Virtualisation

How to enable PowerShell in Hyper-V Server 2008 R2

Liam Westley — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:00:47 GMT

After reading Tim Anderson’s blog article (here) on his installation of Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 I glibly added a comment that R2 now includes PowerShell 2.0 for local management of virtual machines using PowerShell scripts. Of course, I hadn’t actually tried this before commenting ....

Why would you want to use scripting on Hyper-V Server 2008 R2

If you have never installed Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 you may not realise the limited options provided by the local management tool. Based on Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Core there is no Windows Explorer and none of the standard user interface components for configuration. Instead the Hyper-V team provide a simple menu which supports the configuration steps required to allow remote management of the server using the Hyper-V Manager MMC snap-in (available for Vista, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008).

The real ‘local’ management tool is that old fashioned item, the command prompt,

So, if you aim to manage Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 you should get used to command line tools and commands, which means having access to a scripting system like PowerShell provides a route for local management of virtual machines without requiring the Hyper-V Manager on a separate client machine.

No PowerShell by default

As stated above, Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 is based on Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Core, and it is this update that included support for .NET framework and PowerShell scripting. Quite correctly server core locks down all functionality until it is enabled/installed. PowerShell is one of the items that are not installed by default.

First installation attempt

So I did a quick Google/Bing for Enabling PowerShell on Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 and got to this blog article (here) on the highly useful Virtual PC Guy’s blog. I followed the steps. No joy.

Hold on - doesn’t PowerShell required .NET Framework?

I did a directory search, dir c:\windows\*powershell*.exe /s, to see if the directory path had changed, but instead of finding a PowerShell installation, I found a list of files in a directory called c:\windows\winsxs. This directory appears to contain all the install packages for server core, and as well as PowerShell it included .NET framework installations.

This was the ‘lightbulb’ moment I was searching for. PowerShell probably won’t install because I the .NET Framework is not installed. A big more of Google/Bing and I found the following article on Window Server 2008 R2 Server Core, on MSDN, http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/r2core/Wiki/View.aspx?title=Home&version=8

I ran the command oclist to list all the installed options,

There, right in the middle was PowerShell being a child node of NetFx2 (.Net Framework 2.0) which suggested a dependency. So I ran the following installation commands

start /w ocsetup NetFx2-ServerCore

start /w ocsetup MicrosoftsoftWindowsPowerShell

After that, I had PowerShell installed,

To run it I just cd'd to c:\windows\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0 and typed powershell

Alternatively once you reboot the system, the PowerShell directory will be placed in the search path and you can just type powershell in any directory to access the PowerShell command prompt.

Next steps ...

In a post next week I’ll demonstrate how to use the PowerShell Management Library for Hyper-V available on codeplex (http://pshyperv.codeplex.com/) on Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 to list running virtual machines, start and stop virtual machines and do useful admin stuff like mount/dismount VHD drives.

Virtualised networking issues? Sometimes it's the most obvious thing, Doh!

Liam Westley — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 02:41:28 GMT

I just provided some help to a friend setting up a small virtualisation network on single machine, for demonstrating a new software technology at user groups and conferences.

A few tweets and e-mails went back and forth as we discussed virtual networking options, static IP configurations and using NEWSISID to enable imaging VMs from a initial 'gold' image. Getting the machines to talk to each other on an isolated virtual network was proving to be way more difficult than it should have been.

At this point I'll veer off and mention the apocryphal story regarding a Physics PhD who was visiting his parents. When he discovered that their vacuum cleaner had stopped working the day before he offered to help out. About an hour after he started his mother brought him a cup of tea in a room now strewn with vacuum cleaner parts being tested with a digital multimeter. His mother casually asked if he had tested the fuse ...

So back to the virtualisation; I had actually hit a similar scenario with my virtualisation presentations when I installed Hyper-V Server on one laptop and used a crossed network cable to connect to a second laptop running Windows Server 2008. I blamed Hyper-V Server, I blamed my static IP configuration, I blamed the crossed network cable.

