Cristian Edwards

Listing all your VHD and VHDX files from your Hyper-V Clusters in Windows Server 2012

2012-12-18T23:09:04Z

Hi again,

In my last post I explained how to list all your virtual disks from one standalone Hyper-V Host. Today I want to give you an example of how to get all your virtual disks information from all your Hyper-V hosts that are part of a cluster.

Powershell in Windows Server 2012 is amazing and with this small script you can quickly get the information

$nodes = Get-ClusterNode

Foreach($node in $nodes)

$VMs=Get-VM -ComputerName $node.name

foreach($VM in $VMs ){Get-VHD -ComputerName $node.Name -VMId $VM.VMId}

The ouput will be the same as the last script for standalone Hyper-V hosts, but you can filter by those attributes that may be relevant for you instead of dumping all the information. For example

$nodes = Get-ClusterNode

Foreach($node in $nodes)
{
    $VMs=Get-VM -ComputerName $node.name
    foreach($VM in $VMs )
    {
        $vm.VMName
        Get-VHD -ComputerName $node.Name -VMId $VM.VMId | ft vhdtype,path -AutoSize
    }

}

Note:

Constrained delegation for CIFs will be required if your virtual disks are stored on SMB shares to make this script work. If not, the script will only list those virtual disks of the host from where you are running the script and will give you an Access Denied for the other hosts.

Stay tuned. After christmas I will blog how to get this information using WMI.

Merry Christmas and Happy 2013!

Listing all your VHD and VHDX files from your Hyper-V Hosts in Windows Server 2012

2012-12-11T22:17:06Z

Hello Hyper-V fans!

As you know, Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V is available since past October and comes with hundreds of new features and improvements. Today I want to give you a small bite of what you can do with the new native PowerShell module for Hyper-V that includes more than 300 cmdlets. Nowadays, all of you that are using Hyper-V, probably have an increasing number of VMs with their own virtual disks that may be difficult to track or remember where they are stored. Of course we can go to each VM on the Hyper-V Manager and check the settings of the virtual disks to see where they are and what type of VHD or VHDX…. But this can be annoying and time consuming right? So here is all what you need to do to get a complete list of all your virtual disks in your Hyper-V hosts in Windows Server 2012.

· Step 1: Open Powershell or the new Powershell ISE console

· Step 2: Type the following commands

$VMs=Get-VM
foreach($VM in $VMs ){Get-VHD -VMId $VM.VMId}

The output of this command will enumerate all your virtual disks of all your VMs in your Hyper-V host and will also give detailed information about each of them. Here is an example of the output of one VHDX file in my lab.

Hope that it was useful and see you in my next post.

Cheers,

Cristian Edwards

Hyper-V Management Pack Extensions RTM released

2012-03-07T00:18:14Z

Hello,

I am glad to announce the RTM release of the Hyper-V Management Pack Extensions for Hyper-V. The main purpose of this custom Management Pack for Hyper-V is to extend the official Management Pack and provide performance monitoring. Note that this management pack is not supported by Microsoft but it was created with the help of several engineers to guarantee an accurated performance monitoring. I want to give and special thank to Diego Martinez Rellan and Kevin Holman who help me to develop most part of the MP.

Installation Requirements:

SCOM 2007 R2 with CU5 (http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=26938)
Windows OS Management Pack 6.0.6958.0 (http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=9296)
Hyper-V Management Pack (http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=14268 )
Cluster Management Pack (http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=2268)

Features:

Live Migration failures monitoring
Per Logical Processor Monitoring
Per Virtual Processor Monitoring
Per VM Dynamic Memory Monitoring
Per VHD Monitoring
Per Physical and Logical Disk Monitoring
Hyper-V Virtual Networks monitoring
NUMA remote pages monitoring
SLAT enabled processor detection
Physical and Logical Disk monitoring
Host Available Memory monitoring
Stopped and Failed VMs monitoring

You can download the MP here:

http://hypervmpe.codeplex.com/releases/view/83609

Tree summary view on SCOM 2007 R2:

Happy new year and stay tuned for what is coming with W8 and SCVMM 2012

2011-12-23T10:14:07Z

2011 is finishing and I am really happy to see how Microsoft Virtualization is being consolidated and adopted by thousands of customers around the globe. 2012 promise to be an exciting year with the launch of Windows Sever 8 and SCVMM 2012 so let me give you 2 recommendations:

Be sure to take your time to learn these coming products. A lot of features and architecture designs have changed and need to be re-learn

Try to follow the Product Groups blog posts because a lot of interesting information is already there

An small piece of what is coming can be found on Thomas Roettinger new blog http://blogs.technet.com/cloudytom

Enjoy 2012!

New Virtualization PFE blog

2011-08-08T22:39:15Z

Hello virt community,

Today I am happy to announce that a great resource was born few days ago. The World Wide Virtualization PFE team decided to share experiencies and best practices to the Virtualization Community. It’s going to be a nice resource plenty of collaborations of talented people.

I am lucky to be one of the contributors so now you can also follow me at:

http://blogs.technet.com/virtualpfe

My first contribution talks about Hyper-V VHDs alignments and the content is here:

http://blogs.technet.com/b/virtualpfe/archive/2011/08/08/hyper-v-virtual-machine-vm-partition-alignment.aspx

Enjoy!!!!

Hyper-V Networking Optimizations part 6 of 6 (Monitoring Hyper-V Network consumption)

2011-07-19T06:44:36Z

On this last post I am going to talk about what counters should be used to monitor the Network performance of your Virtual Machines, your Virtual Switches and your Physical Network Adapters. Performance monitor is a very powerful tool that is included OOB with Windows and can be used to figure out if your Networking Stack is saturated or not.

Monitoring the physical layer

The first place where you may want to take a look is at the Physical layer. This can be done using the already known \Network Interface\ Performance object counter. This object has several counters inside that will show us if our physical adapter is saturated or not and how much traffic is handling. The reason why we should monitor this counter even when talking about Hyper-V is because this counter tell us the total throughput of the hardware and if this counter shows some kind of bottleneck we should think on adding more physical NICs or load balance the workloads. (i.e. separate network traffic from different VMs across different physical NICs that are used by Hyper-V External networks )

The most relevant counters of this object are:

\Network Interface(*)\Bytes Total/sec

This counter indicates the total input and output bytes per second. You can use the next table as the limit reference depending on the speed of the adapter.

\Network Interface(*)\Current Bandwidth

This counter indicates the speed of your physical network adapters. This will depend on the adapter speed and the physical switch network speed. If your NIC is a 10GB NIC but the switch where is connected only works at 1GB this counter will show 1GB as the bandwidth of your adapter.

\Network Interface(*)\Output Queue Length

Indicates the length of the queue in packets. This counter should be 0 at all times. If for some reason this counter is above 0 you may want to follow the steps from this blog: http://blogs.technet.com/b/yongrhee/archive/2010/07/07/network-interface-output-queue-length-values-extremely-high.aspx

Monitoring the Virtual Switch layer

The second place where we can monitor Hyper Network traffic is at Virtual Switch level.

You should be aware that Hyper-V permits to create 3 different kinds of networks with their respective Virtual Switches.

External Network will require a Physical NIC to be created.

Internal Network will not require any Physical NIC but will create a logical adapter in your host

Private Network will not require any physical NIC and will be used only by VMs.

So if you want to monitor how much traffic is sent and received across your virtual switches you can use the following counters. Each Virtual Switch will have they own counters.

Hyper-V Virtual switch\Bytes/sec

This counter indicates the total bytes per second (received and sent) on all ports of your Virtual Switch.

Hyper-V Virtual switch\Bytes received/sec

This counter indicates the total bytes received per second on all ports of your Virtual Switch.

Hyper-V Virtual switch\Bytes sent/sec

This counter indicates the total bytes sent per second on all ports of your Virtual Switch.

There are other interesting counters inside the Hyper-V Virtual Switch Object but are for other reasons rather than capacity and consumption.

