Issue
I have two Hyper-V clusters (both Windows Server 2016) and I’m unable to Live Migrate VMs between the two using SCVMM 2016, failing with the following error:
Error (23008)
The VM SteveTest1 cannot be migrated to Host X500LP01.x500.local due to incompatibility issues. The virtual machine ‘SteveTest1’ is using processor-specific features not supported on physical computer ‘X500LP01’. To allow for migration of this virtual machine to physical computers with different processors, modify the virtual machine settings to limit the processor features used by the virtual machine. (Virtual machine ID BG2D46F8-6D5D-4199-ACA6-F600F4F069E6).Recommended Action
Resolve the incompatibility issue and try the migration again.
Destination Host Ratings:
Investigation
I tried to move the VM via a ‘Shared Nothing Live Migration‘ , resulting in the same error:
Hosts in Hyper-V Cluster A have a different processor model to those in Hyper-V Cluster B.
- Hyper-V Cluster A: Intel Xeon E5-2650 2GHz
- Hyper-V Cluster B: Intel Xeon E5-2680 v4 2.40GHz
I’m able to Live Migrate VMs from Cluster A to Cluster B, as the destination processor model is higher than the source. However, not back from Cluster B to Cluster A, because the destination processor model is lower than the source.
Fix
Hyper-V processor compatibility mode needs to be enabled on the VM (it’s a per-VM setting), to allow Live Migration to a host running a different processor model (model only, NOT manufacturer).
Hyper-V masks the processor features, preventing the VM from trying to use any advanced processor instructions that probably won’t be present on the destination host.
The change can be made in SCVMM or Hyper-V Manager as detailed below.
Note the VM needs to be powered-off to apply this setting.
SCVMM
Open Properties of the VM.
Hardware Configuration > General > Processor
Check “Allow migration to a virtual machine host with a different processor version”.
Hyper-V Manager
Open Settings of the VM.
Hardware > Processor > Compatibility
Check “Migrate to a physical computer with a different processor version”.
Sorted – VMs can now be Live Migrated migrated between the two clusters.
