Windows Machine Config Operator prerequisites - Release notes | Windows Container Support for OpenShift

The following information details the supported platform versions, Windows Server versions, and networking configurations for the Windows Machine Config Operator (WMCO). See the vSphere documentation for any information that is relevant to only that platform.

WMCO supported installation method

The WMCO fully supports installing Windows nodes into installer-provisioned infrastructure (IPI) clusters. This is the preferred OKD installation method.

For user-provisioned infrastructure (UPI) clusters, the WMCO supports installing Windows nodes only into a UPI cluster installed with the platform: none field set in the install-config.yaml file (bare-metal or provider-agnostic) and only for the BYOH (Bring Your Own Host) use case. UPI is not supported for any other platform.

WMCO 10.17.0 supported platforms and Windows Server versions

The following table lists the Windows Server versions that are supported by WMCO 10.17.0, based on the applicable platform. Windows Server versions not listed are not supported and attempting to use them will cause errors. To prevent these errors, use only an appropriate version for your platform.

Platform	Supported Windows Server version
Amazon Web Services (AWS)	Windows Server 2022, OS Build 20348.681 or later ^[1] Windows Server 2019, version 1809
Microsoft Azure	Windows Server 2022, OS Build 20348.681 or later Windows Server 2019, version 1809
VMware vSphere	Windows Server 2022, OS Build 20348.681 or later
Google Cloud Platform (GCP)	Windows Server 2022, OS Build 20348.681 or later
Nutanix	Windows Server 2022, OS Build 20348.681 or later
Bare metal or provider agnostic	Windows Server 2022, OS Build 20348.681 or later Windows Server 2019, version 1809

Platform

Supported Windows Server version

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Windows Server 2022, OS Build 20348.681 or later ^[1]
Windows Server 2019, version 1809

Microsoft Azure

Windows Server 2022, OS Build 20348.681 or later
Windows Server 2019, version 1809

VMware vSphere

Windows Server 2022, OS Build 20348.681 or later

Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

Windows Server 2022, OS Build 20348.681 or later

Nutanix

Windows Server 2022, OS Build 20348.681 or later

Bare metal or provider agnostic

Windows Server 2022, OS Build 20348.681 or later
Windows Server 2019, version 1809

For disconnected clusters, the Windows AMI must have the EC2LaunchV2 agent version 2.0.1643 or later installed. For more information, see the Install the latest version of EC2Launch v2 in the AWS documentation.

Supported networking

Hybrid networking with OVN-Kubernetes is the only supported networking configuration. See the additional resources below for more information on this functionality. The following tables outline the type of networking configuration and Windows Server versions to use based on your platform. You must specify the network configuration when you install the cluster.

The WMCO does not support OVN-Kubernetes without hybrid networking or OpenShift SDN.
Dual NIC is not supported on WMCO-managed Windows instances.

Table 1. Platform networking support
Platform	Supported networking
Amazon Web Services (AWS)	Hybrid networking with OVN-Kubernetes
Microsoft Azure	Hybrid networking with OVN-Kubernetes
VMware vSphere	Hybrid networking with OVN-Kubernetes with a custom VXLAN port
Google Cloud Platform (GCP)	Hybrid networking with OVN-Kubernetes
Nutanix	Hybrid networking with OVN-Kubernetes
Bare metal or provider agnostic	Hybrid networking with OVN-Kubernetes

Table 2. Hybrid OVN-Kubernetes Windows Server support
Hybrid networking with OVN-Kubernetes	Supported Windows Server version
Default VXLAN port	Windows Server 2022, OS Build 20348.681 or later Windows Server 2019, version 1809
Custom VXLAN port	Windows Server 2022, OS Build 20348.681 or later

Additional resources

Hybrid networking