Note that this counter may show the double consumption compared with the \Network Interface\Bytes Total/sec because it counts the Input and Output traffic of each port. If a Virtual Machine that is connected to an External Switch is sending 1000 bytes/sec this will means that the Virtual Switch is seeing 1000 bytes/sec on the port where the VM is connected and also 1000 bytes on the port of the switch that is connected to the external world.

Monitoring the VM layer

Finally you can monitor the exact amount of network traffic that is using each of your VMs. This is really useful because helps you to understand what VMs are consuming more bandwidth and when, so you can balance your VMs across your switches if needed and also give you a central point to monitor the network utilization baselines of each VM.

Depending if your virtual machines are using synthetic, legacy or both network adapters you should use the following counters. Each VM will have they own counters:

Hyper-V Virtual Network Adapter\Bytes/sec

This counter indicates the total bytes received and sent of the selected VM

Hyper-V Virtual Network Adapter\Bytes received/sec

This counter indicates the total bytes received of the selected VM

Hyper-V Virtual Network Adapter\Bytes sent/sec

This counter indicates the total bytes sent of the selected VM

Hyper-V Virtual Legacy Network Adapter\Bytes sent/sec

This counter indicates the total bytes sent of the selected VM

Hyper-V Virtual Legacy Network Adapter\Bytes received/sec

This counter indicates the total bytes received of the selected VM

Note that the Hyper-V Legacy Network Adapter is a little bit tricky because you have to SUM both counters if you want to know to total amount of network utilization.

You can use the following thresholds as reference for all network counters mentioned above except for Current Bandwidth, and the Output Queue length counters from Network Interface object.

Healthy: less than 60%

Warning: between 60% and 80%

Critical: more than 80%

Now that you are familiar with this counter let’s show you a possible workflow to troubleshoot or detected network bottlenecks on your Hyper-V hosts or your Virtual Machines

Hyper-V Networking Optimizations part 5 of 6 (Features compatibility matrix)

2011-05-31T13:53:52Z

Once you have configured each feature on your Hyper-V Servers maybe you are wondering how they interact with each other.

In the following table you are going to see how each feature interacts with others under Windows Server 2008 R2. As I already blogged before, WS2008 R2 add some features like VMQ support, but also expands features like Chimney and Jumbo Frames to the VMs.

You can read the table through the columns or through the rows. The result will be the same. I don’t want to forget to mention that this table depends directly on the manufacturers drivers and maybe some restrictions or incompatibilities are already fixed with the latest drivers. I encourage you to send me any update that you are aware that can modify the table content.

This second tables shows you the same compatibility matrix but now for Windows Server 2008 RTM. (with or without SP2). In this case there are features like Chimney and Jumbo frames that will be only available at parent partition level.

I hope this can be useful to quickly define what features are you looking for and how they will interact with other advanced network optimizations for Hyper-V. Again, please send me any update or information that can modify these table contents because each new driver affects the content directly.

See you in the last series post…. maybe at the end of june

Hyper-V Networking Optimizations part 4 of 6 (Jumbo Frames)

2011-05-05T14:03:12Z

One network optimization that we can configure on Hyper-V are the Jumbo Frames. Although we can take benefit of Jumbo Frames on different scenarios the most common use is to optimize iSCSI network traffic. This traffic is often used to connect the Hyper-V hosts to the SANs but can also be used to connect SAN LUNs directly to the VMs (Passthrought disks).Depending on your scenario you will need to configure the above parameters on the Hyper-V host, inside the VMs or at both levels.

The table below is focused on Intel and Broadcom network adapters but maybe you will need to speak with your vendor if you are using other NIC models. The first setting defines the maximum MTU packet size at OS level on the specified NIC and is 1500 by default. The second setting is to enable Jumbo Frames at NIC driver level and each vendor have their own configuration. You will find specific information for each vendor on the listed links inside the table.

Note that Jumbo Frames feature inside VMs was introduced with Hyper-V R2. Don’t try to find or enable Jumbo Frames feature inside Hyper-V v1 VMs because will not be available.

Finally remember to validate that Jumbo Frames are enabled and working on the SAN, on the physical switch, at OS Level (first setting from the table) and at NIC level (second setting from the table).

You can find more information about MTU on the following document:

TCP/IP Registry Values for Microsoft Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=12AC9780-17B5-480C-AEF7-5C0BDE9060B0&displaylang=en

Jumbo Frames

NIC adapter Level feature

Collector Script = AdvancedNet_Features.ps1

THIS SETTING MUST BE CONFIGURED ON PARENT PARTITION and/or INSIDE VMs

Command to validate MTU config:

netsh int ipv4 sh int

Command to change MTU config:

netsh interface ipv4 set subinterface "Local Area Connection X" mtu=9000 store=persistent

(the MTU value is 9000 in this example but can be different based on your needs)

THESE REGISTRY KEYS MUST BE CONFIGURED ON PARENT PARTITION and/or INSIDE VMs

Registry Key for Broadcom NICs

"\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class

\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\xxxx\*JumboMTU"

Broadcom Jumbo frames Settings

Registry Key for Intel NICs

"\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class

\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\xxxx\*JumboPacket"

Intel Jumbo Packet settings

Hyper-V Networking Optimizations part 3 of 6 (RSS)

2011-04-20T15:27:51Z

In this post you are going to find what settings you need to configure to enable RSS.

Receive Side Scaling (RSS) enables concurrent processing of received packets from one network adapter by different CPUs on a system.

At boot time, Windows Server 2008 R2 considers the bandwidth and media connection state while allotting CPUs. Higher bandwidth network adapters get more CPUs at startup. Multiple network adapters with the same bandwidth receive the same number of receive-side scaling CPUs.

RSS was included in the Scalable Network Pack for Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 SP2, and Windows Server 2008/Windows Vista. Prior to this, only one CPU could handle the traffic from a given network interface.

Note that this network optimization is configured only at parent partition level and there is no need to configure it inside VMs.

RSS (Receive Side Scaling)

OS Level feature

Collector Script = AdvancedNet_Features.ps1

Using Receive Side Scaling

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/951037/en-us

THIS SETTING MUST BE CONFIGURED ON PARENT PARTITION (Enabled by default on WS08 R2

netsh int tcp show global ( command included on advancedNet_Features.ps1 script)

NIC Adapter Level Feature

Collector Script = AdvancedNet_Features.ps1

http://technet.microsoft.com/es-es/library/gg162703(WS.10).aspx

THESE REGISTRY KEYS MUST BE ENABLED ON PARENT PARTITION

"\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class

\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\xxxx\*RssOrVmqPreference"

"\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class

\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\xxxx\*MaxRssProcessors"

"\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class

\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\xxxx\*RssBaseProcNumber"

"\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class

\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\xxxx\*NUMANodeID"

If you are configuring more than one network adapter, each adapter should have a different value assigned to the *RssBaseProcNumber sub-key with sufficient difference so that there are no overlapping RSS processors. For example, if Network Adapter A has a value of 0 assigned to *RssBaseProcNumber and a value of 3 assigned to *MaxRssProcessors, Network Adapter B should have an *RssBaseProcNumber of 4.

Hyper-V Networking Optimizations Part 2 of 6 (VMQ)

2011-04-12T23:46:18Z

Continuing the Networking Series with Virtual Machine Queues.

In this table you will find what registry keys and settings must be configured to make it work.

Again, remember that you can use this script to validate these settings.

