Installing and managing Hyper-V on Windows Server 2008 Server Core

• Server consolidation
• Improved server utilization
• Reduced power consumption
• Reduced data center footprint
• Improved flexibility

About the book: This chapter excerpt on how to Implement and Utilize Hyper-V (download PDF) is taken from the book Windows Server 2008 How-To.This book offers information on every essential element to Windows Server 2008, including the necessary steps and procedures for planning, deployment, configuration, security and day-to-day administration. There are sections that focus on the Hyper-V R2 release and all major enhancements built into Windows Server 2008, including Hyper-V virtualization, Server Core, major Terminal Services improvements and more.

Solution: Windows Server 2008 has an installable role, Hyper-V, that enables you to configure an environment to support virtual servers. There are a variety of specific requirements that you need to keep in mind, including the following:

• The Windows Server Virtualization role can be installed only on a system that has a 64-bit processor.
• Hardware must support hardware-assisted virtualization (Intel VT or AMD-V) technology and hardware data execution prevention (DEP).
• Best practice is to have at least two physical network interface cards (NICs): one for management of the server and one or more for the virtual servers.

Essentially, Hyper-V installs a hypervisor on top of your hardware but beneath your virtualized systems. This hypervisor makes it appear to all your virtualized systems as though they are running directly on the hardware, not sharing it with other virtualized systems. There is one parent system (running the full version of Windows Server 2008 or the Server Core version) that maintains the structure of Hyper-V.

NOTE: What is a hypervisor? A hypervisor, also called a virtual machine manager, is a program that runs in a layer between your hardware (processor, memory, disk, network) and your OS. It allows you to install multiple operating systems as long as you have enough hardware power to support them. Different hypervisors work in different ways. For example, the VMware hypervisor includes drivers for your software in the hypervisor itself. The Hyper-V hypervisor does not include those drivers but relies on the OS to hold its own drivers, making the Hyper-V hypervisor "thinner," or smaller in size.

Install Hyper-V on a Full Installation of Windows Server 2008

To install Hyper-V on a system that is already running the full installation of Windows Server 2008, perform the following steps:

1. Make sure your hardware is configured for Hyper-V in the BIOS:
• Security: Execute Disable = On
• Performance: Virtualization = On
• Performance: VT for direct I/O access = On
• Performance: Trusted Execution = Off

NOTE: Name references in BIOS may differ, depending on the BIOS version. Also, you might need to actually power down your computer, rather than simply restart, for the settings to take hold.

2. Install the Hyper-V update KB950050 and then reboot.
3. In Server Manager click Add Roles and select the Hyper-V role.
4. Note the reminder to configure BIOS settings as well as the links to additional information. Click Next.
5. On the Create Virtual Networks page, select a network adapter to allow for a virtual network connection for the virtual machines, as shown in Figure 7.1. You can always add, remove, or modify your virtual networks later, through the Virtual Network Manager.
6. Review your role settings on the Confirm Installation Selections page and click Install.
7. When the installation is complete, restart your computer by clicking Yes.
8. After the computer restarts, you get a message about whether the installation was successful. If all went well, click Close. If you encounter errors, a good place to start your investigation is the event logs.

FIGURE 7.1
The Create Virtual Networks page to the Hyper-V installation process.

Now that you have it installed, you can use Server Manager or the Hyper-V Manager (shown in Figure 7.2) to see all the tools you have at your disposal to create and manage virtual machines.

FIGURE 7.2
The Hyper-V Manager, postinstallation.

Install Hyper-V on Server Core

To really improve server utilization and increase security, you might decide to install the Windows Server Virtualization role on the Server Core edition of Windows Server 2008.

To install on the Server Core edition, you follow these steps:

1. Set the BIOS settings as in the section "Install Hyper-V on a Full Installation of Windows Server 2008."
2. Check to see if the edition of Windows Server 2008 supports Hyper-V by entering wmic OS get OperatingSystemSKU. Windows Server 2008 returns a number, and only a few numbers refer to editions that support Hyper-V:
• 12: Windows Server 2008 Datacenter Edition, Server Core
• 13: Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition, Server Core
• 14: Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition, Server Core
3. Ensure that you are running on 64-bit architecture by typing wmic OS get OSArchitecture.
4. Install the Hyper-V update KB950050 by typing wusa.exe Windows6.0-KB950050-x64.msu /quiet . This update reboots the server
5. Actually install the Windows Server Virtualization Role by entering start /w ocsetup Microsoft-Hyper-V and restart the server when you're prompted to do so.

NOTE: Windows Server 2008 Standard edition includes a license for one free virtual instance, Enterprise edition includes a license for four free virtual instances, and Datacenter edition includes a license for an unlimited number of virtual instances.

At this point, you have installed the Windows Server Virtualization role. This is just a platform to build and manage virtual servers. Now let's look at how to manage this role to build and support virtual servers.

Manage Hyper-V Remotely

About the authors: J. Peter Bruzzese is a network specialist with eight years of experience in the information technology sector. Bruzzese helped form Clip Training LLC, which offers a variety of mini clips on topics from Windows operating systems to server applications. Ronald Barrett is an independent consultant, trainer, author and tech speaker whose previous clients include Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, New Horizons and ONLC.com. Barrett has co-authored several books, including Administrator's Guide to Microsoft Office 2007 Servers and contributes regularly to Redmond magazine. Wayne Dipchan is the author of McSe Windows 2000 Directory Services Design and is a certified SQL database administrator. Dipchan is also a server expert for New Horizons, Bear Stearns and General Electric Company.

Scenario/Problem: Your infrastructure plan says that all Windows servers utilized for the virtualization project must be run on Server Core. How will you build and manage virtual servers on Server Core?

Solution: You need to install the Hyper-V Manager on client machines that are to be used to manage your Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V environment. Only two operating systems support the Hyper-V Manager:

• Windows Server 2008: You can add the Hyper-V Manager feature by using Server Manager. You can find the Hyper-V tools by selecting Remote Server Administration Tools, Role Administration Tools, Hyper-V Tools.
• Windows Vista: The Service Pack 1 KB925627 update package includes the Hyper-V Manager MMC snap-in and the Virtual Machine Console, a tool that enables you to establish an interactive session on a virtual server.

When you have the Hyper-V Manager installed, you can connect to remote Hyper-V servers that you need to administer by clicking the Connect to Server link in the Actions pane.

Hyper-V management leverages Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) to manage Hyper-V. The Hyper-V WMI enables you to configure/manage all aspects of Hyper-V, such as the following:

• Configure server settings
• Build and configure virtual servers
• Create and manage virtual network switches
• Manage the state of virtual servers that are running

You can also remotely manage your Hyper-V server via Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). The Terminal Services Remote application allows you to connect to Windows-based platforms from just about anywhere, which means you can connect to your Hyper-V server and, in effect, administer it locally. Virtual Machine Connection (vmconnect.exe) allows you to build and/or connect to the virtual servers that reside on your Hyper-V server. Virtual Machine Connection also uses RDP to establish connections.

NOTE: The primary supported tools for remotely administering your Hyper-V infrastructure are the Hyper-V Manager and the System Center Virtual Machine Manager (VMM).

Implement and Utilize Hyper-V
  Installing and managing Hyper-V on Windows Server 2008 Server Core
  Using Hyper-V Manager to create virtual machines and hard drives
  Monitoring Hyper-V performance and utilizing System Center VMM

Printed with permission from Sams Publishing. Copyright 2009. Windows Server 2008 How-To by J. Peter Bruzzese, Ronald Barrett and Wayne Dipchan. For more information about this title and other similar books, please visit Sams Publishing.