Cloned VM shows different Guest OS version in powered On and powered OFF state.

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms :

If a windows 2019 VM is cloned, then the Guest OS version in the summary of that cloned VM in powered-off state shows a different a version (like, windows server 2016) than the actual Guest OS. But as soon that cloned VM is powered-ON, the guest OS version gets changed back to the actual version i.e. 2019

Environment

• VMware vSphere ESXi 8.x
• VMware vSphere ESXi 7.x

Cause

 

• This issue can be observed if the VMs were built on ESXi versions with hardware version below 17.
• During VM creation, only "Microsoft Windows Server 2016" was available to select as the Guest OS version.
• "Microsoft Windows Server 2019" was not available as an option during creation.

Resolution

Steps to Change the Guest OS version of a VM :

• Right-click a virtual machine in the inventory and select Edit Settings
• Click the VM Options  tab and expand General Options
• From the Guest OS drop-down menu, select the guest operating system family.
• From the Guest OS Version drop-down menu, select the guest operating system version.
• Click OK.

Reference Link : Change the Configured Guest Operating System

Additional Information

• Windows Server 2019 guest operating system option is not available during virtual machine creation
• Windows Server 2025 Guest OS option is not Available During VMware vSphere ESXi Virtual Machine Creation or Windows Server 2025 missing from Guest OS list in some Provider VDC's