Virtual Machine Queue
OS Level feature Collector Script = AdvancedNet_Features.ps1 *Commands to Enable or Disable TCP Chimney Offload* http://technet.microsoft.com/es-es/library/gg162682(WS.10).aspx	THESE REGISTRY KEYS MUST BE CONFIGURED ON PARENT PARTITION HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services \VMSMP\Parameters\TenGigVmqEnabled HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services \VMSMP\Parameters\BelowTenGigVmqEnabled
*NIC adapter Level feature* Collector Script = AdvancedNet_Features.ps1 *Enabling Virtual Machine Queue for a Physical Network Adapter (Intel)* http://www.intel.com/support/network/sb/CS-030993.htm?wapkw=(hyper-v)	THESE REGISTRY KEYS MUST BE ENABLED ON PARENT PARTITION Registry keys for Intel NICs "\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control \Class\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\xxxx\VMQ" "\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control \Class\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\xxxx\VMQLookaheadSplit” "\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control \Class\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\xxxx\RssOrVmqPreference" Some drivers that support VMQ and RSS cannot use these features simultaneously. Such drivers cannot switch between RSS support and VMQ support without reinitializing the driver. The operating system uses the RSS feature when the NIC is bound to the TCP/IP stack, or the VMQ feature when the NIC is bound to the Hyper-V virtual switch driver. Because the NIC is not disabled and then re-enabled when it is unbound from the TCP/IP stack and bound to the Hyper-V driver (or the reverse), it is not possible for such NICs to switch between RSS and VMQ automatically. A miniport driver that supports RSS and VMQ simultaneously reads the RSS and VMQ keywords and it reports the current RSS and VMQ capabilities based on those keyword settings. Such a driver never uses the RssOrVmqPreference keyword. A miniport driver that does not support RSS and VMQ simultaneously must read a hidden keyword RssOrVmqPreference before it reports its current capabilities to NDIS. If the value of this keyword is zero, the miniport driver reports that it supports RSS. If the value of this keyword is one, the miniport driver reports that it supports VMQ. The default value is zero. During miniport adapter initialization, the miniport driver reads the RssOrVmqPreference registry keyword. If RssOrVmqPreference is either not present or it is set to zero the miniport driver reports the RSS support that is specified in the RSS keyword and VMQ is disabled. Otherwise, the miniport driver reports the VMQ support that is specified in the *VMQ keyword and RSS is disabled http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff571048(v=vs.85).aspx
*WMI Level Feature* *Virtual Switch Ports Enabled for each VM* http://technet.microsoft.com/es-es/library/gg162685(WS.10).aspx *Configuring Virtual Networks in VMM* http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee236499.aspx	THIS SETTING MUST BE CONFIGURED ON PARENT PARTITION (Enabled by default) or ON SCVMM Property inside WMI Class Msvm_SwitchPort (VMQOffloadWeight property) Get-WmiObject -Namespace ROOT\virtualization -Class Msvm_VirtualSwitch \|Select ElementName, name Get-WmiObject -Namespace ROOT\virtualization -Class Msvm_SwitchPort \| Select SystemName,VMQOffloadWeight The VM Virtual switch port must be enabled, i.e., the VMQ Offload Weight setting in the VM Switch port associated with that VM must be greater than zero. By default the VMQOffloadWeight on all virtual switch ports are created with a weight of 100. Checking the “Enable virtual network optimizations” checkbox in SCVMM enables the port for that VM. Unchecking the same box disables the port for that VM. (This checkbox is located on the hardware Configuration tab of the Virtual Machine Properties management screen.) This setting can also be controlled through the WMI interface. Documentation on how to use WMI to manage the VMQ Offload Weight setting is available at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc136902(VS.85).aspx
*NIC adapter Level feature* *VMQ Tunning with interrupt coalescing* Collector Script = AdvancedNet_Features.ps1 http://technet.microsoft.com/es-es/library/gg162696(WS.10).aspx	THESE REGISTRY KEYS MUST BE ENABLED ON PARENT PARTITION "\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\xxxx\MaxRssProcessors” "\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\xxxx\RssBaseProcNumber" If you are configuring more than one network adapter, each adapter should have a different value assigned to the RssBaseProcNumber sub-key with sufficient difference so that there are no overlapping RSS processors. For example, if Network Adapter A has a value of 0 assigned to RssBaseProcNumber and a value of 3 assigned to MaxRssProcessors, Network Adapter B should have an RssBaseProcNumber of 4.
*Required Hyper-V OS Version*	VMQ is only supported Since Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V Hosts
*Legacy Netwok Adapters are not VMQ compatible*	Only Synthetic Network adapters can take benefit from VMQ
*Required Guest OS Versions*	Only W7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Guest VMs are VMQ compatible by default. Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 Guests can use VMQ only with the Integration Services Installed. Earlier versions of Windows Guests will not use VMQ
*NIC Speed ( 10GB )*	Almost all VMQ NIC adapters are 10GB adapters. May not be enabled on 1GB NIC adapters
VMQ and Teaming requires Intel ProSet 15.0 or higher *Enabling Virtual Machine Queue for a Physical Network Adapter (Intel)* http://www.intel.com/support/network/sb/CS-030993.htm?wapkw=(hyper-v)	VMQ and Teaming are supported only with Intel ProSet version 15.0 or higher
*Chimney and VMQ are not compatible*	Chimney should be disabled if VMQ is also used. If both are enabled Chimney will be disabled by default. Only Intel cards by the moment

Hyper-V Networking Optimizations Part 1 of 6

2011-04-08T11:29:00Z

I am still working on this series part. Sorry for the inconvenience. You still can find the script to analyze the Hyper-V Networking Optimizations here

Hyper-V BPA HTML report

2011-01-11T20:48:44Z

Hello again and happy 2011. Coming back from holidays I’ve decided to contribute to the community with one useful Powershell script to parse Hyper-V BPA reports on HTML. You can run it with Powershell on Full or Server Core. Don’t forget to run Powershell as administrator and configure the Execution policy

Here is the code. Enjoy it

      
    Param ($BPAModelID, $OutputFileName, $ReportTitle)

    $HTMLFileName = $PWD.Path + "\Hyper-V_BPA_reportXML.html"

    Function Write-ScriptProgress ($Activity = "", $Status = "") {

        if ($Activity -ne $LastActivity) {

            if (-not $TroubleShootingModuleLoaded -and ($Activity -ne "")) {

                $Activity | Out-Host

            }

            if ($Activity -ne "") {

                Set-variable -Name "LastActivity" -Value $Activity -Scope "global"

            } else {

                $Activity = $LastActivity

            }    

        }

        if ($TroubleShootingModuleLoaded) {

                Write-DiagProgress -activity $Activity -status $Status

        } else {

            "    [" + (Get-Date) + "] " + $Status | Out-Host

        }

    }

    Function SaveToHTMLFile($SourceXMLDoc, $HTMLFileName){

        $XMLFilename = $Env:TEMP + "\" + [System.IO.Path]::GetFileNameWithoutExtension($HTMLFileName) + ".XML"

        $SourceXMLDoc.Save($XMLFilename)

        [xml] $XSLContent = ExtractEmbeddedXSL

        $XSLObject = New-Object System.Xml.Xsl.XslTransform

        $XSLObject.Load($XSLContent)

        $XSLObject.Transform($XMLFilename, $HTMLFilename)

        Remove-Item $XMLFilename

        "Output saved to $HTMLFilename"

    }

    Function AddXMLElement ([xml] $xmlDoc,

                            [string] $ElementName="Item", 

                            [string] $Value,

                            [string] $AttributeName="name", 

                            [string] $attributeValue,

                            [string] $xpath="/Root")

    {

        [System.Xml.XmlElement] $rootElement=$xmlDoc.SelectNodes($xpath).Item(0)

        if ($rootElement -ne $null) { 

            [System.Xml.XmlElement] $element = $xmlDoc.CreateElement($ElementName)

            if ($attributeValue.Length -ne 0) {$element.SetAttribute($AttributeName, $attributeValue)}

            if ($Value.lenght -ne 0) { 

                if ($PowerShellV2) {

                    $element.innerXML = $Value

                } else {

                    $element.set_InnerXml($Value)

                }

            }

            $x = $rootElement.AppendChild($element)

        } else {

            "Error. Path $xpath returned a null value. Current XML document: `n" + $xmlDoc.OuterXml

        }

    }

    Function ExtractEmbeddedXSL(){

        $PSScriptName = $myInvocation.ScriptName

        Get-Content $PSScriptName | ForEach-Object {

            if ($insideXSL) {

                if ($_ -eq "}") {$insideXSL = $true}

            }

            if ($insideXSL) {

                $XSLContent += $_.Substring(1).Replace("{CDATA{", ([char]91 + "CDATA" + [char]91)).Replace("}}>", ([char]93 + [char]93 + ">")) + "`r`n"

            }

            if ($_ -eq "Function EmbeddedXSL(){"){$insideXSL = $true}

        }

        return $XSLContent

    }

    #***********************************************

    #*  Starts here

    #***********************************************

    Import-Module BestPractices

    if ((Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_ComputerSystem).DomainRole -gt 1) { #Server

        if ((Get-Host).Name -ne "Default Host") {

            "Windows Troubleshooting Platform not loaded."

