VIRTUAL CENTER FOR WINDOWS 2008

[jduguay]

Is there a version of Virtual Center for Windows 2008 ?

THanks

[vmroyale]

Hello and welcome to the forums.

vCenter 4.0 will work on Windows 2008. Check out the vSphere Compatibility Matrixes for all the details.

Good Luck!

[weinstein5]

As the other poster indicated vCenter 4.0 is supported on Windows 2008 - Virtual Center 2.5 is not supported on Windows 2008.

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[RParker]

vCenter 4.0 will work. In my experience however Windows 2003 offers the best performance, with a LOT less hassle.

Windows 2008 has a bunch of extra security that complicates the setup. I am sure people have it working, but for US, it was easier and ultimately faster on Windows 2003.

[dnetz]

I'm running two Windows 2008 Standard x64 SP2 VM's for vCenter, I do agree with RParker about the extra fuzz in 2008 compared to 2003 but the machines are performing flawlessly and are very stable.

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[AndreTheGiant]

Also, if you plan to use View 4 with Composer, you have to check this compatiblity.

IMHO a (dedicated) Windows Server 2003 32 bit is a good solution for vCenter Server.

Andre

[Stevester]

Good Morning Everyone,

I agree as well with running vCenter Server on Windows Server 2003. I am having issues with vCenter Server running on Windows Server 2008. Many times i am getting an error where the vSphere client cannot connect. The error is "took too long to response" and then ther vSphere client disconnects. My hardware is a single Bladeserver, dual core processor, 4GB of RAM. The vCenter Server is a VM running on ESXi. I didnt experience these issues running on Windows Server 2003, although i wasnt also using the new vCenter Server Update 1

Stevester

[mcssoftware]

Does this include Windows 2008 Web Edition SP2? The compat. matrix PDF doesn't mention Web 2008 but mentions Windows 2008 Server SP2 64 bit as supported. Is there any way to run vCenter on this (low cost) Windows server OS? I really think it is ridiculous to spend 1K+ on a Windows Server Std license when I'll be running SQL Server Express as my vCenter DB (we are a small deployment of only 2 hosts and 15-20 or so VMs) :smileysad:

When will the Linux version be out? ...oh the joy on that day.

[RParker]

When will the Linux version be out? ...oh the joy on that day.

Yeah good luck waiting on that, they promised that over a year ago.. Still have the beta vCenter of Linux too. where is it? I don't know. That's a good question.

I wouldn't think Web Edition would be supported, that's a minimal light weight server, for the same reason Windows 2008 CORE isn't supported either. You need standard or enterprise. If you have Windows 2003, just use that. No need to rush out and move to 2008 just for vCenter.

[mcssoftware]

You're right I'm not holding my breath for the Linux version :smileywink:

Anyway, I don't have Windows 2003 Std licenses either. We are a small deployment (small end of the SMB spectrum) running Essentials ESXi. The bigger issue was spending the $1,000 or so for Windows Std when all it will be doing is vCenter with SQL Express. Heck, that is almost as much as we paid for the Essentials software package altogether. Its tempting to just use Windows XP SP3 - looks like that is supported which is strange. It is not a server OS and I'm not sure if its an OS I'd hang my hat on for reliability either. I guess we are screwed and we'll be forced to throw money away... :smileysad:

[mcssoftware]

Interestingly enough, this VMware article seems to state that Windows 2008 Web 32 bit and Windows 2003 Web 32bit are supported: It mentions "Windows 2003 all editions" and "Windows 2008 32 bit all editions. However, it is explicit in only stating Std/Ent versions of 64bit Windows 2008. I guess I can give it a try and hope VMware support doesn't pull a fast one on me if I ever contact them for help.

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5. Make sure your system has

all the software prerequisites for vCenter Server:+

Note:

For more information, see the vCenter Server Prerequisites section

of the ESX and vCenter Server Installation Guide.Make sure your operating system meets the requirements:

Note: For more information, see the Operating System Compatibility for

vSphere Client, vCenter Server, and VMware vCenter Update Manager section

of the VMware Infrastructure Compatibility Guide.+

• Windows XP Pro SP2 (SP2 required)

• Windows Server 2003, SP1 and SP2 32bit and 64bit all editions

• Windows Server 2003, R2 and SP2 32bit and 64bit all editions

• Windows Server 2008 32bit all editions

• Windows Server 2008 64bit Standard and Enterprise editions+

[mcssoftware]

I answered my own question thru trial and error. The installer will flat out refuse to install vCenter on Windows Server Web Edition 2003/2008. I guess its Windows XP for me :smileysad: