Windows 8 / Windows Server 2012 Operating System does not boot or install on ESXi or ESX

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article provides information on using Windows 8 / Windows Server 2012 in a VMware vSphere environment.

Symptoms:

• Windows 8 / Windows Server 2012 fails to start or install on any version of VMware ESXi or VMware ESX
• Windows 8 / Windows Server 2012 is not working
• You cannot use Windows 8 / Windows Server 2012 in ESXi or ESX

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0

Resolution

Note: Windows 8 / Windows Server 2012 is not supported on ESXi/ESX 4.0 or 4.1.

Windows 8 / Windows Server 2012 is fully supported for ESXi 5.5, ESXi 5.1, ESXi 5.0 Update 1 and above.

 

Note: For Windows Server 2012 and ESXi 5.0 Update 1, you must install ESXi 5.0 Patch 04. After applying this patch, the ESXi build should display as 821926.

 

Note: The information below relates only to pre-release versions of Windows 8 / Windows Server 2012. For complete support, install the GA version.

 

Consider this guidance, which is based on testing Windows 8 / Windows Server 2012 up to build 8224:

• Windows 8 Developer Preview / Windows Server 2012 Release Candidate does not boot on ESXi 5.0. To resolve this issue, you must install patch ESXi500-201112001 (Patch 02):
  
  
  1. Download and install ESXi500-201112001 (Patch 02).
  2. Create a new virtual machine configured for either Windows 7 or Windows 2008 R2.
  3. Enable 3D graphics or do not install VMware's WDDM video driver.
  4. Install Windows 8 / Windows Server 2012 from Media.
  5. Install VMware Tools.
     
     Note: VMware does not recommend installing VMware's WDDM video driver. Use the default VESA driver.
     
     
• If you experience a black screen after installing VMware's WDDM video driver in a virtual machine with Windows 8 / Windows Server 2012, enable 3D graphics or reinstall the operating system and VMware Tools without VMware's WDDM video driver.
  
  
• VMware does not currently recommend using USB xHCI with Windows 8 / Windows Server 2012. To work around this issue, remove the USB xHCI controller or use the USB EHCI+UHCI controller.
  
  Note: Any changes to the virtual hardware must be preceded by a full shutdown on the command line (shutdown /s /t 0). Otherwise, the Windows 8 / Windows Server 2012 hibernate-shutdown may not fully detect hardware changes and you may experience a blue diagnostic screen or triple fault during start.
  
  
• The vmxnet3 virtual NIC is supported in a Windows 8 / Windows Server 2012 virtual machine with ESXi 5.0 Update 1, ESXi 5.0 Update 2 and ESXi 5.1.

Additional Information

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