            $TroubleshootingModuleLoaded = $false

        } else {

            $TroubleshootingModuleLoaded = $true

        }

        Write-ScriptProgress -activity $ReportTitle -status "Starting Best Practices Analyzer"

        $PowerShellV2 = (((Get-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PowerShell\1\PowerShellEngine").PowerShellVersion).Substring(0,1) -ge 2)

        $Error.Clear()

        if ($Error.Count -eq 0) {

            $InstalledBPAs = Get-BPAModel

            $BPAModelID = "Microsoft/Windows/Hyper-V"

            if ((($InstalledBPAs | where-object {$_.Id -eq $BPAModelID}).Id) -ne $null) {

                Write-ScriptProgress -activity $ReportTitle -status "Running Best Practices Analyzer"    

                $BPAResults = Invoke-BpaModel $BPAModelID

                write $FileLocation

                if (($BPAResults | where-object {($_.ModelID -eq $BPAModelID) -and ($_.Success -eq $true)}) -ne $null) {

                    Write-ScriptProgress -activity $ReportTitle -status "Generating Output"    

                    $BPAXMLDoc = Get-BpaResult $BPAModelID | ConvertTo-XML

                    if ($BPAXMLDoc -ne $null) {

                        AddXMLElement -xmlDoc $BPAXMLDoc -ElementName "Machine" -Value $Env:COMPUTERNAME -xpath "/Objects"

                        AddXMLElement -xmlDoc $BPAXMLDoc -ElementName "TimeField" -Value ($BPAResults[0].Detail).ScanTime -xpath "/Objects"

                        AddXMLElement -xmlDoc $BPAXMLDoc -ElementName "ModelId" -Value ($BPAResults[0].Detail).ModelId -xpath "/Objects"

                        AddXMLElement -xmlDoc $BPAXMLDoc -ElementName "ReportTitle" -Value $ReportTitle -xpath "/Objects"

                        AddXMLElement -xmlDoc $BPAXMLDoc -ElementName "OutputFileName" -Value $OutputFileName -xpath "/Objects"

                        SaveToHTMLFile -HTMLFileName $HTMLFileName -SourceXMLDoc $BPAXMLDoc

                        if ($TroubleshootingModuleLoaded) {

                            CollectFiles -filesToCollect $OutputFileName -fileDescription $ReportTitle -sectionDescription "Best Practices Analyzer reports"

                            if ($BPAXMLDoc.SelectNodes("(//Object[(Property[@Name=`'Severity`'] = `'Warning`') or (Property[@Name=`'Severity`'] = `'Error`')])").Count -ne 0) {

                                $BPAXMLFile = [System.IO.Path]::GetFullPath($PWD.Path + ("\..\BPAResults.XML"))

                                if (Test-Path $BPAXMLFile){

                                    [xml] $ExistingBPAXMLDoc = Get-Content $BPAXMLFile

                                    AddXMLElement -xmlDoc $ExistingBPAXMLDoc -xpath "/Root" -ElementName "BPAModel" -Value $BPAXMLDoc.SelectNodes("/Objects").Item(0).InnerXML

                                    $ExistingBPAXMLDoc.Save($BPAXMLFile)

                                } else {

                                    [xml] $BPAFileXMLDoc = "<Root/>"

                                    AddXMLElement  -xmlDoc $BPAFileXMLDoc -xpath "/Root" -ElementName "BPAModel" -Value $BPAXMLDoc.SelectNodes("/Objects").Item(0).InnerXML

                                    $BPAFileXMLDoc.Save($BPAXMLFile)

                                }

                                Update-DiagRootCause -id RC_BPAInfo -Detected $true

                            }

                        }

                        Write-ScriptProgress -activity $ReportTitle -status "Completed."

                    } else {

                        "Get-BpaResult did not return any result"

                    }

                }

            } else {

                $Msg = "ERROR: BPA Module $BPAModelID is not installed. Follow the list of installed BPAs: `r`n"

                foreach ($BPA in $InstalledBPAs) 

                {

                    $Msg += "   " + $BPA.Id + "`r`n"

                }

                $Msg | Write

            }

        } else {

            "ERROR: Unable to load BestPractices module"  | Write

        }

    }

    Function EmbeddedXSL(){

    #<?xml version="1.0"?>

    #<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform" version="1.0">

    #<xsl:output method="html" />

    #<xsl:template match="/Objects">

    #<html dir="ltr" xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" gpmc_reportInitialized="false">

    #<head>

    #<!-- Styles -->

    #  <style type="text/css">

    #    body    { background-color:#FFFFFF; border:1px solid #666666; color:#000000; font-size:68%; font-family:MS Shell Dlg; margin:0,0,10px,0; word-break:normal; word-wrap:break-word; }

    #

    #    table   { font-size:100%; table-layout:fixed; width:100%; }

    #

    #    td,th   { overflow:visible; text-align:left; vertical-align:top; white-space:normal; }

    #

    #    .title  { background:#FFFFFF; border:none; color:#333333; display:block; height:24px; margin:0px,0px,-1px,0px; padding-top:4px; position:relative; table-layout:fixed; width:100%; z-index:5; }

    #

    #    .he0False { background-color:#FEF7D6; border:1px solid #BBBBBB; color:#3333CC; cursor:hand; display:block; font-family:Verdana; font-size:110%; font-weight:bold; height:2.25em; margin-bottom:-1px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; padding-left:8px; padding-right:5em; padding-top:4px; position:relative; width:100%;

    #    filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Gradient(GradientType=1,StartColorStr='#FEF7D6',EndColorStr='white');}

    #

    #    .he0True { background-color:#D8D8D8; border:1px solid #BBBBBB; color:#3333CC; cursor:hand; display:block; font-family:Verdana; font-size:110%; font-weight:bold; height:2.25em; margin-bottom:-1px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; padding-left:8px; padding-right:5em; padding-top:4px; position:relative; width:100%;

    #    filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Gradient(GradientType=1,StartColorStr='#D8D8D8',EndColorStr='white');}

    #

    #    .he0_expanded   { background-color:#FEF7D6; border:1px solid #BBBBBB; color:#3333CC; cursor:hand; display:block; font-family:Verdana; font-size:110%; font-weight:bold; height:2.25em; margin-bottom:-1px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; padding-left:8px; padding-right:5em; padding-top:4px; position:relative; width:100%;

    #    filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Gradient(GradientType=1,StartColorStr='#FEF7D6',EndColorStr='white');}

    #

    #    .hev    { background-color:#CCDFFF; border:1px solid #BBBBBB; color:#3333CC; display:block; font-family:Verdana; font-size:110%; font-weight:bold; height:2.25em; margin-bottom:-1px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; padding-left:8px; padding-right:5em; padding-top:4px; position:relative; width:100%;

    #    filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Gradient(GradientType=1,StartColorStr='white',EndColorStr='#CCDFFF');}

    #

    #    .he3_expanded { background-color:#C0D2DE; border:1px solid #BBBBBB; color:#000000; display:block; font-family:MS Shell Dlg; font-size:100%; height:2.25em; margin-bottom:-1px; font-weight:bold; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; padding-left:4px; padding-right:5em; padding-top:4px; position:relative; width:100%; }

    #

    #    .he4_expanded { background-color:#E9EFF3; border:1px solid #BBBBBB; color:#000000; display:block; font-family:MS Shell Dlg; font-size:100%; height:2.25em; margin-bottom:-1px; font-weight:bold; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; padding-left:4px; padding-right:5em; padding-top:4px; position:relative; width:100%; }

