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Guest VM integration services are a package of virtualization-aware drivers that are installed on a guest VM. Integration services optimize the guest VM virtual hardware for interaction with the physical host hardware and with external storage.
Starting with the release of Windows Server 2016, VM integration services are installed automatically as a part of Microsoft updates.
If you have earlier versions of Hyper-V in your environment, integration services must be installed and updated manually on VMs. Use the Action menu in Hyper-V Manager to mount the Integration Services Setup Disk (an ISO file). Follow the prompts in the guest VM console to complete the installation.
Mounting the integration services ISO is not supported with Server 2016 Hyper-V and newer. With newer versions of Hyper-V, integration services are provided exclusively as part of Microsoft updates.
When moving a VM from an older version of Hyper-V to a newer version, verify that the integration services get updated on the VM.
If a VM is not performing as expected (due to CPU, disk I/O, or network performance), verify that the VM integration services are current for the VM.
The presence of unknown devices on a VM may indicate that integration services are not installed or are outdated.
Use tools such as Failover Cluster Manager, PowerShell, or Windows Admin Center to verify the version of integration services.