Getting Started Guide for Virtualization on a Budget Using Free Hyper-V Server 2012 / 2012 R2

How to install, configure and manage free Hyper-V Server 2012 / 2012 R2 using VT Technology Management Utilities

Introduction

This guide provides step-by-step instructions for installation and initial configuration of the Microsoft free bare-metal hypervisor a.k.a. Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2012 / 2012 R2. It also shows how a new virtual machine can be created, managed and controlled from a local console session using VT Technology Management Utilities (vtUtilities). That being said, this guide should not be used as a performance tuning or Hyper-V ‘best practice’ document. We will simply show how Hyper-V Server 2012 R2 can be installed, configured and used to create and run virtualized workload from the scratch in 15-20 minutes. We will use the following hardware and software:

Computer with: 64-bit Intel or AMD CPU supporting hardware-assisted virtualization. Directly attached storage (2 physical drives). This configuration is not optimal or recommended for most production workloads, so we will use it only for the illustrational purposes. 2 network adapters. Similar hardware can be purchased on eBay for merely $200 or even cheaper.

Similar hardware can be purchased on eBay for merely $200 or even cheaper. Hyper-V Server 2012 R2 installation media. Installation image can be downloaded from: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/server-cloud/hyper-v-server/default.aspx.

vtUtilities

ISO image(s) for guest operating systems.

Download Hyper-V Server 2012 R2, vtUtilities and guest OS ISO images. Prepare installation media for Hyper-V Server 2012 and follow step below to install, configure and manage Hyper-V Server 2012 / 2012 R2.

Hyper-V Server 2012 / 2012 R2 Installation

1. Insert Hyper-V Server 2012 installation media and boot host computer.

2. Confirm your language preferences.

3. Click 'Install Now'.

4. Accept license terms.

5. Select 'Custom' installation.

6. Create new partition on each drive. We will use a first drive's partition to install Hyper-V Server and second drive to store guest images. Format second drive partition where guests will be stored first and select another drive partition to install Hyper-V Server.

7. Complete Hyper-V Server installation.

8. Provide Administrator password and logon.

Minimal Configuration of Hyper-V Server

9. You will be presented with server configuration menu after logon. Select '1' to join workgroup or domain. We selected to join TestWorkgroup for demo purposes.

10. Rename computer by selecting configuration menu '2'. We named our host Win2012HyperV for this demo. You will need to reboot Hyper-V host after renaming it.

11. (Optionally) enable Remote Desktop by selecting menu '7'.

Installation of vtUtilities

12. Copy vtUtilities.exe to Hyper-V host local disk and run it from a command line. Select default settings and finalize installation.

13. vtUtilities GUI will start upon installation completion.

Hyper-V Host Configuration with vtUtilities

14. Use vtUtilities Virtual Network Manager to configure virtual network and optionally adjust protocol settings and bindings. Our demo host has 2 NIC adapters and we create 'External' virtual switch bound to one of these adapters without a possibility to interact with the management OS (we reserve second adapter for host management). These adapters can be connected to different networks each with its own routing and firewall rules.

15. vtUtilities File System View GUI can be used to create folder on reserved disk volume that we provisioned during setup to store Virtual Machine images and configurations. You can use vtUtilities Tools|Options and Actions|Hyper-V Settings menu to change other host options, including Live Migration and Replica settings.

Virtual Machine Provisioning and Management