1. Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows for Use With KVM
  2. About Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows

1 About Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows

The Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows are paravirtualized drivers for Microsoft Windows guests that run on KVM hypervisors; these drivers improve performance for network and block (disk) devices on Microsoft Windows guests and resolve common issues.

Features in 2.1.0

The Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows 2.1.0 provides:

  • An updated installer which includes better messaging and improved workflows for unsupported platforms.
  • Support for the VirtIO GPU driver that drives the VirtIO VGA display device designed for virtual machines. VirtIO GPU supports system power state S3. You can suspend and wake up the Windows system that uses the VirtIO VGA device.
  • Bug fixes for the VirtIO storage and network drivers.

Features in 2.0.1

Release 2.0.1 of the Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows fixes an issue that caused migration failure when changing from non-KVM environments, such as VMWare or Hyper-V, to KVM environments, such as Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.

Features in 2.0

The primary focus in release 2.0 of the Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows is an improvement in network and block performance. Also, a significant number of bugs are resolved in this update and the codebase aligns more closely to the upstream release of these drivers. The update also facilitates the coexistence of third-party vendor drivers that previously resulted in conflicts and issues.

Supported Releases, Operating Systems, and Configuration Limits

The following information pertains to the Oracle Linux and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure releases that are supported with the Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows, in addition to the supported operating systems for each version of the Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows.

Information about Microsoft Windows compatibility signing and details on tested and recommended configuration limits for the Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows is also provided.

Supported Environments

The Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows Release 2.1.0 are supported on the following environments and platforms:

  • Oracle Cloud Infrastructure

  • Oracle Linux 7

  • Oracle Linux 8

  • Oracle Linux 9

Supported Guest Operating Systems

The following table lists the supported Microsoft Windows operating systems for the Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows.

Table 1-1 Microsoft Windows Supported Guest Operating Systems

Guest Operating System 64-bit 32-bit

Microsoft Windows Server 2022

Yes

N/A

Microsoft Windows Server 2019

Yes

N/A

Microsoft Windows Server 2016

Yes

N/A

Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2

Yes

N/A

Microsoft Windows Server 2012

Yes

N/A

Microsoft Windows 11

Yes

Yes

Microsoft Windows 10

Yes

Yes

Microsoft Windows 8.1

Yes

Yes

Microsoft Windows 8

Yes

Yes

Caution:

Microsoft Windows 8 is no longer supported by Microsoft. See https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-8 for more information.

Microsoft Windows 8.1 falls out of extended support by Microsoft in January 2023. See https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-81 for more information.

Note:

For information about the supported Microsoft Windows operating systems for the Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows in the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure environment, see https://docs.oracle.com/iaas/Content/Compute/References/bringyourownimage.htm.

Virtual Machine Configuration

Virtual machine configuration for the Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows complies with shape configurations for virtual machines in the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure environment. For more information, see: https://www.oracle.com/cloud/compute/virtual-machines/.

Microsoft Windows Compatibility Signing

The following table shows the Microsoft Windows operating systems for which the Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows have been signed and certified. Oracle has also tested the drivers to ensure they work as expected. Additional information on the certifications can be found at the Windows Server Catalog.

Table 1-2 Microsoft Windows Compatibility Signing

Guest Operating System Signed and Certified by Microsoft Tested by Oracle to Operate Successfully

Microsoft Windows Server 2022

Yes

Yes

Microsoft Windows Server 2019

Yes

Yes

Microsoft Windows Server 2016

Yes

Yes

Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2

Yes

Yes

Microsoft Windows Server 2012

Yes

Yes

Microsoft Windows 11

Yes

Yes

Microsoft Windows 10

No

Yes

Microsoft Windows 8.1

No

Yes

Microsoft Windows 8

No

Yes

Note:

A security alert occurs during installation on a Windows operating system for which Oracle VirtIO Drivers for Microsoft Windows are not signed.

Discontinued Platforms

The following Windows platforms have reached the end of their product life cycle with Microsoft and are no longer supported or included in the VirtIO drivers:

  • Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2008 SP2
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2008
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003
  • Microsoft Windows 2000
  • Microsoft Windows NT 4.0
  • Microsoft Windows 7
  • Microsoft Windows 7 SP1
  • Microsoft Windows Vista
  • Microsoft Windows XP