In Windows Server 2012 VM-Generation ID Support in vSphere, we introduced you to VMware’s support for the new Microsoft’s Windows VM-Generation ID features, discussing how they help address some of the challenges facing Active Directory administrators looking to virtualize domain controllers.
One of the common requests from customers in response to the referenced article is a list of events and conditions under which an administrator can expect the VM-Generation ID of a virtual machine to change in a VMware vSphere infrastructure. The table below presents this list. This table will be included in an upcoming Active Directory on VMware vSphere Best Practices Guide.
| Scenario | VM-Generation ID Change |
| VMware vSphere vMotion®/VMware vSphere Storage vMotion | No |
| Virtual machine pause/resume | No |
| Virtual machine reboot | No |
| HA restart | No |
| FT failover | No |
| vSphere host reboot | No |
| Import virtual machine | Yes |
| Cold clone | Yes |
| Hot clone Note Hot cloning of virtual domain controllers is not supported by either Microsoft or VMware. Do not attempt hot cloning under any circumstances. |
Yes |
| New virtual machine from VMware Virtual Disk Development Kit (VMDK) copy | Yes |
| Cold snapshot revert (while powered off or while running and not taking a memory snapshot) | Yes |
| Hot snapshot revert (while powered on with a memory snapshot) | Yes |
| Restore from virtual machine level backup | Yes |
| Virtual machine replication (using both host-based and array-level replication) | Yes |
If you have a specific operation or task that is not included in the table above, please be sure to ask in the comments section.
Thank you.
