Technical Support for Validated Configurations
Technical support will be available for customers running a supported Windows Server
operating system on a validated virtualization solution through Microsoft's technical
support channels, if the Microsoft customer is running copies of Windows Server
they have acquired and licensed from Microsoft directly. SVVP does not apply to
vendors that are hosting Windows Server or other Microsoft products through the
Microsoft Service Provider License Agreement Program (SPLA). Support for SPLA customers
is provided under the SPLA agreement by the SPLA hoster. Customers can deploy the
solutions that are included in the program and expect to receive operating system
support from either Microsoft or the virtualization vendor.
In order to receive technical support customers must meet the baseline requirements:
- Microsoft operating system that is currently covered by the program:
- Windows Server 2022
- Windows Server 2019
- Windows Server 2016
- Windows Server 2012 R2
- Windows Server 2012
- Windows Server 2008 R2
- Windows Server 2008
- Subsequent service packs for the versions above
- Valid Windows Server licenses
- Active technical support agreement with Microsoft and the virtualization vendor
- Running on a validated third-party virtualization solution
- Running on a system Logo qualified for either Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 or later versions of Windows Server
-
The virtual machine containing Windows Server does not exceed the maximum virtual
processors and memory validated with the virtualization solution
For more information about Microsoft's policies for supporting software running
in non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software please refer to
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/897615/support-policy-for-microsoft-software-that-runs-on-non-microsoft-hardw
. In addition, refer to
https://support.microsoft.com/kb/957006/
to find more information about
Microsoft's support policies for its applications running in virtual environments.
How will a customer get support for Windows if they are running on a validated virtualization
solution?
Customers who have valid Windows Server licenses and support agreements can call
for support from either Microsoft or the vendor who has provided them with a validated
server virtualization solution. Whichever company is contacted first will try to
resolve the customer's issues. In the event a solution cannot be determined, the
technical support representative, with the permission of the customer, can leverage
TSANet to contact the other company to help resolve the customer issue. More information
about TSANet can be found at
www.tsanet.org
When will customers be able to get support?
Customers will be able to benefit from this program as soon as a virtualization
vendor's submission is validated and listed on the Windows Server Catalog in the
SVVP Products
List
. Customers can deploy validated solutions in the catalog and expect
to receive support from Microsoft or the virtualization vendor when running it on
servers Certified for Windows Server 2008 R2 or later versions of Windows Server operating systems with the same processor architecture validated.
Will customers running on validated solutions still be required to reproduce problems
on hardware?
While we fully expect the Server Virtualization Validation Program to ferret out
the majority of issues associated with running virtualized operating systems, there
may be situations when the root cause problem cannot be isolated or duplicated without
asking a customer to reproduce the error on hardware. Every situation will be examined
on a case by case basis and we expect to ask customer to reproduce problems on "bare
metal" only as a last resort.
If my company is running a validated configuration and my vendor updates and validates
newer versions, will my validation expire? How long will I be able to get support
from Microsoft?
Once validated, a configuration is supported until such time as some element of
that configuration is no longer supported by its respective vendor. Examples would
be if a virtualization vendor declared a version of their product to be "end of
life", or when Microsoft Life Cycle Support policy ends support for a specific version
of an operating system or Service Pack.
What questions should we ask ourselves to determine if our system is eligible for
support?
You should be able to answer, "Yes" to the following questions to determine if your
system is eligible for support:
-
Is the virtualization solution and version we are using validated and listed in
the Windows Server Catalog?
- Is the server hardware Certified for Windows Server 2008 R2 or later versions of Windows Server operating systems?
-
Does the server's processor architecture match the operating system and processor
architecture validated with the virtualization solution?
- Does the virtual machine contain a supported version of Windows Server (examples; Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012,Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, etc.)?
-
Are the virtual processors and memory assigned to the virtual machine running Windows
Server less than or equal to the maximum processors and memory validated with the
virtualization solution?
- Does the application vendor support their product in a virtualized environment?
-
Does the virtualization solution provide abstraction of the hardware necessary for
your application to function?
What is the support policy for additional functionality of virtualization products?
With regards to virtualization product functionality that can operate without the knowledge
or cooperation of the operating system or applications executing within the virtual
machine such as, but not limited to; live migration of virtual machines, virtual
machine clustering, memory ballooning, virtual machine fault tolerance, virtualization-based security functionality, etc., these
are outside the scope of the Server Virtualization Validation Program. Also outside the scope of the Server Virtualization Validation Program's support boundary is emulated hardware functionality, such as a virtual Trusted Platform Module (vTPM) implementation.
As there are no industry standards to follow in implementing such features, there is no practical method of testing these virtualization product features.
Thus, the SVVP program does not test these features or functions, and the virtualization
product vendor is solely responsible for testing and supporting them. Any certification
the virtualization vendor has with regards to these features is outside the scope
of the Server Virtualization Validation Program. However, unless otherwise stated
in articles or documents for Windows Server operating systems or for Microsoft server
applications, Microsoft does not preclude their use by customers. Customers may
contact Microsoft for more information in this regard for specific virtualization
product features and functions and Microsoft products.
If a customer running a supported version of Windows Server on a validated virtualization
solution experiences issues after using third party virtualization features (such
as live migration, etc., described above) that operate independently of Microsoft products, then the customer
should contact the virtualization vendor for assistance in resolving the issue.