With each release of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF), our commitment to delivering a world-class virtualization platform grows stronger and Guest OS (GOS) support is at the heart of that promise.
In VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0, we’re proud to announce continued excellence in Guest Operating System (GOS) compatibility. Whether you’re running modern Linux distributions, the latest Windows Server builds, or legacy workloads that still power key parts of your business, the newest VCF is built to support them all.
To view the complete list of supported operating systems, visit the Broadcom Compatibility Guide.
We’ve collaborated closely with our operating system partners across the ecosystem to ensure seamless certification and integration. From enterprise-grade distros like Windows, RHEL, SLE, and Ubuntu, to specialized GOSes for networking, security, and regional compliance — you can expect seamless performance, certification, and long-term support.
VCF 9.0 continues to offer broad and deep support for a wide range of GOS families, including:
Microsoft Windows
- Windows Server (Windows Server 2025, Windows Server 2022, Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012)
- Windows Client (Windows 11, Windows 10)
Linux Distributions
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL 10.x, RHEL 9.x, RHEL 8.x, RHEL 7.x)
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES 15, SLES 12) and SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED 15)
- Ubuntu (Ubuntu 25.04, Ubuntu 24.10, Ubuntu 24.04, Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 16.04)
- Debian (Debian 12.x, Debian 11.x)
- Oracle Linux (Oracle Linux 9.x, Oracle Linux 8.x)
- AlmaLinux (AlmaLinux 10.x, AlmaLinux 9.x, AlmaLinux 8.x)
- Rocky Linux (Rocky Linux 10.x, Rocky Linux 9.x, Rocky Linux 8.x)
- Flatcar (Flatcar 4081, Flatcar 3510)
- Photon OS, VMware’s container-optimized Linux (Photon OS 5.0, Photon OS 4.0)
FreeBSD and Other Unix-Like OSes
- FreeBSD (FreeBSD 14.x, FreeBSD 13.x)
Legacy and Deprecated Operating Systems
- Windows Server (Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000)
- Windows Client (Windows 10 32-bit, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP)
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL 6.x, RHEL 5.x, RHEL 4.x)
- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES 11, SLES 10 SP4) and SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED 12)
- Ubuntu(Ubuntu 23.10, Ubuntu 23.04, Ubuntu 22.10, Ubuntu 14.04)
- Debian (Debian 10.x, Debian 9.x, Debian 8.x, Debian 7.x)
- Oracle Linux (Oracle Linux 7.x, Oracle Linux 6.x, Oracle Linux 5.x)
- CentOS (CentOS 8.x, CentOS 7.x, CentOS 6.x, CentOS 5.x, CentOS 4.9)
- Flatcar ( Flatcar 3303)
- Photon OS (Photon OS 3.0)
- FreeBSD (FreeBSD 12.x, FreeBSD 11.x, FreeBSD 10.x, FreeBSD 9.x)
- Asianux (Asianux 7.0, Asianux 4.0, Asianux 3.0)
- Solaris (Solaris 11, Solaris 10)
Region-Specific and Government-Endorsed Linux Distributions
- Pardus – A Debian-based Linux distribution developed and maintained by TÜBİTAK ULAKBİM for use in public institutions in Turkey
- ProLinux – A Korea-specific Linux distribution used in local government and enterprise environments
- Miracle Linux – A Japan-based enterprise Linux OS, widely adopted in regulated industries
- Kylin Linux – A China-base enterprise Linux OS tailored for domestic compliance and security
Even in cases where an operating system is no longer officially supported by its vendor, it may still run reliably on VCF. This flexibility allows organizations to virtualize and preserve legacy systems that remain critical to their operations, while benefiting from the performance and manageability of modern infrastructure.
This broad Guest OS coverage empowers IT teams to modernize their infrastructure or sustain critical legacy systems — all on a secure, high-performance virtualization platform.
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Ready to get hands-on with VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0? Dive into the newest features in a live environment with Hands-on Labs that cover platform fundamentals, automation workflows, operational best practices, and the latest vSphere functionality for VCF 9.0.
