Use live migration with workgroup clusters

• Applies to:

  ✅ Windows Server 2025, ✅ Windows Server 2022, ✅ Windows Server 2019, ✅ Windows Server 2016, ✅ Azure Local, versions 23H2 and 22H2

This article describes how to move a virtual machine by doing a live migration between hosts using workgroup clusters. Workgroup clusters are a type of Failover Cluster that doesn't use an on-premises domain controller or Active Directory forest. Instead, workgroup clusters are joined by workgroup. Workgroup clusters were introduced in Windows Server 2016. However, live migration for workgroup clusters wasn't supported until now, in Windows Server 2025. Benefit from the flexibility of live migration combined with the high availability of workgroup clusters.

Follow the steps in this article to perform your own live migration.

Prerequisites

The following prerequisites must be met in order to do a live migration of hosts using workgroup clusters:

• A workgroup cluster with two or more nodes is up and running. To learn more about creating a workgroup cluster, see Create a workgroup cluster.
• A local user account exists on each server node with an identical username and password.

Consider options for authentication and performance

When setting up live migrations for workgroup clusters, it's important to consider how authentication and performance.

• Authentication: Local accounts with an identical username and password on each node are used to create and configure the workgroup cluster. The cluster uses self-signing PKU2U certificates to authenticate and be able to move a virtual machine from one host node to another host node without Kerberos. The local accounts on each node are the only way to successfully authenticate workgroup clusters and allow for live migration between source and destination servers.

• Performance: Configuring performance options can reduce network and CPU usage. Different options like simultaneous migrations can also make live migrations go faster. Consider your requirements and your infrastructure, and test different configurations to help you decide.

Do a live migration with Hyper-V workgroup clusters

In the next sections, you'll complete the following steps:

• Install the Hyper-V role and Hyper-V management tools. Each virtual machine needs Hyper-V installed in order to be able to connect to other hosts and do a live migration.
• Create a new virtual machine and add it to the workgroup cluster. Add in a virtual machine role to facilitate the live migration.
• Set up source and destination servers. Set up each server node to enable live migrations.
• Move a running virtual machine with live migration. Complete a live migration by moving a running virtual machine between Hyper-V hosts without any noticeable downtime.

Step 1: Install the Hyper-V role

The Hyper-V role must be installed on the source and destination servers and set up for live migrations. Install this role before continuing.

Hyper-V provides the services that you can use to create and manage virtual machines. Hyper-V may be installed in many ways. This section describes how to install the role using either PowerShell or the Server Manager.

PowerShell

1. Open a PowerShell session as an Administrator.

2. Use the Install-WindowsFeature cmdlet to install the Hyper-V role with the following command:

   Install-WindowsFeature -Name Hyper-V -IncludeManagementTools -Restart
   

3. Wait for the role to be installed, and then restart your virtual machine.

4. Repeat the installation for the other virtual machines in the cluster.

Server Manager

1. Open Server Manager.

2. On the Manage menu, select Add Roles and Features.

3. On the Before you begin page, select Next.

4. On the Select installation type page, select Role-based or feature-based installation and then select Next.

5. On the Select destination server page, select the server where you want to install the feature and then select Next.

6. On the Select server roles page, select Hyper-V. And then select Next.

7. On the Select features page, select Next, and then select Next again.

8. On the Create Virtual Switches page, Virtual Machine Migration page, and Default Stores page, select the options that suit your specific environment.

9. On the Confirm installation selections page, select Install.

10. When the installation completes, select Close.

11. Repeat these steps on every server that is part of your workgroup cluster.

Note

If you're unable to install the Hyper-V role, you might need to enable Nested Virtualization. See how to enable Nested Virtualization to allow Hyper-V to run inside of a Hyper-V virtual machine.

Step 2: Create a new virtual machine and add it to the workgroup cluster

Add a new Hyper-V virtual machine as a role to your workgroup cluster in order to do a live migration between hosts.

PowerShell

1. Connect to one of your server nodes.

2. Open a PowerShell session as an Administrator.

3. Run the following New-VM command to create a new virtual machine that has 10GB of memory and uses an existing VHDX image on the server node. Change the parameters and values as needed to customize your setup.

   New-VM -Name "<VM_NAME>" -MemoryStartupBytes 10GB -VHDPath <PATH_TO_VHDX_FILE>
   

4. Add in the virtual machine as a Virtual Machine role in the workgroup cluster enable automatic failover.

   Add-ClusterVirtualMachineRole -VirtualMachine <VM_NAME>
   

Server Manager

1. Connect to one of your server nodes.

2. Open up Server Manager.

3. Select Tools, and then Hyper-V Manager.

4. In the Hyper-V Manager, select New, then Virtual Machine....

5. Complete the steps in the New Virtual Machine Wizard to create a new virtual machine, using the appropriate settings for your setup.

6. Add in the virtual machine as a Virtual Machine role in the workgroup cluster using the Failover Cluster Manager.

Step 3: Set up the source and destination computers for live migration

In this step, set up your source and host destination virtual machines to enable live migrations. Here, you can also specify live migration settings, such as how many live and storage migrations to allow at the same time.

PowerShell

1. Connect to one of your server nodes.

2. Open a PowerShell session as an Administrator.

3. First, use the Enable-VMMigration cmdlet to configure live migration on the Hyper-V virtual machine host.

   Enable-VMMigration
   

4. Use the Set-VMHost cmdlet to configure the local Hyper-V host. The following command configures the virtual machine to allow 10 simultaneous live migrations and storage migrations. Change these values to the number of simultaneous live and storage migrations your setup allows. You might need to test different configurations to help you decide.

   Set-VMHost -MaximumVirtualMachineMigrations 10 -MaximumStorageMigrations 10
   

   Set-VMHost also lets you specify a performance option, and other host settings. Consider using a parameter like -VMMigrationPerformance to choose more settings for your virtual machine.

5. Repeat the steps for the other server node.

Server Manager

1. From Server Manager, open Hyper-V Manager.

2. Connect to whichever server you want to set up.

3. In the Actions pane, select Hyper-V Settings..., then Live Migrations.

4. In the Live Migrations pane, confirm that Enable incoming and outgoing live migrations is selected.

5. Under Simultaneous live migrations, specify a different number if you don't want to use the default of 1.

6. Under Incoming live migrations, if you want to use specific network connections to accept live migration traffic, select Add to type the IP address information. Otherwise, select Use any available network for live migration. Select OK.

7. Review the details. Apply any changes and select OK.

8. In the Actions pane, select Hyper-V Settings..., and then Storage Migrations.

9. Under Simultaneous storage migrations, specify the number of simultaneous storage migrations you'd like to enable, if you don't want to use the default of 2.

10. Apply any changes and select OK.

11. Repeat the steps to specify the number of live and storage migrations for the other server node.

Step 4: Move a running virtual machine with live migration

Finally, do a live migration to move a running virtual machine.

1. Connect to the current owner node in your workgroup cluster.

2. Open Failover Cluster Manager.

3. In the Roles section, select the virtual machine role, and right-click.

4. Select Move, then Live Migration, and then Best Possible Node.

5. In the Information column, see a status appear with the message Live Migrating, X% completed.

6. Once complete, confirm that the Owner Node column updates with the other node in your workgroup cluster.

Next steps

After completing a live migration, it's important to confirm that the migration works, and all virtual machines migrated were migrated successfully. If you notice any issues during or after a migration, it might be necessary to revisit the simultaneous migrations allowed or configure live migration performance options.

To learn more about Live Migration performance options, see Virtual Machine Live Migration Overview

You can also read more about live migration performance in Hyper-V Network I/O Performance.