    #

    #    .he1    { background-color:#C0D2DE; border:1px solid #BBBBBB; color:#000000; cursor:hand; display:block; font-family:Segoe UI, Verdana; font-size:110%; font-weight:bold; height:2.25em; margin-bottom:-1px; margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px; padding-left:8px; padding-right:5em; padding-top:4px; position:relative; width:100%; }

    #

    #    .he2    { background-color:#C0D2DE; border:1px solid #BBBBBB; color:#000000; cursor:hand; display:block; font-family:MS Shell Dlg; font-size:100%; font-weight:bold; height:2.25em; margin-bottom:-1px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:0px; padding-left:8px; padding-right:5em; padding-top:4px; position:relative; width:100%; }

    #

    #    .he2b    { background-color:#C0D2DE; border:1px solid #BBBBBB; color:#000000; cursor:hand; display:block; font-family:MS Shell Dlg; font-size:100%; font-weight:bold; height:2.25em; margin-bottom:-1px; margin-left:10px; margin-right:0px; padding-left:8px; padding-right:5em; padding-top:4px; position:relative; width:100%; }

    #

    #    .he4i   { background-color:#F9F9F9; border:1px solid #BBBBBB; color:#000000; display:block; font-family:MS Shell Dlg; font-size:100%; margin-bottom:-1px; margin-left:15px; margin-right:0px; padding-bottom:5px; padding-left:12px; padding-top:4px; position:relative; width:100%; }

    #

    #    .he5i   { background-color:#E9EFF3; border:1px solid #BBBBBB; color:#000000; display:block; font-family:MS Shell Dlg; font-size:100%; margin-bottom:-1px; margin-left:8px; margin-right:0px; padding-bottom:5px; padding-left:12px; padding-top:4px; position:relative; width:100%; }

    #

    #    DIV .expando { color:#000000; text-decoration:none; display:block; font-family:MS Shell Dlg; font-size:100%; font-weight:normal; position:absolute; right:10px; text-decoration:underline; z-index: 0; }

    #

    #    .info4 TD, .info4 TH              { padding-right:10px; width:25%;}

    #

    #    .infoFirstCol                     { padding-right:10px; width:20%; }

    #    .infoSecondCol                     { padding-right:10px; width:80%; }

    #

    #    .lines0                           {background-color: #F5F5F5;}

    #    .lines1                           {background-color: #F9F9F9;}

    #

    #    .subtable, .subtable3             { border:1px solid #CCCCCC; margin-left:0px; background:#FFFFFF; margin-bottom:10px; }

    #

    #    .subtable TD, .subtable3 TD       { padding-left:10px; padding-right:5px; padding-top:3px; padding-bottom:3px; line-height:1.1em; width:10%; }

    #

    #    .subtable TH, .subtable3 TH       { border-bottom:1px solid #CCCCCC; font-weight:normal; padding-left:10px; line-height:1.6em;  }

    #

    #    .explainlink:hover      { color:#0000FF; text-decoration:underline; }

    #

    #    .filler { background:transparent; border:none; color:#FFFFFF; display:block; font:100% MS Shell Dlg; line-height:8px; margin-bottom:-1px; margin-left:43px; margin-right:0px; padding-top:4px; position:relative; }

    #

    #    .container { display:block; position:relative; }

    #

    #    .rsopheader { background-color:#A0BACB; border-bottom:1px solid black; color:#333333; font-family:MS Shell Dlg; font-size:130%; font-weight:bold; padding-bottom:5px; text-align:center;

    #    filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Gradient(GradientType=0,StartColorStr='#FFFFFF',EndColorStr='#A0BACB')}

    #

    #    .rsopname { color:#333333; font-family:MS Shell Dlg; font-size:130%; font-weight:bold; padding-left:11px; }

    #

    #    #uri    { color:#333333; font-family:MS Shell Dlg; font-size:100%; padding-left:11px; }

    #

    #    #dtstamp{ color:#333333; font-family:MS Shell Dlg; font-size:100%; padding-left:11px; text-align:left; width:30%; }

    #

    #    #objshowhide { color:#000000; cursor:hand; font-family:MS Shell Dlg; font-size:100%; font-weight:bold; margin-right:0px; padding-right:10px; text-align:right; text-decoration:underline; z-index:2; word-wrap:normal; }

    #

    #    v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}

    #

    #  </style>

    #<!-- Script 1 -->

    #

    #<script language="vbscript" type="text/vbscript">

    #<![CDATA[

    #<!--

    #'================================================================================

    #' String "strShowHide(0/1)"

    #' 0 = Hide all mode.

    #' 1 = Show all mode.

    #strShowHide = 1

    #

    #'Localized strings

    #strShow = "show"

    #strHide = "hide"

    #strShowAll = "show all"

    #strHideAll = "hide all"

    #strShown = "shown"

    #strHidden = "hidden"

    #strExpandoNumPixelsFromEdge = "10px"

    #

    #

    #Function IsSectionHeader(obj)

    #    IsSectionHeader = (obj.className = "he0_expanded") Or (obj.className = "he1_expanded") Or (obj.className = "he1") Or (obj.className = "he0True") Or (obj.className = "he0False") Or (obj.className = "he2") Or (obj.className = "he2g") Or (obj.className = "he2c") or (obj.className = "he3") Or (obj.className = "he4") Or (obj.className = "he4h") Or (obj.className = "he5") Or (obj.className = "he5h")  or (obj.className = "he4_expanded")

    #End Function

    #

    #

    #Function IsSectionExpandedByDefault(objHeader)

    #    IsSectionExpandedByDefault = (Right(objHeader.className, Len("_expanded")) = "_expanded")

    #End Function

    #

    #

    #' strState must be show | hide | toggle

    #Sub SetSectionState(objHeader, strState)

    #    ' Get the container object for the section.  It's the first one after the header obj.

    #

    #    i = objHeader.sourceIndex

    #    Set all = objHeader.parentElement.document.all

    #    While (all(i).className <> "container")

    #        i = i + 1

    #    Wend

    #

    #    Set objContainer = all(i)

    #

    #    If strState = "toggle" Then

    #        If objContainer.style.display = "none" Then

    #            SetSectionState objHeader, "show"

    #        Else

    #            SetSectionState objHeader, "hide"

    #        End If

    #

    #    Else

    #        Set objExpando = objHeader.children(1)

    #

    #        If strState = "show" Then

    #            objContainer.style.display = "block"

    #            rem objExpando.innerText = strHide

    #            rem objExpando.innerHTML = "<v:group id=" & chr(34) & "Show" & chr(34) & " class=" & chr(34) & "vmlimage" & chr(34) & " style=" & chr(34) & "width:15px;height:15px;vertical-align:middle" & chr(34) & " coordsize=" & chr(34) & "100,100" & chr(34) & " alt=" & chr(34) & "Hide" & chr(34) & "><v:shape class=" & chr(34) & "vmlimage" & chr(34) & " style=" & chr(34) & "width:100; height:100; z-index:0" & chr(34) & " fillcolor=" & chr(34) & "green" & chr(34) & " strokecolor=" & chr(34) & "green" & chr(34) & "><v:path v=" & chr(34) & "m 30,50 l 70,50 x e" & chr(34) & " /></v:shape></v:group>"

    #            objExpando.innerHTML =   "<v:group class=" & chr(34) & "vmlimage" & chr(34) & " style=" & chr(34) & "width:15px;height:15px;vertical-align:middle" & chr(34) & " coordsize=" & chr(34) & "100,100" & chr(34) & " alt=" & chr(34) & "Show" & chr(34) & "><v:rect " & chr(34) & " stroked=" & chr(34) & "False" & chr(34) & "fillcolor=" & chr(34) & "#808080" & chr(34) & " style=" & chr(34) & "top:47;left:25;width:50;height:5" & chr(34) & " /></v:group>"