I blamed all the unfamiliar things I was working with.

And the solution for me, and my friend's isolated virtual network?

The default firewall settings in Windows Server 2008 block the ping command. Yep, the thing you'll first think of to test you have the network configured correctly won't work.

I discovered this when in desperation I configured remote administration. Once a connected remotely, I knew my network configuration was definitely working, and a bit of digging later and I discovered the truth about ping under a default installation of Windows Server 2008.

The lesson learnt; it is completely natural to blame the unfamiliar first, a very human reaction. It's also more often than not the wrong attitude, especially with new computer technologies.

Liam

P.S. Disabling the ping command follows the Microsoft goal of locking down server operating systems to be secure out of the box, and letting administrators enable services and firewall items when they are required. This is a good thing, and I definitely don't want this post to suggest otherwise. We just need to remember, no ping by default and get over it.

Hyper-V for Developers - presentation from Edge UG 16 September 2009

Liam Westley — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:29:04 GMT

Thanks to Ray and Gavin for organising another top EdgeUG meeting in Microsoft Cardinal Place and for everyone who attended my talk on Hyper-V for Developers. The audience had to deal with a huge amount of technical information that I crammed into the hour - hopefully it didn't put them off their pizza.

Fortunately the Stack Overflow master and author of C# in Depth, Jon Skeet, was on hand after the break for a interesting glimpse into code contracts coming with VS2010 and C# 4.0.

For those who weren't there last night, the presentation provides an overview of Hyper-V Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 running Hyper-V, tools that you can install to help you out, how Snapshots work and finally automation of Hyper-V using the PowerShell library for Hyper-V as might be used in CI (continous integration) server.

I've got two version of the slidedeck, one in PowerPoint, hyperv4dev-ppt.zip, and a PDF version complete with speaker notes that contains all the interesting stuff including the PowerShell script, hyperv4dev-pdf.zip.

Thanks again to the guys from EdgeUG and all those who joined us down the pub afterwards for a beer and a chat.

Liam

P.S. Jon mentioned that Microsoft has decided that static checking of Code Contracts should be limited to the Team System versions of Visual Studio 2010. Here is a link to the Microsoft Connect request to reverse this blinkered approach and place static checking into Visual Studio Professional edition;

https://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/ViewFeedback.aspx?FeedbackID=481327

Do please vote on t his topic and let Microsoft know what you think, hopefully it 's not too late to reverse this marketing decision.

Hyper-V for Developers - presentation from DevEvening 13 August 2009

Liam Westley — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:01:13 GMT

Thanks to Alex and Matt for organising another top DevEvening user group in Woking and for everyone who attended my talk on Hyper-V for Developers. Apologies for over running and hope it didn't stop you from enjoying your meals. I think I achieved a good warm up for Sebastien Lambla's talk on best practices in MVC.

For those who weren't there last night, the presentation provides an overview of Hyper-V Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 running Hyper-V, tools that you can install to help you out, how Snapshots work and finally automation of Hyper-V using the PowerShell library for Hyper-V.

I've got two version of the slidedeck, one in PowerPoint, hyperv4dev-ppt.zip, and a PDF version complete with speaker notes that contains all the interesting stuff including the PowerShell script, hyperv4dev-pdf.zip.

Thanks again to the guys in Woking, and for Sebastien Lambla for helping me polish off a bottle of nice wine on the way back to London.

BSI Role of Virtualisation in Green IT - presentation now available

Liam Westley — Wed, 20 May 2009 03:18:24 GMT

For all who were at the BSI Green IT conference on 19th May, here is my presentation for download, in PowerPoint PPT format

http://www.tigernews.co.uk/blog-twickers/bsi/virtGreenIt.zip

DDD Scotland - Virtualisation for Developers presentation

Liam Westley — Sun, 03 May 2009 02:55:23 GMT

Thanks to all the guys who turned out to the first presentation of the day at DDD Scotland where I gave my presentation, Virtualisation for Developers. As promised you can download the PowerPoint slide deck using the link below. Check out the speaker notes for all the resources and URLs I mentioned along the way.

http://www.tigernews.co.uk/blog-twickers/dddscot/virt4dev-DDDScot.zip

Thanks again for inviting me up to speak at DDD Scotland and creating a fantastic event.

