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kittygirl
Asked: 2019-03-08 20:06:24 +0800 CST

Does virtual machine format change cause Windows server 2016 license invalid?

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My server is centos 7, I create Windows server 2016 virtual machine though KVM,this virtual machine is qcow2 format.
I activate this Windows server virtual machine by license,everything is OK.

Then I transfer this qcow2 virtual machine to another server,with format changed to VMDK.

Does this action cause Windows server 2016 inactivated?

windows

1 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    There’s two questions here due to the way you phrased the question v. the title.

    1. Does moving the virtual machine to a different platform invalidate the licence?

    Not in this case, where you must have licensed the virtual machine itself directly. It would be an issue if you had created the VM on a Windows host and relied on the host’s licence for the VM.

    2. Will moving the virtual machine to a different platform require reactivation of the licence?

    Potentially yes, if there’s enough hardware changes between the two platforms. This should be fairly painless in practice unless you’re using OEM licences, which can be fussy about too many hardware changes.

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