Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 guest operating system option is not available

Products

• VMware Desktop Hypervisor
• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article provides information on the guest operating system version to select when installing Windows Server 2012 R2 in a virtual machine.

Symptoms:

• In vSphere 5.x and 6.x, the guest operating system option for Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 is unavailable.
• When installing Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 in a virtual machine, you see that the guest operating system option is not available.

Environment

VMware Workstation 11.x (for Linux)
VMware Fusion 6.x
VMware Player 7.x (Linux)
VMware vSphere ESXi 6.5
VMware Workstation 11.x (for Windows)
VMware Workstation Pro 12.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation Player 12.x (Linux)
VMware Player 6.x (Linux)
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5
VMware vSphere ESXi 7.0.0
VMware Workstation 10.x (Linux)
VMware vSphere ESXi 6.0
VMware Player Pro 7.x (Windows)
VMware Fusion 8.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1
VMware Player 7.x (Windows)
VMware Workstation 10.x (Windows)
VMware Player 6.x (Windows)
VMware vCenter Server 6.0.x
VMware Workstation Pro 12.x (Linux)
VMware vCenter Server 5.5.x
VMware vCenter Server 6.7.x
VMware Workstation Player 12.x (Windows)
VMware vCenter Server 6.5.x
VMware Player Pro 7.x (Linux)
VMware vCenter Server 7.0.x
VMware Fusion 7.x

Resolution

A unique guest operating system option is not available for Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 (64-bit). Use the Microsoft Windows Server 2012 (64-bit) guest operating system option when installing Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2.

Notes:

• Microsoft has only released Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2 as 64-bit operating systems. 32-bit versions are not available.
• VMware products do not need to differentiate between these OS releases in a virtual machine.
• The Windows Server 2012 option is available only in hardware version 8 or later.