VM Integration Services status reports protocol version mismatch on pre-Windows 10, Windows Server 2016, or Windows Server 2019 VM guests

This article discusses an issue in which VM Integration Services status reports protocol version mismatch on pre-Windows 10, Windows Server 2016, or Windows Server 2019 VM guests.

Applies to:   Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2016, Windows 10 - all editions
Original KB number:   4014894

Symptoms

When you enable Integration Services on a pre-Windows 10, Windows Server 2016, or Windows Server 2019 virtual machine, and then you verify the status of the Integration Services service state by using a command such as Get-vmintegrationservice, you receive an error message that resembles the following:

Get-vmintegrationservice-vmname <VMName>

The protocol version of the component installed in the virtual machine does not match the version expected by the hosting system

Resolution

This is expected behavior that can be safely ignored.

More Information

Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019, and Windows 10 include an updated Hyper-V Time Sync service and a new VMIC channel handshake or protocol that is intentionally not backported to previous operating system releases.

In the reported issue, the down-level guest is behaving correctly. The secondary status that is reported through WMI or Windows PowerShell includes an error string that sounds alarming but that you can safely ignore.

Status

This behavior is by design.