points

2022-01-10T16:34:09.453+00:00

Hello @Christopher Isidora ,

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A platform. Happy to answer your question.
Dv3 and Ev3 will be the right choice to set up nested virtualization on gen2 azure VMs. Can you try one of these SKUs on the azure VMs and set up WSL and Hyper-V and check?

Please "Accept as Answer" if any of above helped so that, it can help others in community looking for remediation for the similar issues.
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Christopher Isidora 26 Reputation points

2022-01-12T09:31:55.947+00:00

@Prrudram-MSFT If you look at my question again you can see that I mentioned the size and that I already did try with the dv3 and it's not working (it only works with Gen1 azure vm's), that's why I'm posting this question here.

Prrudram-MSFT 24,191 Reputation points

2022-01-13T09:43:34.753+00:00

Hello @Christopher Isidora ,

Apologies, i seem to have missed that I have tested this in my subscription, by creating D4sV3 VM windows 10 Pro Gen2 VM and was successful in installing both Hyper-V as well as Windows Subsystem for Linux version 2 . I have also confirmed with internal teams, that nest virtualization is supported on azure gen2 VMs running on the Dv3 and Ev3 series.

Christopher Isidora 26 Reputation points

2022-01-13T10:07:12.293+00:00

@Prrudram-MSFT I think you just missed the UPDATE I gave above. It is indeed supported but what is not working when you select upon VM creation: Trusted Launch (Security Configuration) (vTPM and Secure Boot). It's still under investigation if this is a bug or that Trusted Launch + Nested Virtualization is not supported. Furthermore in that situation the services for WSL and Hyper-V are enabled but the WSL2 and Hyper-V machine will not start because the Nested Virtualization is disabled when using Trusted Launch Configuration. I will update here as soon if I hear anything back, if it's either a bug or just not supported yet.
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Christopher Isidora 26 Reputation points

2022-01-14T13:39:51.71+00:00

So I got an update and according to the docs https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/trusted-launch. Nested Virtualization is NOT supported when you use Trusted Launch even if you use a Azure SKU that supports it. FYI @Prrudram-MSFT
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Rafael Guimaraes Siqueira 6 Reputation points

2023-07-13T13:35:05.22+00:00

Nested virtualization with Trusted Launch seems to work for v5 skus.
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Jacob Lehnert 0 Reputation points

2023-11-29T18:29:11.9333333+00:00

Has this been confirmed/verified?

Ryan O'Leary 0 Reputation points

2024-02-28T09:32:04.9666667+00:00

Can confirm this has worked for me
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Azure VM Gen2 Nested Virtualization

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