Create and configure VMs

• 5 minutes

As a Contoso Hyper-V administrator, you'll need to understand the various configuration settings that are available. You'll need to know how to implement them and how to make decisions concerning various settings, options, and requirements.

VM settings

In the Hyper-V Manager, the VM settings are grouped into two main sections: Hardware and Management. The configuration files that store hardware and management information are separated into two formats: .vmcx and .vmrs. The .vmcx format is used for configuring VMs, and the .vmrs format is used for runtime data. These are binary files which are not editable manually. Management tools such as Hyper-V Manager and Windows PowerShell are used to read and edit the files.

Hardware

VMs use simulated hardware. Hyper-V uses this virtual hardware to mediate access to actual hardware. Depending on the scenario, you might not need to use all available simulated hardware.

Generation 1 hardware

By default, Generation 1 VMs have the hardware listed in the following table.

Hardware	Description
BIOS	Virtual hardware simulates a computer's BIOS. For example, you can configure a VM to switch Num Lock on or off. You can choose the startup order for a VM's virtual hardware. You can start a VM from a DVD drive, an integrated drive electronics (IDE) device, a legacy network adapter, or a floppy disk.
Memory	You can allocate memory resources to a VM. An individual VM can allocate as much as 1 TB of memory. You can also configure Dynamic Memory, which automatically changes a VM's available memory within a range that you define.
Processor	You can allocate processor resources to a VM. You can allocate up to 64 virtual processors to a single VM.
Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA)	NUMA helps multiprocessor VMs scale better by grouping processor and memory into nodes, which you can group into sockets. Aligning the nodes and sockets of a VM to the hardware topology helps improve the performance of NUMA-aware workloads.
IDE controller	A VM can support only two IDE controllers. By default, the two IDE controllers allocated to a VM are IDE controller 0 and IDE controller 1. Each IDE controller can support two devices. You can connect virtual hard disks (VHDs) or virtual DVD drives to an IDE controller. If booting from a hard disk drive or DVD-ROM, the boot device must be connected to an IDE controller. IDE controllers are the only way to connect VHDs and DVD-ROMs to VMs that use operating systems that don't support integration services.
SCSI controller	You can use SCSI controllers only on VMs that you deploy with operating systems that support integration services. SCSI controllers enable supporting up to 256 disks by using four controllers with a maximum of 64 connected disks each. You can add and remove virtual SCSI disks while a VM is running.
Network adapter	Hyper-V–specific network adapters represent virtualized network adapters. You can only use network adapters with supported VM guest operating systems that support integration services.
COM port	A COM port enables connections to a simulated serial port on a VM.
Diskette drive	You can map a .vfd floppy disk file to a virtual floppy drive.

Generation 2 hardware

Generation 2 VMs have the following hardware by default.

Hardware	Description
Firmware	UEFI allows all the features of the BIOS in generation 1 VMs. However, it also allows Secure Boot, which is enabled by default.
Memory	Same as generation 1 VMs.
Processor	Same as generation 1 VMs.
SCSI controller	Generation 2 VMs can use a SCSI controller for a boot device.
Network adapter	Generation 2 VMs support hot add/removal of virtual network adapters.

You can add the following hardware to a VM by editing the properties of the VM and then selecting Add Hardware.

Hardware	Description
SCSI controller	You can add up to four virtual SCSI devices. Each controller supports up to 64 disks.
Network adapter	A single VM can have a maximum of eight Hyper-V–specific network adapters.
Fibre Channel adapter	This adapter allows a VM to connect directly to a Fibre Channel SAN. For this adapter, the Hyper-V host should have a Fibre Channel HBA that also has a Windows Server driver that supports virtual Fibre Channels.

Management

Use management settings to configure how a VM behaves on a Hyper-V host. The VM management settings in the following table are configurable.

VM Management Setting	Use
Name	Use this setting to configure the display name of the VM on a Hyper-V host. Doing this doesn't alter the actual VM's computer name.
Integration Services	Determine how a VM communicates with the host with settings for various components such as Heartbeat, Time synchronization and more. Use this setting to configure which VM integration settings are enabled and available in a VM.
Checkpoints	Checkpoints allow you to save a VM's state at a specific point in time, which you can later restore. Use this setting to enable or disable checkpoints, specify the type of checkpoint that will be created and also a location for where the configuration and checkpoint saved state files should be stored.
Smart Paging File Location	Smart Paging is used to assist with VM startup. It allows the allocation of additional memory during startup time to ensure a VM starts smoothly, where the minimum memory assigned is less than what is required during startup. You can configure the location where the Smart Paging files are stored for a VM.
Automatic Start Action	Use this setting to manage how a VM responds when a Hyper-V host turns on.
Automatic Stop Action	Use this setting to manage how a VM responds when a Hyper-V host shuts down gracefully.

It's also possible to monitor resource usage for VMs that are running on Hyper-V hosts by using Windows PowerShell cmdlets. Use the Enable-VMResourceMetering cmdlet followed by the Measure-VM cmdlet to determine a specific VM's resource usage data for CPU, memory, storage, and networking. This process of tracking resource usage to an identified owner is known as resource metering.

Demonstration

The following video demonstrates how to:

• Create a Hyper-V virtual switch.
• Create a virtual hard disk.
• Create a VM.
• Manage a VM by using Windows Admin Center.

The main steps in the process are:

1. Create a Hyper-V private virtual switch by using Hyper-V Manager.
2. Create a virtual hard disk differencing drive by using Hyper-V Manager.
3. Create a generation 1 VM with dynamic memory enabled by using Hyper-V Manager.
4. Manage the VMs by using Windows Admin Center.

---

---

Quick review

1.

What is the default storage location for VM configuration files when a VM is being created in the New Virtual Machine Wizard in Hyper-V?

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\windows\Hyper-V

C:\Program Files\Hyper-V

C:\Users\Public\Documents\Hyper-V\Virtual Hard Disks

You must answer all questions before checking your work.