Hyper-V - Is it possible to reinstall or change OS on a Hyper-V Session ?

[Hayabusa1989]

Hi,

 

I was wondering if it was possible to essentially treat the VM as a "real machine" and wipe the previous OS and install a new one. 

My usage case for this is that i wish to upgrade server 2012 r2 to Server 2016 but want to keep the VM in question live throughout.

 

Can you guys help me ?

[jkirkcaldy]

Sorry not sure I understand what you’re asking. Is the windows server instance you want to upgrade the virtual machine or the bare metal install. 

 

If it’s a VM I can’t see why you couldn’t upgrade like normal. But the system restarts several times during the upgrade process so either way there will be downtime. 

 

You our could always download the 180 day trials of each server OS and test the upgrade process before you do it live. 

 

The simple answer to can the VM be live throughout is no. If you need complete uninterruptible service from your VM you should consider a second server and set up replication so as soon as the VM on one machine goes down the next machine takes over. 

[Hayabusa1989]

2 minutes ago, jkirkcaldy said:

Sorry not sure I understand what you’re asking. Is the windows server instance you want to upgrade the virtual machine or the bare metal install. 

 

If it’s a VM I can’t see why you couldn’t upgrade like normal. But the system restarts several times during the upgrade process so either way there will be downtime. 

 

You our could always download the 180 day trials of each server OS and test the upgrade process before you do it live. 

 

The simple answer to can the VM be live throughout is no. If you need complete uninterruptible service from your VM you should consider a second server and set up replication so as soon as the VM on one machine goes down the next machine takes over. 

HI sorry i did not clarify, I wish to upgrade the virtual machine, i am happy if it resets a few times just need to upgrade the actual Virtual Machine without rebuilding it, 

[leadeater]

3 minutes ago, Hayabusa1989 said:

HI sorry i did not clarify, I wish to upgrade the virtual machine, i am happy if it resets a few times just need to upgrade the actual Virtual Machine without rebuilding it, 

Sure, being a VM doesn't stop you treating it like a physical server. On the plus side what you should do is create a VM snapshot before doing the upgrade so if it all goes wrong you can roll back to a state before you started and it will be as if you never did anything.