Breaking News: Hyper-V "RC0" Now Available

virtualization_clip_image002Those of you tracking the progress with great enthusiasm (as I am) of the new Hyper-V virtualization in Windows Server 2008 will be excited to learn that we've just released Release Candidate 0 (RC0) of Hyper-V. 

Installation Instructions can be found HERE.

You really should check out John Howard's excellent blog post about it.

And here are the release notes.

"Wait.. don't I already have Hyper-V on the Windows Server 2008 disk I got at your Launch Event?"

The release of Windows Server 2008 does indeed include Hyper-V, but it's BETA.  The promise has always been that Hyper-V will release within 180 days of the release of Windows Server 2008.  So those of you watching the calendar already know that the countdown to Hyper-V release started on February 5th.  And with this availability of the first release candidate, it looks like we'll easily beat that date - barring any unforeseen bugs.

"Cool! So if I'm running the beta Hyper-V now, how do I upgrade my Hyper-V to the release candidate?"

Well... now.. first of all, let me ask that you not get all upset about what I'm going to tell you next.  Remember: Beta MEANS BETA.  Things will change before release.  And this is definitely no exception.  The beta has been around for awhile now, and there are significant changes/fixes/improvements that had to happen in order to get from beta to a candidate for release. 

"Okay, Kevin.. don't sugar-coat it. Give it to me straight."

Okay.  There is no easy path from Hyper-V beta to Hyper-V RC.  It would be nice, but unfortunately you won't be able to just install Hyper-V RC1 and run with your existing machines. 

"So what do I do?"

Well.. I won't explain the entire process here in the blog.  You definitely want to check out the full set of instructions HERE.  But to summarize, it involves installing an update onto your Hyper-V "Parent" (The 64-bit Windows Server 2008 on which you have installed or are planning to install the Hyper-V role). 

You CANNOT upgrade the "child partitions" (guests) directly.  You'll want to shut them down, delete any snapshots (so that all changes merge to your base .VHDs), and then re-create your virtual machines, pointing to your existing .VHD files.  You'll then need to apply an update to those child machines as well, in order to upgrade the Integration Components within them. 

DO checkout the installation instructions and John's blog post I mentioned above.