Powering on of Windows VM deployed from cloned template fails with error 'The guest operating system 'windows2019srv_64Guest' is not supported.'

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

• Powering on Windows VM that was deployed using a cloned template located in the content library fails with error 'The guest operating system 'windows2019srv_64Guest'is not supported.' 
• Editing the VM settings shows the Guest OS Family is Other and Guest OS version is blank.  To check this right click on affected VM → Click on Edit Settings → VM Options → Expand General Options
• VMX file shows guestOS = 'windows9srv-64' . To export the VMX file Log in to the vSphere Client → Navigate to Storage and select the datastore where the VM resides. → Click the Files tab. → Locate the folder named after your virtual machine. → Select the .vmx file and click Download.
  
  

Environment

vCenter 8.x

Resolution

Edit the vmx file and change the line guestOS = "windows9srv-64" to guestOS = "windows2019srv_64Guest" . You can use the following a guide to editing vmx file Tips for editing a .vmx file 

Redeploy the VM and power it on. 

Additional Information

Windows Server 2019 guest operating system option is not available during virtual machine creation

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