Microsoft’s Virtualization Support Policy

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Microsoft’s Virtualization Support Policy

Microsoft maintains a support policy for server software running in virtualized environments. For a list of all supported Microsoft virtualization environments see Microsoft server software and supported virtualization environments.

The Server Virtualization Validation Program (SVVP) allows vendors to validate their machine virtualization solutions for running Windows Server, ensuring customers can receive Microsoft support when using these validated platforms. SVVP applies to virtualization solutions running currently supported Windows Server versions on hardware Certified for Windows Server, but excludes hosted environments under Microsoft Service Provider License Agreement Program (SPLA). Vendors perform testing, submit results to Microsoft for approval, and validated configurations specify supported architectures, processors, and memory limits. While Microsoft supports Windows Server on SVVP-validated platforms, issues related to non-standard server functions (e.g., memory overcommitment) are not covered. Customers can seek support from Microsoft or the virtualization provider, with collaboration through TSANet if necessary.

While many Microsoft applications can run on different virtualization platforms, SQL Server has additional criteria that must be met. For SQL Server to be supported, it must run on one of the following:

  • Windows Server with Hyper-V (within its support lifecycle)
  • Microsoft Hyper-V Server
  • A virtualization platform validated through the Server Virtualization Validation Program (SVVP)

To learn more about SQL server virtualization support policies see Support policy for Microsoft SQL Server products that are running in a hardware virtualization environment. To learn more about certified vendors and about configurations for SVVP, see Identify and verify the status of tested products for Windows Server.
If the platform is SVVP validated, SQL Server falls under Microsoft’s support policy.

How do SVVP and Openshift interact?

The Server Virtualization Validation Program (SVVP) ensures that third-party virtualization solutions meet Microsoft's standards for compatibility and support. Red Hat OpenShift is listed as an SVVP validated platform on the Windows Server Catalog, specifically Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.18 at the time of writing this document.
Since Microsoft SQL Server is supported on any SVVP validated platform, this confirms that SQL Server is supported on OpenShift Virtualization, which is a feature of Openshift and therefore covered under Microsoft support for Openshift.

Supported Windows Server Versions

While SVVP validation is offered on the latest Windows Server version, it also applies to earlier supported versions. This means SQL Server remains supported when running on OpenShift with the following Windows Server releases:

  • Windows Server 2025
  • Windows Server 2019
  • Windows Server 2016
  • Windows Server 2012 R2
  • Windows Server 2012
  • Windows Server 2008 R2
  • Windows Server 2008

If your SQL Server deployment runs on OpenShift with any of these supported Windows Server versions, it meets Microsoft’s support criteria.

What does this mean?

For organizations using OpenShift, this ensures that SQL Server deployments remain within Microsoft’s support guidelines. Since Red Hat OpenShift is an SVVP-validated virtualization platform, and Microsoft supports SQL Server on SVVP-validated platforms, Microsoft SQL Server is supported when running in virtual machines on OpenShift.

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