Hyper-V feature compatibility by generation and guest
Applies to: Windows Server 2025 (preview), Windows Server 2022, Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2016
Important
Windows Server 2025 is in PREVIEW. This information relates to a prerelease product that may be substantially modified before it's released. Microsoft makes no warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to the information provided here.
The tables in this article show you the generations and operating systems that are compatible with some of the Hyper-V features, grouped by categories. In general, you'll get the best availability of features with a generation 2 virtual machine that runs the newest operating system.
Keep in mind that some features rely on hardware or other infrastructure. For hardware details, see System requirements for Hyper-V on Windows Server. In some cases, a feature can be used with any supported guest operating system. For details on which operating systems are supported, see:
Availability and backup
| Feature | Generation | Guest operating system |
|---|---|---|
| Checkpoints | 1 and 2 | Any supported guest |
| Guest clustering | 1 and 2 | Guests that run cluster-aware applications and have iSCSI target software installed |
| Replication | 1 and 2 | Any supported guest |
| Domain Controller | 1 and 2 | Any supported Windows Server guest using only production checkpoints. See Supported Windows Server guest operating systems |
Compute
| Feature | Generation | Guest operating system |
|---|---|---|
| Dynamic memory | 1 and 2 | Specific versions of supported guests. See Hyper-V Dynamic Memory Overview for versions older than Windows Server 2016 and Windows 10. |
| Hot add/removal of memory | 1 and 2 | Windows Server 2016, Windows 10 |
| Virtual NUMA | 1 and 2 | Any supported guest |
Development and test
| Feature | Generation | Guest operating system |
|---|---|---|
| COM/Serial ports | 1 and 2 Note: For generation 2, use Windows PowerShell to configure. For details, see Add a COM port for kernel debugging. |
Any supported guest |
Mobility
| Feature | Generation | Guest operating system |
|---|---|---|
| Live migration | 1 and 2 | Any supported guest |
| Import/export | 1 and 2 | Any supported guest |
Networking
| Feature | Generation | Guest operating system |
|---|---|---|
| Hot add/removal of virtual network adapter | 2 | Any supported guest |
| Legacy virtual network adapter | 1 | Any supported guest |
| Single root input/output virtualization (SR-IOV) | 1 and 2 | 64-bit Windows guests, starting with Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8. |
| Virtual machine multi queue (VMMQ) | 1 and 2 | Any supported guest |
Remote connection experience
| Feature | Generation | Guest operating system |
|---|---|---|
| Discrete device assignment (DDA) | 1 and 2 | Windows Server 2012 and later, Windows 10 and Windows 11 |
| Enhanced session mode | 1 and 2 | Windows Server 2012 R2 and later, and Windows 8.1 and later, with Remote Desktop Services enabled Note: You might need to also configure the host. For details, see Use local resources on Hyper-V virtual machine with VMConnect. |
| RemoteFx | 1 and 2 | Generation 1 on 32-bit and 64-bit Windows versions starting with Windows 8. Generation 2 on 64-bit Windows 10 and Windows 11 versions |
Security
| Feature | Generation | Guest operating system |
|---|---|---|
| Secure boot | 2 | Linux: Ubuntu 14.04 and later, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 and later, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.0 and later, and CentOS 7.0 and later Windows: All supported versions that can run on a generation 2 virtual machine |
| Shielded virtual machines | 2 | Windows: All supported versions that can run on a generation 2 virtual machine |
Storage
| Feature | Generation | Guest operating system |
|---|---|---|
| Shared virtual hard disks (VHDX only) | 1 and 2 | Windows Server 2012 and later |
| SMB3 | 1 and 2 | All that support SMB3 |
| Storage spaces direct | 2 | Windows Server 2016 and later |
| Virtual Fibre Channel | 1 and 2 | Windows Server 2012 and later |
| VHDX format | 1 and 2 | Any supported guest |