Month: July 2013

This article has been written in the assumption your HYPER-V host in the workgroup mode and your remote server management client also in the workgroup mode.

1. First download iso of the HYPER-V server 2012 free edition. Make a bootable USB drive to install the HYPER-V server 2012. You can download the bootable USB drive software from here.
2. Once server setup completed run "Sconfig" command and change the

Computer name

IP address to static

Date & time

Enable Remote Management

1. For additional GUI level configuration you can download the CoreConfig tool for Server core 2012 from here.

1. Now to manage the HYPER-V server 2012 from a Windows 8 machine download the "Remote Server Administration Tools" from here.
2. Make sure you can ping to the HYPER-V server 2012 from your Windows 8 computer by it’s computer name instead of the IP address. First try IP address and if that works and ping to name failed then in the client computer open Run and go to the path of "c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc" and open the file called hosts file. In the bottom of the document add the entry of the HYPER-V server 2012 server IP address and its name. Save the document (you might get problems so save the file to the desktop and then copy back to the original location. First make sure the rename the original document as hosts.old) Go to the command prompt and type "nbtstat -R" and then retry to ping to the Server core by its computer name. This time you’ll be able to do that without any problem.
3. In the Windows 8 computer open the command prompt with elevated access and then type

cmdkey /add:<ServerName> /user:<UserName> /pass:<password>
(Eg: cmdkey /add:ServerCore /user:Susantha /pass:P@sssw0rd)

1. Now open the HYPER-V manager MMC and click "Connect to Server" and add the Remote HYPER-V server 2012 name.

1. If everything is successful you will be able to see the HYPER-V enabled host will be added to the HYPER-V Manager MMC.

To manage Server core from Server Manager Console

1. Open Server Manager in windows 8 client. (Assuming you’re already completed the step of installing the RSAT for Windows 8)
2. Select "Add other servers to manage" and in the net console select DNS and then enter the Server Core computer name,

1. Soon after doing that you’ll be greeted with an error

1. Now in the client computer open the command prompt with elevated prompt and type
   winrm set winrm/config/client @{TrustedHosts="RemoteComputerName"}
   Eg: winrm set winrm/config/client @{TrustedHosts="Core"}
   To make things simple and work what I’ve done is created a user account on both windows 8 and Server Core with same username and password. Make sure you’re logged in with those user names on both computers
2. Once that completed refresh the errors appearing on the server manager. You’ll find server manager will be able to identify the server roles in Core system. You can start collecting performance details from server core as well.

Windows R2 bits are already out there for you to grab and play around. Today I’m taking you’ll attention one particular improvement in HYPER-V replica feature. I’m not going to explain what is HYPER-V replica and it’s advantages, you cna read more information about from here. In previous version of HYPER-V replica the minimum data transfer difference between the replication VM’s are 5 minutes, in another way RTO is 5 minutes.  This is more than enough for most of the business application out there when compared with the customers requirement and their budget 🙂

But customers and partners want more and Microsoft listen to them, so the answer is HYPER-V product team has reduce that time up to 30 seconds!! (Yes you heard it correctly now it’s 30 seconds no more minutes level)

So now when you enable HYPER-V replica option in HYPER-V you can select which time option you want to select out of 3 options. This is an welcome advantage for technical engineers to decide which Virtual machine’s will need priority and then enable the feature based on that priority.

edit on 07-07-2013

Apart from reducing the replication interval to 30 seconds Microsoft also offer you the option of replicating the replicated backup to another location. As an example from your primary location (A) you replicate to different location (B) from that  “B” location you can replicate to another location (C)

This is similar to the “Bunker backup” scenario. As I’ve mentioned above the time internal’s are 30 seconds, 5 minutes & 15 minutes. So you can decide how you want to arrange the RTP and RPO based on your organization requirement.

July 1st 2012 midnight Microsoft official e-mail was in my inbox confirming I’ve been recognized as an MVP for my contribution to the community. This is my 4th time I’ve been awarded as an MVP on my technical knowledge sharing on Microsoft HYPER-V. HYEPE-V has been an interesting baby and for the past few years has grown tremendously and came to a point to be the only challenger to “Other Guys” Right now we’re surpassing “Other Guys” in certain areas and continuously improving the capabilities.

Sharing information about such technology has been always exciting activity for me. We do lot of customer meetings explain them why they should overlook HYPER-V and how the market changing from hyper-visor fight to Cloud level. I truly believe HYPER-V have a steady journey ahead and I’m glad to be part of that to take that message to community. Thank you for everyone who supported me on this journey.

Microsoft really moving towards the target making VMM as a Cloud Manager console instead of being said Virtual Machine Management console. To make this task they have been generous enough to allow third party vendors to add UI Add-ins to the VMM console. You can find more about this concept here.

One such company who took my attention is Savison. Savison is famous for extending the Operations Manager console and provide live feedback Maps. I really like the idea of Savison Live Maps and how they extend the SCOM to the next level.

Anyway getting back to the point 🙂 they have introduce and Add-in to the VMM 2012 SP1 which extend and provide more information about the Virtual machine and the host servers itself. Based on the resource usage this Add-in can provide predictable information for IT Managers to plan well ahead of resource usage. Apart from that if there is any problem with the VMM root cause will be identified and explanation provided. This really helps VMM admin to reduce the troubleshooting  and keep the environment running smoothly without switching to different windows. All these capabilities coming to you FREE!! Yes you heard it correct Savison decide to offer this Add-in freely to anyone who use VMM 2012 SP1. You can download the files from here.

If you want to skip the manual and watch a quick step by step guide then you’re in luck 🙂 you can access the video I’ve created of from here.