Simplifying Windows Licensing with OpenShift Virtualization on ROSA

As organizations modernize their IT environments, Windows workloads continue to play a critical role across business operations. At the same time, licensing complexity and operational overhead are driving teams to evaluate more flexible and cost-effective paths to the cloud.

Today, we announce the general availability of Windows License Included for Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization on Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS (ROSA), providing customers with a simpler way to run Windows virtual machines alongside Linux workloads and containerized applications on a fully managed hybrid application platform.

Addressing Windows licensing complexity

Windows licensing has historically been one of the biggest considerations when migrating virtualized workloads to the cloud. Organizations must often balance compliance requirements, licensing portability, and cost visibility, all of which can slow down migration initiatives.

To help address this challenge, Red Hat has invested in capabilities that align OpenShift Virtualization on ROSA with AWS Windows licensing models. The Windows License Included option simplifies licensing by bundling Windows licensing costs directly with compute usage. Rather than managing licenses separately, customers can now consume Windows virtual machines in a streamlined, cloud-aligned model.

With this capability:

• Windows licensing is included with supported Amazon EC2 bare metal instances
• Costs are billed per vCPU alongside infrastructure consumption
• Licensing applies at the ROSA cluster machine pool level when enabled
• Customers gain simplified compliance aligned with AWS licensing models

This approach helps organizations migrate from traditional virtualization platforms more easily while maintaining predictable cost management. By aligning licensing with infrastructure consumption, platform teams can focus less on administrative overhead and more on delivering value. Windows License Included support for OpenShift Virtualization on ROSA is now available and can be configured using multiple interfaces designed to meet different operational models.

Customers can enable and manage the feature through: the OpenShift web console, Terraform automation workflows, and Cluster API Provider AWS (CAPA)

These options provide flexibility for platform teams managing environments through UI-driven workflows or infrastructure-as-code automation. Whether organizations prefer guided configuration or fully automated provisioning pipelines, the feature integrates into existing operational practices.

As enterprises continue balancing traditional applications with cloud-native innovation, platforms that unify operational models are becoming increasingly important. Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization on ROSA provides a consistent foundation for running applications across architectures, while Windows License Included removes one of the most common barriers associated with migrating Windows workloads.

By simplifying licensing and delivering a fully managed application platform, organizations can modernize infrastructure at their own pace while maintaining compliance and cost transparency. The ability to run Windows and Linux virtual machines alongside containers within a single environment helps teams streamline operations and prepare for future application architectures.

Learn more

• Refer to the documentation. 
• Watch the video on cost optimization for ROSA.