How to enable VHDX shared support in Windows 11?

Windows 11

You can enable VHDX by using makecab. Also, it is guest OS responsibility to support parallel writes.

Enable VHDX using FailoverCluster

The driver is part of FailoverCluster-FullServer package, which can be installed on client os, but ProductPolicy might prevent it from working

Solution

So you need to change this


Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.14393]
(c) 2016 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\efa11>makecab
Cabinet Maker - Lossless Data Compression Tool

MAKECAB [/V[n]] [/D var=value ...] [/L dir] source [destination]
MAKECAB [/V[n]] [/D var=value ...] /F directive_file [...]

  source         File to compress.
  destination    File name to give compressed file.  If omitted, the
                 last character of the source file name is replaced
                 with an underscore (_) and used as the destination.
  /F directives  A file with MakeCAB directives (may be repeated). Refer to
                 Microsoft Cabinet SDK for information on directive_file.
  /D var=value   Defines variable with specified value.
  /L dir         Location to place destination (default is current directory).
  /V[n]          Verbosity level (1..3).

C:\Users\efa11>

Shared VHD

Setting allows Shared VHD support (few VMs work with one VHD as shared, to emulate clustered test environment) – works till system reboot, you must run same string elevated to enable support. Add it to startup if you want a permanent setting.
What is inside your VM doesn’t matter, no drivers are required, but it is a guest OS responsibility to support parallel writes. In Windows Server, failover clustering role supports that since NT Server 3.51. Client guests OSes are usually unaware of shared drives, and might need 3d-party software to work properly.

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