    #        ElseIf strState = "hide" Then

    #            objContainer.style.display = "none"

    #            rem objExpando.innerText = strShow

    #            rem objExpando.outerHTML = "<v:group class=" & chr(34) & "vmlimage" & chr(34) & " style=" & chr(34) & "width:15px;height:15px;vertical-align:middle" & chr(34) & " coordsize=" & chr(34) & "100,100" & chr(34) & " alt=" & chr(34) & "Show" & chr(34) & "><v:shape class=" & chr(34) & "vmlimage" & chr(34) & " style=" & chr(34) & "width:100; height:100; z-index:0" & chr(34) & " fillcolor=" & chr(34) & "black" & chr(34) & " strokecolor=" & chr(34) & "red" & chr(34) & "><v:path v=" & chr(34) & "m 99,1 l 1,1 50,50 x e" & chr(34) & " /></v:shape></v:group>"

    #            objExpando.innerHTML =   "<v:group class=" & chr(34) & "vmlimage" & chr(34) & " style=" & chr(34) & "width:15px;height:15px;vertical-align:middle" & chr(34) & " coordsize=" & chr(34) & "100,100" & chr(34) & " alt=" & chr(34) & "Show" & chr(34) & "><v:rect fillcolor=" & chr(34) & "#808080" & chr(34) & " stroked=" & chr(34) & "False" & chr(34) & " style=" & chr(34) & "top:47;left:25;width:50;height:5" & chr(34) & " /><v:rect fillcolor=" & chr(34) & "#808080" & chr(34) & " stroked=" & chr(34) & "False" & chr(34) & " style=" & chr(34) & "top:25;left:47;width:5;height:50" & chr(34) & " /></v:group>"

    #        End If

    #

    #    End If

    #End Sub

    #

    #

    #Sub ShowSection(objHeader)

    #    SetSectionState objHeader, "show"

    #End Sub

    #

    #

    #Sub HideSection(objHeader)

    #    SetSectionState objHeader, "hide"

    #End Sub

    #

    #

    #Sub ToggleSection(objHeader)

    #    SetSectionState objHeader, "toggle"

    #End Sub

    #

    #

    #'================================================================================

    #' When user clicks anywhere in the document body, determine if user is clicking

    #' on a header element.

    #'================================================================================

    #Function document_onclick()

    #    Set strsrc    = window.event.srcElement

    #

    #    While (strsrc.className = "sectionTitle" Or strsrc.className = "expando" Or strsrc.className = "vmlimage")

    #        Set strsrc = strsrc.parentElement

    #    Wend

    #

    #    ' Only handle clicks on headers.

    #    If Not IsSectionHeader(strsrc) Then Exit Function

    #

    #    ToggleSection strsrc

    #

    #    window.event.returnValue = False

    #End Function

    #

    #'================================================================================

    #' link at the top of the page to collapse/expand all collapsable elements

    #'================================================================================

    #Function objshowhide_onClick()

    #    Set objBody = document.body.all

    #    Select Case strShowHide

    #        Case 0

    #            strShowHide = 1

    #            objshowhide.innerText = strShowAll

    #            For Each obji In objBody

    #                If IsSectionHeader(obji) Then

    #                    HideSection obji

    #                End If

    #            Next

    #        Case 1

    #            strShowHide = 0

    #            objshowhide.innerText = strHideAll

    #            For Each obji In objBody

    #                If IsSectionHeader(obji) Then

    #                    ShowSection obji

    #                End If

    #            Next

    #    End Select

    #End Function

    #

    #'================================================================================

    #' onload collapse all except the first two levels of headers (he0, he1)

    #'================================================================================

    #Function window_onload()

    #    ' Only initialize once.  The UI may reinsert a report into the webbrowser control,

    #    ' firing onLoad multiple times.

    #    If UCase(document.documentElement.getAttribute("gpmc_reportInitialized")) <> "TRUE" Then

    #

    #        ' Set text direction

    #        Call fDetDir(UCase(document.dir))

    #

    #        ' Initialize sections to default expanded/collapsed state.

    #        Set objBody = document.body.all

    #

    #        For Each obji in objBody

    #            If IsSectionHeader(obji) Then

    #                If IsSectionExpandedByDefault(obji) Then

    #                    ShowSection obji

    #                Else

    #                    HideSection obji

    #                End If

    #            End If

    #        Next

    #

    #        objshowhide.innerText = strShowAll

    #

    #        document.documentElement.setAttribute "gpmc_reportInitialized", "true"

    #    End If

    #End Function

    #

    #

    #

    #

    #'================================================================================

    #' When direction (LTR/RTL) changes, change adjust for readability

    #'================================================================================

    #Function document_onPropertyChange()

    #    If window.event.propertyName = "dir" Then

    #        Call fDetDir(UCase(document.dir))

    #    End If

    #End Function

    #Function fDetDir(strDir)

    #    strDir = UCase(strDir)

    #    Select Case strDir

    #        Case "LTR"

    #            Set colRules = document.styleSheets(0).rules

    #            For i = 0 To colRules.length -1

    #                Set nug = colRules.item(i)

    #                strClass = nug.selectorText

    #                If nug.style.textAlign = "right" Then

    #                    nug.style.textAlign = "left"

    #                End If

    #                Select Case strClass

    #                    Case "DIV .expando"

    #                        nug.style.Left = ""

    #                        nug.style.right = strExpandoNumPixelsFromEdge

    #                    Case "#objshowhide"

    #                        nug.style.textAlign = "right"

    #                End Select

    #            Next

    #        Case "RTL"

    #            Set colRules = document.styleSheets(0).rules

    #            For i = 0 To colRules.length -1

    #                Set nug = colRules.item(i)

    #                strClass = nug.selectorText

    #                If nug.style.textAlign = "left" Then

    #                    nug.style.textAlign = "right"

    #                End If

    #                Select Case strClass

    #                    Case "DIV .expando"

    #                        nug.style.Left = strExpandoNumPixelsFromEdge

    #                        nug.style.right = ""

    #                    Case "#objshowhide"

    #                        nug.style.textAlign = "left"

    #                End Select

    #            Next

    #    End Select

    #End Function

    #

    #'================================================================================

    #'When printing reports, if a given section is expanded, let's says "shown" (instead of "hide" in the UI).

    #'================================================================================

    #Function window_onbeforeprint()

    #    For Each obji In document.all

    #        If obji.className = "expando" Then

    #            If obji.innerText = strHide Then obji.innerText = strShown

    #            If obji.innerText = strShow Then obji.innerText = strHidden

    #        End If

    #    Next

    #End Function

    #

    #'================================================================================

    #'If a section is collapsed, change to "hidden" in the printout (instead of "show").

    #'================================================================================

    #Function window_onafterprint()

    #    For Each obji In document.all

    #        If obji.className = "expando" Then

    #            If obji.innerText = strShown Then obji.innerText = strHide

    #            If obji.innerText = strHidden Then obji.innerText = strShow

    #        End If

    #    Next

    #End Function

    #

    #'================================================================================

    #' Adding keypress support for accessibility

    #'================================================================================

    #Function document_onKeyPress()

    #    If window.event.keyCode = "32" Or window.event.keyCode = "13" Or window.event.keyCode = "10" Then 'space bar (32) or carriage return (13) or line feed (10)

    #        If window.event.srcElement.className = "expando" Then Call document_onclick() : window.event.returnValue = false

    #        If window.event.srcElement.className = "sectionTitle" Then Call document_onclick() : window.event.returnValue = false

    #        If window.event.srcElement.id = "objshowhide" Then Call objshowhide_onClick() : window.event.returnValue = false

    #    End If

    #End Function

    #

    #-->

    #]]>

    #</script>

    #

    #<!-- Script 2 -->

    #

    #<script language="javascript"><![CDATA[

    #<!--

    #function getExplainWindowTitle()

    #{

    #        return document.getElementById("explainText_windowTitle").innerHTML;

    #}

    #

    #function getExplainWindowStyles()

    #{

    #        return document.getElementById("explainText_windowStyles").innerHTML;

    #}

    #

    #function getExplainWindowSettingPathLabel()

    #{

    #        return document.getElementById("explainText_settingPathLabel").innerHTML;

    #}

    #

    #function getExplainWindowExplainTextLabel()

    #{

    #        return document.getElementById("explainText_explainTextLabel").innerHTML;

    #}

    #

    #function getExplainWindowPrintButton()

