The host was installed with Windows Server 2016.
This means Hyper-V is a feature that we just need to enable – yay!
- Open a elevated PowerShell prompt
- Run the command: Install-WindowsFeature -Name Hyper-v -IncludeManagementTools -Restart
The command will automatically reboot once installed
NOTE: In some cases you will have to enable Intel-VT in BIOS.
You can read more about the system requirements here: Systems Requirements for Hyper-V on Windows Server 2016
For the actual setup of guests machines, I will be running mostly Windows Server 2016, Windows 10 and maybe a Linux guest or two.
Don’t forget to review: Supported Windows guest operating systems
Now to the Hyper-V Switch configuration:
I am going to add an external switch, as my client is already connected to the network on the correct vlan.
Keep in mind I got a seperat USB NIC with 2 Ports (USB 3.0 to Dual Port Gigabit Ethernet Adapter NIC w/ USB Port)
This means i will be able to have my on-board primary NIC only for management and use one of the other free ports only for VMs.
- Open Hyper-V Manger
- Mark your server
- Click Virtual Switch Manager in the actions pane
- Mark External
- Click Create Virtual Switch
- Name your switch – Example: External – 254 (254 indicating the vlan)
- Remove the checkbox in Allow management operating system to share this network adapter
- Mark: Enable single-root I/O virtualization (SR-IOV)
Not familiar with SR-IOV? Read this blog post by John Howard: Everything you wanted to know about SR-IOV - Click Ok
You might get a warning that pending network configuration will prevent remote access to this computer – If your connected to the server using another NIC, you will not be disconnected.
This concludes the basic configuration of the Hyper-V host.
We installed Hyper-V and configured a switch with external access.
The next post will be more detailed with the actual Hyper-V guest installations