Import Function Support for Microsoft Windows Operating Systems

Content / Solution:

Overview

The Open Virtualization Format standard requires the Operating System of an OVF file to be identified using an ID number defined by the CIM standard. The CloudControl's import feature currently uses this ID to identify the Operating System of the import. However, VMWare's implementation of the standard is not strictly following the CIM requirement, and the CIM standards do not provide for differentiation of different editions of Microsoft Windows software. This makes it impossible for our system to correctly identify which version of Microsoft Windows is being used. This impacts how CloudControl interprets imports of these Operating systems and treats them on deployment, particularly when imported as a Guest OS Customization image.

This article describes the current support methodology and behavior associated with using these Operating Systems in conjunction with the import function described in How to Import an OVF Package as a Client Image.

Windows 2019 Support

CloudControl provides support for Microsoft Windows 2016 imports with the following caveats:

• Windows 2019 support requires that the data center location support the vmx-13 VMware Virtual Hardware version.
  • To identify if a data center supports vmx-13, check the data center capabilities as described in How do I Identify Hardware Specifications and Capabilities Available in a Data Center Location
• Imports will be labeled as "WIN2019?/64" because the OVF implementation does not differentiate between Windows 2019 Standard and Data Center editions. In MCP 2.0 locations, you can adjust the image to reflect the correct version by editing the OS version of the Customer Image after it is imported as described in How to Manage Client and Long-Term Retention Images
• The guest OS customization deployment process will treat "WIN2019?/64" images as Windows 2019 Standard Edition. So if you import a Windows 2019 Data Center image as a Guest OS Customization Client Image and do not edit it to correct the version, server deployments from the image will result in Cloud Servers that do NOT receive an updated Windows 2019 Data Center license key on deployment. This may have two effects:
  • If the Imported image is descended from one of the Windows 2019 OS Images we have provided, the deployment should work properly.
  • If the Imported image has a customer-provided license key installed,  the license key may need to be updated on server deployment and/or server deployments may fail until the Customer Image is updated to the correct Data Center OS version.

Windows 2016 Support

CloudControl provides support for Microsoft Windows 2016 imports with the following caveats:

• Windows 2016 support requires that the data center location support the vmx-11 VMware Virtual Hardware version.
  • To identify if a data center supports vmx-11, check the data center capabilities as described in How do I Identify Hardware Specifications and Capabilities Available in a Data Center Location
• Imports will be labeled as "WIN2016?/64" because the OVF implementation does not differentiate between Windows 2016 Standard and Data Center editions. In MCP 2.0 locations, you can adjust the image to reflect the correct version by editing the OS version of the Customer Image after it is imported as described in How to Manage Client and Long-Term Retention Images
• The guest OS customization deployment process will treat "WIN2016?/64" images as Windows 2016 Standard Edition. So if you import a Windows 2016 Data Center image as a Guest OS Customization Client Image and do not edit it to correct the version, server deployments from the image will result in Cloud Servers that do NOT receive an updated Windows 2016 Data Center license key on deployment. This may have two effects:
  • If the Imported image is descended from one of the Windows 2016 OS Images we have provided, the deployment should work properly.
  • If the Imported image has a customer-provided license key installed,  the license key may need to be updated on server deployment and/or server deployments may fail until the Customer Image is updated to the correct Data Center OS version.
    
    

Windows 2012 R2 Support

CloudControl provides support for Microsoft Windows 2012 R2 imports with the following caveats:

