Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS) support on ESXi

Products

VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article provides supportability and setup information for Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS) on ESXi

Note: The scope of this article only covers Microsoft Cluster Service on ESXi and does not include other clustering solutions such as Oracle RAC. For more information on Oracle RAC clustering, see the Oracle Databases on VMware RAC Deployment Guide.

Symptoms:

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 6.5
VMware vSphere ESXi 7.0.0
VMware vSphere ESXi 6.0
VMware vSphere ESXi 6.7

Resolution

To determine which releases of ESXi support MSCS, consult the table below. The information is based on the release notes for each release as well as the published product documentation.

For more information, see the VMware Compatibility Guide.

ESX Release	MSCS Supported?	Documentation
vSphere 5.5	Yes	Setup for Failover Clustering and Microsoft Cluster Service (PDF)
vSphere 5.5 Update 2	Yes	Setup for Failover Clustering and Microsoft Cluster Service (PDF)
vSphere 5.5 Update 3	Yes	Setup for Failover Clustering and Microsoft Cluster Service (PDF)
vSphere 6.0	Yes	Setup for Failover Clustering and Microsoft Cluster Service (PDF)
vSphere 6.0 Update 1	Yes	Setup for Failover Clustering and Microsoft Cluster Service (PDF)
vSphere 6.0 Update 2	Yes	Setup for Failover Clustering and Microsoft Cluster Service (PDF)
vSphere 6.5 Update 1	Yes	Setup for Failover Clustering and Microsoft Cluster Service (PDF)
vSphere 6.7	Yes	Setup for Failover Clustering and Microsoft Cluster Service (PDF)
vSphere 7.0	Yes	Setup for Windows Server Failover Clustering (PDF)

Notes:

Windows 2008 is only supported from vSphere 4.0 due to the persistent SCSI-3 reservation support requirement.
For a list of supported guest operating systems for vSphere 4.x/5.x, see Microsoft Clustering on VMware vSphere: Guidelines for Supported Configurations (1037959).
The information in these documents is only as current as the document's last modified date. Check frequently for additions and updates to the release notes.
For information regarding supported 64 and 32-bit Windows guests, see the documentations listed in the preceding table.
Sharing RDMs between two virtual machines without a clustering solution is not supported. For more information, see Microsoft Clustering on VMware vSphere: Guidelines for Supported Configurations (1037959).
When a cluster solution is qualified, it receives a Design for Microsoft Windows Server 2003/2008 logo and is listed in the Windows Server Catalog under Cluster Solutions.

Note: The preceding link was correct as of March 2020. If you find the link is broken, provide a feedback and a VMware employee will update the link.

Additional Information

For vSphere 5.5 enhancements, see MSCS support enhancements in vSphere 5.5 (2052238)
For more information, see:
- Using VMware Converter to convert Microsoft Cluster (MSCS) nodes to virtual machines (1002661)
- Guest Failover Clustering with VMware on the MSDN blog page
For more information on the support policy for Microsoft software running in non-Microsoft hardware virtualization software.
For more information on Microsoft server software and supported virtualization environments.
For more information on Windows Server 2003 cluster support policy.
For more information on the Microsoft Support Policy for Windows Server 2008 Failover Clusters.
vCenter Server 5.5 and newer versions of vSphere support Microsoft Clustering for its back-end database. For more information, see Enabling Microsoft SQL Clustering Service in VMware vCenter Server 5.5 (2059560).

Note: The preceding links were correct as of February 19, 2015. If you find a link is broken, provide feedback and a VMware employee will update the link.

For translated versions of this article, see:

Português: Suporte do Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS) para o ESX/ESXi (2017328)

Using VMware Converter to convert Microsoft Cluster (MSCS) nodes to virtual machines
Guidelines for Microsoft Clustering on vSphere
Suporte do Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS) para o ESX/ESXi
VMware vCenter Server Heartbeat FAQ
ESXi/ESX 上的 Microsoft 群集服务 (MSCS) 支持
MSCS support enhancements in vSphere 5.5
Compatibilidad del Servicio de clúster de Microsoft (MSCS) en ESXi/ESX
Enabling Microsoft SQL Clustering Service for VMware vCenter Server 5.5 database and later
ESXi/ESX での Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS) のサポート