Hyper-V feature compatibility by generation and guest
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 |