The virtualization technology Microsoft Hyper-V can be managed with different tools. Microsoft itself offers numerous options for performing all relevant tasks for managing Hyper-V and controlling VMs.
Managing Hyper-V does not always require complex tools such as System Center Virtual Machine Manager, PowerShell offers numerous possibilities without the need for additional tools.
Of course, the Hyper-V Manager is available as a standard tool, and the new Windows Admin Center also offers numerous functions. In the following, we show 12 interesting tips for controlling Hyper-V with the focus on PowerShell.
Installing Hyper-V from PowerShell and display cmdlets
Use the Install-WindowsFeature Hyper-V cmdlet to install the Hyper-V server role, and the -IncludeManagementTools parameter to install the additional management tools that are required.
These include the PowerShell module and Hyper-V Manager. If the server is to restart automatically, the parameter -restart is added.
Installing Hyper-V management tools
The management tools, without the Hyper-V server role, are installed with the Install-WindowsFeature Hyper-V-Tools command.
Display all available cmdlets
To display a list of all available cmdlets,use the Get-Command cmdlet with the -Module Hyper-V parameter. The output of this command is shown in Figure 1.Figure 1: PowerShell provides many cmdlets for managing Hyper-V.
Use PowerShell Direct
Windows Server 2019 enables direct access to a virtual operating system of a virtual machine from a PowerShell session on the host. This feature is called “PowerShell Direct”. It involves opening a session for the VM in the PowerShell with the following command:
Enter-PSSession -VMName
Run cmdlets from the host on VMs
There are also cmdlets that enable you to run PowerShell cmdlets directly on a VM without opening a session first:
Invoke-Command -VMName -ScriptBlock { Commands }
Copy files from host to VMs
Use the following commands to copy files from the Hyper-V host to VMs via PowerShell Direct
$PSSession = New-PSSession -VMName -Credential (Get-Credential)
Copy-Item -ToSession $PSSession -Path C:\data.bar -Destination C:\Managing Virtual Machines and Virtual Switches with Windows Admin Center
If you use the Windows Admin Center to access a server on which Hyper-V is already installed, you will find the two menu items “Virtual Computers” and “Virtual Switches” in the menu on the left side (see Figure 2).
This allows you to manage the VMs and virtual switches on Hyper-V hosts through your web browser. You can additonaly create and edit virtual servers. You can also control VMs in this way, as well as view the console from your web browser.
Working with PowerShell in Windows Admin Center
In addition, a PowerShell session can be opened on the server using the “PowerShell” menu item in the Windows Admin Center (see Figure 3).
Adjusting Hyper-V settings in the Windows Admin Center
Under “Settings”, Hyper-V settings of the host can be adjusted, just like in the Hyper-V Manager. All this works in one session with the Windows Admin Center in your web browser.
Enable Switch Embedded Teaming
The following command creates a virtual switch based on a network team called “SETSwitch” consisting of three network adapters:
New-VMSwitch -name SETswitch -Netadaptername „team1“, „team2“, „team3“ -AllowManagementOS $True -EnableEmbeddedTeaming $true
Displaying the network adapters for connecting to a virtual switch
Get-NetAdapter [[-Name] <string[]>] [-IncludeHidden] [-Physical] [-CimSession <cimsession[]>] [-ThrottleLimit ] [-AsJob] []</cimsession[]></string[]>
Viewing Virtual Switches Information in PowerShell
Get-VMSwitch [[-Name] ] [[-ResourcePoolName] <string[]>] [-SwitchType <vmswitchtype[]>] [-CimSession <cimsession[]>] [-ComputerName <string[]>] [-Credential <pscredential[]>] []</pscredential[]></string[]></cimsession[]></vmswitchtype[]></string[]>
For more detailed information about the team, use the Get-VMSwitchTeam cmdlet.
To delete such switches, use the Remove-VMSwitch cmdlet.
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About the author:
Thomas Joos is a freelance IT consultant and has been working in IT since 1992. He has published more than 90 practical reference books and writes for numerous IT publications such as c’t, PC Magazin, PC Welt, IT Administrator, Computerwoche and Heise Security.