Licensing Microsoft server products for use in virtual environments

Summary

The purpose of this brief is to give an overview of use rights for Microsoft server products in virtual environments. It can help you understand how to use Microsoft server products with virtualization technologies, such as Microsoft Hyper-V technology, or third-party virtualization solutions provided by VMware and Parallels.

Although much of the information in this paper also applies to licenses purchased from channels other than Microsoft Commercial Licensing, some differences exist. As a result, we recommend that you review the license terms that accompanied your software if you acquired licenses through a means other than a Microsoft Commercial Licensing agreement.

Original publication date Microsoft: October 2022