    #{

    #        return document.getElementById("explainText_printButton").innerHTML;

    #}

    #

    #function getExplainWindowCloseButton()

    #{

    #        return document.getElementById("explainText_closeButton").innerHTML;

    #}

    #

    #function getNoExplainTextAvailable()

    #{

    #        return document.getElementById("explainText_noExplainTextAvailable").innerHTML;

    #}

    #

    #function getExplainWindowSupportedLabel()

    #{

    #        return document.getElementById("explainText_supportedLabel").innerHTML;

    #}

    #

    #function getNoSupportedTextAvailable()

    #{

    #        return document.getElementById("explainText_noSupportedTextAvailable").innerHTML;

    #}

    #

    #function showExplainText(srcElement)

    #{

    #    var strSettingName = srcElement.getAttribute("gpmc_settingName");

    #    var strSettingPath = srcElement.getAttribute("gpmc_settingPath");

    #    var strSettingDescription = srcElement.getAttribute("gpmc_settingDescription");

    #

    #    if (strSettingDescription == "")

    #    {

    #                strSettingDescription = getNoExplainTextAvailable();

    #    }

    #

    #    var strSupported = srcElement.getAttribute("gpmc_supported");

    #

    #    if (strSupported == "")

    #    {

    #        strSupported = getNoSupportedTextAvailable();

    #    }

    #

    #    var strHtml = "<html>\n";

    #    strHtml += "<head>\n";

    #    strHtml += "<title>" + getExplainWindowTitle() + "</title>\n";

    #    strHtml += "<style type='text/css'>\n" + getExplainWindowStyles() + "</style>\n";

    #    strHtml += "</head>\n";

    #    strHtml += "<body>\n";

    #    strHtml += "<div class='head'>" + strSettingName +"</div>\n";

    #    strHtml += "<div class='path'><b>" + getExplainWindowSettingPathLabel() + "</b><br/>" + strSettingPath +"</div>\n";

    #    strHtml += "<div class='path'><b>" + getExplainWindowSupportedLabel() + "</b><br/>" + strSupported +"</div>\n";

    #    strHtml += "<div class='info'>\n";

    #    strHtml += "<div class='hdr'>" + getExplainWindowExplainTextLabel() + "</div>\n";

    #    strHtml += "<div class='bdy'>" + strSettingDescription + "</div>\n";

    #    strHtml += "<div class='btn'>";

    #    strHtml += getExplainWindowPrintButton();

    #    strHtml += getExplainWindowCloseButton();

    #    strHtml += "</div></body></html>";

    #

    #    var strDiagArgs = "height=360px, width=630px, status=no, toolbar=no, scrollbars=yes, resizable=yes ";

    #    var expWin = window.open("", "expWin", strDiagArgs);

    #    expWin.document.write("");

    #    expWin.document.close();

    #    expWin.document.write(strHtml);

    #    expWin.document.close();

    #    expWin.focus();

    #

    #    //cancels navigation for IE.

    #    if(navigator.userAgent.indexOf("MSIE") > 0)

    #    {

    #        window.event.returnValue = false;

    #    }

    #

    #    return false;

    #}

    #-->

    #]]>

    #</script>

    #

    #</head>

    #

    #<body>

    #

    #    <table class="title" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">

    #    <tr><td colspan="2" class="rsopheader"><xsl:value-of select="ReportTitle"/></td></tr>

    #    <tr><td colspan="2" class="rsopname">Machine name: <xsl:value-of select="Machine"/></td></tr>

    #    <tr><td id="dtstamp">Data collected on: <xsl:value-of select="TimeField"/></td><td><div id="objshowhide" tabindex="0"></div></td></tr>

    #    </table>

    #    <div class="filler"></div>

    #

    #  <div class="hev">

    #    <span class="sectionTitle" tabindex="0">

    #      Messages

    #    </span>

    #  </div>

    #  <div class="filler"></div>

    #

    #  <xsl:for-each select="./Object">

    #    <xsl:sort order="ascending" select="./Property[@Name = 'Severity'] = 'Information'" data-type="text"/>

    #    <xsl:sort order="ascending" select="./Property[@Name = 'Severity'] = 'Warning'" data-type="text"/>

    #    <xsl:sort order="ascending" select="./Property[@Name = 'Severity'] = 'Error'" data-type="text"/>

    #    <xsl:variable name="excluded" select="./Property[@Name='Excluded']" />

    #    <div class="he0{$excluded}"><span class="sectionTitle" tabindex="0"> 

    #    <xsl:choose>

    #      <xsl:when test="./Property[@Name='Severity'] = 'Error'">

    #        <v:group class="vmlimage" style="width:15px;height:15px;vertical-align:middle" coordsize="100,100" title="Error">

    #          <v:oval class="vmlimage" style='width:100;height:100;z-index:0' fillcolor="red" strokecolor="red">

    #          </v:oval>

    #          <v:line class="vmlimage" style="z-index:1" from="25,25" to="75,75" strokecolor="white" strokeweight="3px">

    #          </v:line>

    #          <v:line class="vmlimage" style="z-index:2" from="75,25" to="25,75" strokecolor="white" strokeweight="3px">

    #          </v:line>

    #        </v:group>

    #        <xsl:text>&#160;</xsl:text>

    #      </xsl:when>

    #      <xsl:when test="./Property[@Name='Severity'] = 'Warning'">

    #        <v:group class="vmlimage" style="width:15px;height:15px;vertical-align:middle" coordsize="100,100" title="Warning">

    #          <v:shape class="vmlimage" style="width:100; height:100; z-index:0" fillcolor="yellow" strokecolor="black">

    #            <v:path v="m 50,0 l 0,99 99,99 x e" />

    #          </v:shape>

    #          <v:rect class="vmlimage" style="top:35; left:45; width:10; height:35; z-index:1" fillcolor="black" strokecolor="black">

    #          </v:rect>

    #          <v:rect class="vmlimage" style="top:85; left:45; width:10; height:5; z-index:1" fillcolor="black" strokecolor="black">

    #          </v:rect>

    #        </v:group>

    #        <xsl:text>&#160;</xsl:text>

    #      </xsl:when>

    #      <xsl:when test="./Property[@Name='Severity'] = 'Information'">

    #        <v:group id="Inf1" class="vmlimage" style="width:15px;height:15px;vertical-align:middle" coordsize="100,100" title="Information">

    #          <v:oval class="vmlimage" style="width:100;height:100;z-index:0" fillcolor="#336699" strokecolor="black" />

    #          <v:line class="vmlimage" style="z-index:1" from="50,15" to="50,25" strokecolor="white" strokeweight="3px" />

    #          <v:line class="vmlimage" style="z-index:2" from="50,35" to="50,80" strokecolor="white" strokeweight="3px" />

    #        </v:group>

    #        <xsl:text>&#160;</xsl:text>

    #      </xsl:when>

    #    </xsl:choose>

    #    <xsl:value-of select="./Property[@Name='Title']"/></span><a class="expando" href="#"></a></div>

    #    

    #        <div class="container"><div class="he4i"><table cellpadding="0" class="info4" >

    #        <tr><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr>

    #        <xsl:variable name="pos" select="position()" />

    #        <xsl:variable name="mod" select="($pos mod 2)" />

    #    <xsl:if test="./Property[@Name='Category']"><tr class="lines1"><td>Category</td><td colspan="4"><xsl:value-of select="./Property[@Name='Category']"/></td></tr></xsl:if>

    #    <xsl:if test="string-length(./Property[@Name='Problem']) > 0"><tr class="lines0"><td>Problem</td><td colspan="4"><b><xsl:value-of select="./Property[@Name='Problem']"/></b></td></tr></xsl:if>

    #    <xsl:if test="string-length(./Property[@Name='Impact']) > 0"><tr class="lines1"><td>Impact</td><td colspan="4"><xsl:value-of select="./Property[@Name='Impact']"/></td></tr></xsl:if>

    #    <xsl:if test="string-length(./Property[@Name='Resolution']) > 0"><tr class="lines0"><td>Resolution</td><td colspan="4"><xsl:value-of select="./Property[@Name='Resolution']"/></td></tr></xsl:if>

