VMware issued an interesting knowledge base article stating that snapshots, checkpoints, and VMotion actions of virtual machines with Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012 are not compatible with ESXi hosts implementing different versions. This could cause an interesting dilemma for administrators that upgrade their clusters in a phased approach. In essence, you will need to do a cold migration of the virtual machine to the new host before you can perform the upgrade. This is something you want to keep in mind before you start deploying Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8 in your environment.
Details
Due to changes in Microsoft's virtual machine generation counter specification that was introduced in the Window 8 Release Preview and Windows Server 2012 RC, corresponding changes were also required in the virtual machine BIOS. Snapshots, checkpoints and VMotion actions of virtual machines with these versions of Windows are not compatible between ESXi hosts that have implemented different revisions of Microsoft's virtual machine generation counter specification.
Snapshots and checkpoints of virtual machines with Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012 that are taken on a host running ESXi 5.0 Update 1 or ESXi 5.0 P03 will not resume on a host running later versions of ESXi ( ESXi 5.0 Update 2, ESXi 5.1, etc.) and the reverse.
VMotion is prevented between hosts running ESXi 5.0 Update 1 or ESXi 5.0 P03 to and from hosts running later versions of ESXi .
Snapshots and checkpoints of virtual machines with Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012 that are taken on a host running ESXi 5.0 Update 1 or ESXi 5.0 P03 will not resume on a host running later versions of ESXi ( ESXi 5.0 Update 2, ESXi 5.1, etc.) and the reverse.
VMotion is prevented between hosts running ESXi 5.0 Update 1 or ESXi 5.0 P03 to and from hosts running later versions of ESXi .
Solution
To migrate virtual machines with Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012 between hosts running ESXi 5.0 Upate 1 or ESXi 5.0 P03 to or from hosts running later versions of ESXi, perform the following steps:
- Shut down the virtual machine.
- Migrate the virtual machine to a new host.
- Restart the virtual machine
