Friday, October 21, 2016

Customization Wizard Not Yet Supported from VMware for Windows Server 2016

Windows Server 2016 released a few weeks ago.  I was interested in whether or not I was ready to run it.  

I'm unfortunately not in a great position to move to the latest version of VMware vSphere.  I'm on 5.5 Update 3.  6.5 has just been announced this week at VMworld Europe (though I didn't see it available for download yesterday).  I look forward to upgrading to the latest version shortly.

In the meantime, can I run Windows Server 2016 in my VMware environment?

The good news: yes.  Checking the VMware Compatability guide https://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php?deviceCategory=software&testConfig=16) demonstrates that Windows Server 2016 is supported for vSphere 5.5 Update 3.  I'm on track.

(Note: When building virtual machines, Windows Server 2016 isn't an option.  But, that's OK, just pick Windows Server 2012.  https://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2132789)

OK, I typically deploy servers from template.  I build my first VM, and performed my standard steps to prep it for templating.  Now, what about that Customization Wizard?  I ran through it, and it seemed to work.  But....

I couldn't find the answer on this one on my own.  I reached out to support.  I got my answer quickly enough: "As of now, the guest customization wizard for Windows Server 2016 is not supported."  And then, the matrix I hadn't managed to find to document the answer:http://partnerweb.vmware.com/programs/guestOS/guest-os-customization-matrix.pdf

I need to do some additional research.  Did the Customization Wizard actually properly SysPrep the server and it is safe to use?  Or, should I learn how to do the Microsoft method to clone the server?

Until I figure those answers out, I'll stick to manually building my Windows Server 2016 systems to avoid issues down the road.

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