This section covers the topics of creating and managing virtual machines as well as how to back up and restore virtual machines using features such as Import and Export and Snapshot. We’ll also briefly look at Hyper- V’s Live Migration feature.
Creating and Managing Virtual Machines
It is important to learn how to create a virtual machine, how to change its configuration, and how to delete it. Let’s take a look at the Virtual Machine Connection tool and install the Hyper- V Integration Components onto a virtual machine.
Virtual Machines
Virtual machines define the child partitions in which you run operating system instances. Each virtual machine is separate and can communicate with the others only by using a virtual network. You can assign hard drives, virtual networks, DVD drives, and other system components to it. A virtual machine is similar to an existing physical server, but it no longer runs on dedicated hardware— it shares the hardware of the host system with the other virtual machines that run on the host.
Exercise 2.4 shows you how to create a new virtual machine. Before completing this exercise, download an eval copy of Windows Server from Microsoft’s website (www. microsoft.com/downloads). Make sure the file downloaded is an image file (with the extension .iso). You will use this image to install the operating system into the virtual machine.
EXERCISE 2.4
Creating a New Virtual Machine
- Open Hyper-V Manager (see Figure 2.12).
- In Hyper-V Manager, in the Actions pane, choose New ➢ Virtual Machine.
- In the New Virtual Machine Wizard, click Next on the Before You Begin page.
- On the Specify Name And Location page, give your virtual machine a name and change the default location of the virtual machine configuration files. Click Next to continue.
- The Specify Generation screen is next. Choose Generation 2 (see Figure 2.13) and click Next.
FIGURE 2.13 Specify Generation screen
6. On the Assign Memory page (see Figure 2.14), define how much of your host computer’s memory you want to assign to this virtual machine. Remember that once your virtual machine uses up all of your physical memory, it will start swapping to disk, thus reducing the performance of all virtual machines. Click Next to continue.
FIGURE 2.14 VM RAM
7. On the Configure Networking page (see Figure 2.15), select the virtual network that you previously configured using Virtual Network Manager. Click Next to continue.
FIGURE 2.15 Configure Networking page
8. On the next page, you configure your virtual hard disk (see Figure 2.16). You can create a new virtual hard disk, select an existing disk, or choose to attach the hard disk later. Be aware that you can create only a dynamically expanding virtual disk on this page; you cannot create a differencing, physical, or fixed virtual hard disk there. However, if you created the virtual hard disk already, you can, of course, select it. Click Next to continue.
FIGURE 2.16 Connect Virtual Hard Disk page
9. On the Installation Options page (see Figure 2.17), you can select how you want to install your operating system. You have the option to install an operating system later, install the operating system from a boot CD/DVD- ROM where you can select a physical device or an image file (ISO file), install an operating system from a floppy disk image (VFD file, or a virtual boot floppy disk), or install an operating system from a network- based installation server. The last option will install a legacy network adapter to your virtual machine so that you can boot from the network adapter. Select Install An Operating System from a bootable CD/DVD- ROM and choose Image File (.iso). Then click Next.
FIGURE 2.17 Installing OS screen
10. On the Completing The New Virtual Machine Wizard summary page (see Figure 2.18), verify that all settings are correct. You also have the option to start the virtual machine immediately after creation. Click Next to create the virtual machine.
FIGURE 2.18 Completing the New Virtual Machine Wizard screen
11. Repeat this process and create a few more virtual machines.
After completing Exercise 2.4, you will have a virtual machine available in Hyper-V Manager. Initially, the state of the virtual machine will be Off. Virtual machines can have the following states: Off, Starting, Running, Paused, and Saved. You can change the state of a virtual machine in the Virtual Machines pane by right- clicking the virtual machine’s name, as shown in Figure 2.19, or by using the Virtual Machine Connection window.
FIGURE 2.19 Options available when right- clicking a virtual machine
Here is a list of some of the state options (when the VM is running) available for a virtual machine:
Start Turn on the virtual machine. This is similar to pressing the power button when the machine is turned off. This option is available when your virtual machine is Off or in Saved state.
Turn Off Turn off the virtual machine. This is similar to pressing the power- off button on the computer. This option is available when your virtual machine is in Running, Saved, or Paused state.
Shut Down This option shuts down your operating system. You need to have the Hyper- V Integration Components installed on the operating system; otherwise, Hyper-V will not be able to shut down the system.
Save The virtual machine is saved to disk in its current state. This option is available when your virtual machine is in Running or Paused state.
Pause Pause the current virtual machine, but do not save the state to disk. You can use this option to release processor utilization quickly from this virtual machine to the host system.
Reset Reset the virtual machine. This is like pressing the reset button on your computer. You will lose the current state and any unsaved data in the virtual machine. This option is available when your virtual machine is in Running or Paused state.
Resume When your virtual machine is paused, you can resume it and bring it online again.
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