Hyper-V Integration Components For Windows 2003 SP1

Well, kinda.

Big Red Disclaimer: The steps listed here are not supported by Microsoft (or me). I've tested it several times and have not found any issues. If it doesn't work for you - well, sorry.

The Integration Components for Hyper-V RC0 are only avaialable for Windows XP 32-bit with SP3 or later, Windows Server 2003 with SP2 or later, Windows Vista 32-bit with SP1 or later , all versions of Windows Server 2008 and, just recently, Linux.

So what do you do if you want to virtualize a Windows 2003 SP1 server? After all, you may have a legacy application that won't run on SP2 and one of the hopes of virtualization is to move these servers off of dedicated hardware. Here's how to do it:

• Gather your CDs. You'll need the following:
• Windows 2003 Server CD (RTM or SP1 - make sure it doesn't have SP2 slipstreamed into it)
• Windows Server 2003 SP2 upgrade CD or ISO (available here from Microsoft)
• Create a new Windows 2003 virtual server using the Hyper-V New Virtual Machine Wizard
• Upgrade the virtual machine to SP2 using the SP2 CD or ISO.
• From the Hyper-V Action menu, insert the Integration Services Setup disk and install the Integration Components. The installation will require a restart when it's complete.
• After the restart, uninstall Windows Server 2003 SP2 using Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel. The uninstall will warn you that KB943295 and the Integration Components may not work if you continue the uninstallation. Click Continue.
• Restart the virtual machine to complete the uninstallation.

Now you have a Windows 2003 VM with SP1 which runs the Integration Components! You can use this base image to make as many servers as you like. Be sure to use a tool like NewSID to generate unique SIDs for each clone, otherwise you'll run into problems in a domain.

Note: I haven't tested this for Windows Server 2003 RTM, Vista RTM or Windows XP RTM/SP1/SP2, but I expect it will work. Please post a comment if you have success or failure.