UPDATE

And a video of an earlier version of this present, given at DDD7, is now live at, http://www.craigmurphy.com/blog/?p=1591

2nd May 2009 - Liam bringing Virtualisation for Developers to DDD Scotland

Liam Westley — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 23:46:12 GMT

The voting is over, and my session 'Virtualisation for Developers' has been voted in for DDD Scotland. You can find out about the other proposed sessions, register to attend and sign up for the geek dinner at http://www.developerdayscotland.com/.

Definitely looking forward to Glasgow and seeing you all there.

Citrix XenServer Enterprise now free

Liam Westley — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 19:49:40 GMT

Citrix has just released it's XenServer Enterprise product free. This isn't just a barebones hypervisor product, it's the full deal with all the management tools that you'd expect from paid for product. This throws down the gaunlet to the free VMWare ESXi, and provides a 64 bit, 8 virtual CPU product that you can professionally manage.

Get the info here; http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/products/feature.asp?contentID=1686939

Thanks to NxtGenUG Birmingham for a great evening out

Liam Westley — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 10:39:40 GMT

Thanks to everyone who turned out for the NxtGenUG Birmingham meeting. Obviously so good, one of the guys from the Oxford meeting last week turned up again - ah, the lure of free pizza.

You can download the updated PowerPoint slidedeck here, most of the important stuff is in the speaker notes;

http://www.tigernews.co.uk/presentations/Virt4Dev-NxtGenUG-Birmingham-Feb2009.zip

Also, thanks as well to Guy Smith-Ferrier for giving me a lift back to New Street station, and for joining forces to create a comprehensive Virtualisation evening. There is new stuff about Virtual Server 2005 already on my 'to research' list.

An interesting note from New Street station; a late platform change for the London Euston train had the first class carriages on platform 3a, and the standard class carriages on platform 1b. Unfortunately not true, would have been an interesting train to be on two different platforms at the same time - a Shroedinger's train.

UPDATE

And a video of an earlier version of this present, given at DDD7, is now live at, http://www.craigmurphy.com/blog/?p=1591

VirtualBox - 64 bit guests on 32 bit hosts - still need hardware virtualisation

Liam Westley — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 01:44:43 GMT

Just a clarification of my comment on a recent release of VirtualBox supporting 64 bit guests on 32 bit hosts. This is NOT a solution for a system which is not already a 64 bit CPU with hardware virtualisation. The relevant section from the VirtualBox 2.1.2 User Guide is section 1.6, as shown below.

1.6 64-bit guests

Starting with Version 2.0, VirtualBox also supports 64-bit guest operating systems.

Starting with Version 2.1, you can even run 64-bit guests on a 32-bit host operating system, so long as you have sufficient hardware.

In detail, 64-bit guests are supported under the following conditions:

1. You need a 64-bit processor with hardware virtualization support (see chapter
      1.2, Software vs. hardware virtualization (VT-x and AMD-V), page 10).

2. You must enable hardware virtualization for the particular VM for which you
      want 64-bit support; software virtualization is not supported for 64-bit VMs.
      Note: On most systems, the hardware virtualization features first need to be
      enabled in the BIOS before VirtualBox can use them.

3. If you want to use 64-bit guest support on a 32-bit host operating system, you
      must also select a 64-bit operating system for the particular VM. Since supporting
      64 bits on 32-bit hosts incurs additional overhead, VirtualBox only enables this
      support upon explicit request.

On 64-bit hosts, 64-bit guest support is always enabled, so you can simply install a 64-bit operating system in the guest.