Azure Virtual Machines
An Azure service that is used to provision Windows and Linux virtual machines.
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--please don't forget to upvote and Accept as answer if the reply is helpful--
Licensing Windows10/11 Nested VMs in Azure VM Hyper-V
Amit Malik
1
Reputation point
Hello.
I've a scenario where we run Dev/Test environment using Azure VMs Nested Virtualization Capabilities. We use Windows Server 2019/2022 based Azure VMs and setup Hyper-V to run some nested VMs.
I've a scenario where i need to have Windows 10 and Windows 11 OS in the nested VMs, While it's technically doable, i want to understand licensing aspects of it.
We can not use AVD as we need contained environment inside Hyper-V.
Is there any other way to license these Windows 10/11 machines running inside Windows Server 2022 DC Hyper-V on Azure VMs?
I couldn't find any clear documentation on if it is allowed or not.. We'd be okay to have each user accessing Hyper-V Box/W10 or 11 nested VMs to be licensed with qualifying M365 license that allows AVD use rights, but not sure if that is compliant.
or is there any other VDA license that we can buy?
2 answers
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Anonymous2022-07-13T19:41:26.643+00:00 -
Amit Malik 1 Reputation point
2022-07-13T20:12:24.137+00:00 @Anonymous Thank you for your response.
Yes, I read that earlier and "Windows Virtualization rights" seems to be a good option, however i couldn't find anywhere that states "Windows Virtualization rights" can be used in Azure.
instead, in many place i read that AVD is the only way to license W10/W11 in Azure.
Thoughts?
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Anonymous
2022-07-13T20:18:35.953+00:00 More to read here.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/windows/windows-desktop-multitenant-hosting-deployment--please don't forget to
upvoteandAccept as answerif the reply is helpful-- -
Anonymous
2022-07-14T12:16:56.267+00:00 Just checking if there's any progress or updates?
--please don't forget to
upvoteandAccept as answerif the reply is helpful--
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kobulloc-MSFT 26,351 Reputation points Microsoft Employee2022-07-14T05:17:38.837+00:00 Hello, @Amit Malik !
What license do I need to run Windows 10/11 in Azure on a nested VM?
I wanted to add to what @Anonymous has said here as licensing with Windows 10 (and Windows 11) can be a bit complicated. Nested VMs are typically BYOL and Windows 10/11 has two paths you can take for VM licensing in Azure:- Windows client for dev/test scenarios: This allows you to create 64-bit Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10 images for scenarios related to dev/test. This pairs with Visual Studio benefits and Dev/Test offers. See eligible offers and client images.
- Production/Multitenant scenarios: This covers Windows 10 and Windows 11 using Microsoft 365, Windows Enterprise, Windows VDA, or Windows Education license entitlements. See OS licenses and license entitlements.
So for your scenario, if you already have a Visual Studio subscription and are able to use exclusively Windows 10 for dev/test then Windows client may be your best option. If you already have Microsoft 365 licenses, those qualify for multitenant/cloud hosting rights and would allow Windows 10/11 Enterprise.