• Imports must identify the Operating System as "Windows Vista 64-bit" (OVF ID = 74) rather than "Windows 2012". You can choose the OS when exporting out of VMware. This requirement exists because  VMware's OVF approach uses the same identification for both Windows 2012 and Windows 2012 R2 and the system needs to differentiate between them. The workaround we've implemented works as follows:
• The will be labeled as "WIN2012R2?/64" because the OVF implementation using "Windows Vista 64-bit" does not differentiate between Windows 2012 R2 Standard and Data Center editions. In MCP 2.0 locations, you can adjust the image to reflect the correct version by editing the OS version of the Customer Image after it is imported as described in How to Manage Client and Long-Term Retention Images
• The guest OS customization deployment process will treat  "WIN2012?/64" images as Windows 2012 R2 Standard Edition. So if you import a Windows 2012 R2 Data Center image as a Guest OS Customization Client Image and do not edit it to correct the version, server deployments from the image will result in Cloud Servers that do NOT receive an updated Windows 2012 R2 Data Center license key on deployment. This may have two effects:
  • If the Imported image is descended from one of the Windows 2012 R2 OS Images we have provided, the deployment should work properly
  • If the Imported image has a customer-provided license key installed,  the license key may need to be updated on server deployment and/or server deployments may fail until the Customer Image is updated to the correct Data Center OS version.

Windows 2012 Support

CloudControl provides support for Microsoft Windows 2012 imports with the following caveats:

• Imports will be labeled as "WIN2012?/64" because the OVF implementation does not differentiate between Windows 2012 Standard and Data Center editions. In MCP 2.0 locations, you can adjust the image to reflect the correct version by editing the OS version of the Customer Image after it is imported as described in How to Manage Client and Long-Term Retention Images
• The guest OS customization deployment process will treat "WIN2012?/64" images as Windows 2012 Standard Edition. So if you import a Windows 2012 Data Center image as a Guest OS Customization Client Image and do not edit it to correct the version, server deployments from the image will result in Cloud Servers that do NOT receive an updated Windows 2012 Data Center license key on deployment. This may have two effects:
  • If the Imported image is descended from one of the Windows 2012 OS Images we have provided, the deployment should work properly.
  • If the Imported image has a customer-provided license key installed,  the license key may need to be updated on server deployment and/or server deployments may fail until the Customer Image is updated to the correct Data Center OS version.

Windows 2008 R2 Support

CloudControl provides support for Microsoft Windows 2008 R2 imports with the following caveats:

• Imports will be labeled as "WIN2008R2?/64" because the OVF implementation does not differentiate between Windows 2008 R2 Standard, Enterprise, and Data Center editions. In MCP 2.0 locations, you can adjust the image to reflect the correct version by editing the OS version of the Customer Image after it is imported as described in How to Manage Client and Long-Term Retention Images
• The system will treat all such "WIN2008R2?/64" images as Windows 2008 R2 Standard/Enterprise Edition, meaning it will attempt to use our SPLA license key that works with either edition. So if you import a Windows 2008 R2 Data Center image as a Guest OS Customization Client Image and do not edit it to correct the version, server deployments from the image will result in Cloud Servers that do NOT receive an updated Windows 2008 R2 Data Center license key on deployment of a Customer Server. This may have two effects:
  • If the Imported image is descended from one of the Windows 2008 R2 OS Images we have provided, the deployment should work properly.
  • If the Imported image has a customer-provided license key installed, the license key may need to be updated on server deployment and/or server deployments may fail until the Customer Image is updated to the correct Data Center OS version.

Other Impacts

These import restrictions have effects to other features in addition to 

1. Copying images within the same Geographic Region as described in How to Copy a Client Image between Locations in the Same Geographic Region uses the Import feature and will be affected by the same issues. 
2. You can export such images as described in How to Export a Client Image to an OVF Package but you may run into similar problems when you import them in your target VMware instance. You can change the OS type locally in VMware but for Windows 2012 R2, remember to change it back before importing back into the CaaS environment.

Workaround for MCP 1.0 Locations

The ability to edit the OS type for a Customer Image in the Updated UI is currently limited to MCP 2.0 locations. If you've imported a Data Center edition Customer Image into an MCP 1.0 location resulting in a WIN2008R2?/64, WIN2012?/64, or WIN2012R2?/64 OS type and are having problems deploying using Guest OS Customization, you can contact Support and ask us to manually adjust the OS type to the correct Data Center edition Operating System. Alternately, the API functions will allow you to make the change, even in an MCP 1.0 location.