    #    <xsl:if test="string-length(./Property[@Name='Compliance']) > 0"><tr class="lines0"><td>Compliance</td><td colspan="4"><b><xsl:value-of select="./Property[@Name='Compliance']"/></b></td></tr></xsl:if>

    #    <xsl:if test="./Property[@Name='Help']"><tr class="lines1"><td>Additional Help</td><td colspan="4"><a href="{./Property[@Name='Help']}"><xsl:value-of select="./Property[@Name='Help']"/></a></td></tr></xsl:if>

    #    <xsl:if test="./Property[@Name='Excluded']"><tr class="lines0"><td>Excluded</td><td colspan="4"><xsl:value-of select="./Property[@Name='Excluded']"/></td></tr></xsl:if>

    #    <xsl:if test="./Property[@Name='RuleId']"><tr class="lines1"><td>Rule ID</td><td colspan="4"><xsl:value-of select="./Property[@Name='RuleId']"/></td></tr></xsl:if>

    #    <xsl:if test="./Property[@Name='ResultId']"><tr class="lines0"><td>Result ID</td><td colspan="4"><xsl:value-of select="./Property[@Name='ResultId']"/></td></tr></xsl:if>

    #        </table>

    #

    #    </div></div>

    #    <div class="filler"></div>

    #

    #    </xsl:for-each>

    #

    #</body>

    #</html>

    #</xsl:template>

    #</xsl:stylesheet>

    }

and this is an output sample

Hyper-V Integration Components version list table

2010-12-24T10:32:32Z

Would you want to know what version of Hyper-V are you running right now?

This is a table to make a fast relationship between your current VMBUS.SYS version and the corresponding Hyper-V level.

Remember to upgrade the ICs of your VMs after applying any of this updates to your hosts.

HYPER-V IC VERSION	vmbus.sys
W2K8 RTM	6.0.6001.17101
W2K8 RTM + Hyper-V RTM (KB 950050)	6.0.6001.18016
W2K8 + KB 956710	6.0.6001.22258
W2K8 + KB 959962	6.0.6001.22352
W2K8 + SP2	6.0.6002.18005
W2K8 + KB 975925	6.0.6002.22233
W2K8 R2 RTM	6.1.7600.16385
W2K8 R2 + KB 975354	6.1.7600.20542
W2K8 R2 + KB 981836	6.1.7600.20683
W2K8 R2 + KB 2223005	6.1.7600.20778
W2K8 R2 + SP1 Beta	6.1.7601.16562
W2K8 R2 + SP1 RC	6.1.7601.17105

August Hyper-V Rollup Package (kb 2264080)

2010-08-25T06:35:06Z

Yesterday the Hyper-V Product Team announced a handy Hyper-V Rollup update which includes the fix for 3 issues. This update will help us to simplify our hosts maintenance tasks.

On the same KB you will find individual references to each fix and the end of the article.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2264080

Cristian Edwards

Hyper-V Dynamic Memory

2010-08-19T10:14:22Z

As you already know, the product group announced the Dynamic Memory feature for Hyper-V with the SP1 release. Here you will find several links with information about how the new functionality works.

Part 1: Dynamic Memory announcement. This blog announces the new Hyper-V Dynamic Memory in Hyper-V R2 SP1, including requirements. http://blogs.technet.com/virtualization/archive/2010/03/18/dynamic-memory-coming-to-hyper-v.aspx

Part 2: Capacity Planning from a Memory Standpoint. Details issues to consider for memory capacity planning and why. http://blogs.technet.com/virtualization/archive/2010/03/25/dynamic-memory-coming-to-hyper-v-part-2.aspx

Part 3: Page Sharing. Detailed discussion about the TLB, large memory pages, how page sharing works, SuperFetch and more. http://blogs.technet.com/virtualization/archive/2010/04/07/dynamic-memory-coming-to-hyper-v-part-3.aspx

Part 4: Page Sharing Follow-Up. Questions answered about Page Sharing and ASLR and other factors. http://blogs.technet.com/b/virtualization/archive/2010/04/21/dynamic-memory-coming-to-hyper-v-part-4.aspx

Part 5: Second Level Paging. Details why should avoid this in a virtualized environment, including Performance impacts. http://blogs.technet.com/b/virtualization/archive/2010/05/20/dynamic-memory-coming-to-hyper-v-part-5.aspx

Part 6: Hyper-V Dynamic Memory. Discusses DM, and each of the per virtual machine settings. http://blogs.technet.com/b/virtualization/archive/2010/07/12/dynamic-memory-coming-to-hyper-v-part-6.aspx

How do you manage dynamic memory from Windows 7?

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/virtual_pc_guy/archive/2010/08/06/how-do-you-manage-dynamic-memory-from-windows-7.aspx

What is "memory priority" when service pack 1 is installed?

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/virtual_pc_guy/archive/2010/08/05/what-is-the-memory-priority-when-service-pack-1-is-installed.aspx

What is the memory buffer when dynamic memory is enabled?

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/virtual_pc_guy/archive/2010/08/04/what-is-the-memory-buffer-when-dynamic-memory-is-enabled.aspx

What happens if you enable dynamic memory on an unsupported guest operating system?

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/virtual_pc_guy/archive/2010/08/03/what-happens-if-you-enable-dynamic-memory-on-an-unsupported-guest-operating-system.aspx

Enabling Dynamic Memory

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/virtual_pc_guy/archive/2010/08/02/enabling-dynamic-memory.aspx

Cristian Edwards

Hyper-V Networking posts list

2010-08-18T10:13:00Z

During my last 2 years working with Hyper-V I’ve done hundred of searches on the web looking for any kind of information about Networking, Storage, Clustering, server core…. Finally I’ve decided to compile my favorites on one place starting with the Hyper-V Networking section links.

Hyper-V: MAC Address allocation and apparent network issues MAC collisions can cause

http://blogs.technet.com/b/jhoward/archive/2008/07/15/hyper-v-mac-address-allocation-and-apparent-network-issues-mac-collisions-can-cause.aspx

Windows Server 2008 R2 Live Migration – “The devil may be in the networking details.”

http://blogs.technet.com/b/askcore/archive/2009/12/10/windows-server-2008-r2-live-migration-the-devil-may-be-in-the-networking-details.aspx

New in Hyper-V Windows Server 2008 R2 Part 2 – MAC Spoofing

http://blogs.technet.com/b/jhoward/archive/2009/05/21/new-in-hyper-v-windows-server-2008-r2-part-2-mac-spoofing.aspx#comments

Understanding Network Tag and Network Location in SCVMM and SCVMM R2

http://blogs.technet.com/b/scvmm/archive/2010/05/10/understanding-network-location-and-tags-in-scvmm.aspx

VMM Network Location and Network Tag

http://blogs.technet.com/b/chengw/archive/2009/05/08/vmm-network-location-and-network-tag.aspx

Hyper-V Live Migration Network Configuration Guide

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff428137(WS.10).aspx

NVSPBIND tool Download

http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/nvspbind

Cannot access the virtual or dedicated IP address of an NLB node (Guest) running in Unicast Mode on Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V

http://blogs.technet.com/b/networking/archive/2010/02/12/cannot-access-the-virtual-or-dedicated-ip-address-of-an-nlb-node-guest-running-in-unicast-mode-on-windows-server-2008-r2-hyper-v.aspx

Disabling VLAN tagging in Hyper-V on Windows Server 2008 Server Core

http://blogs.technet.com/b/networking/archive/2009/03/13/disabling-vlan-tagging-in-hyper-v-on-windows-server-2008-server-core.aspx

Configuring Advanced Network Card Settings in Windows Server 2008 Server Core

http://blogs.technet.com/b/networking/archive/2009/01/08/configuring-advanced-network-card-settings-in-windows-server-2008-server-core.aspx

Using HP ProLiant Network Teaming Software with Microsoft® Windows® Server 2008 Hyper-V or with Microsoft® Windows® Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c01663264/c01663264.pdf

Increase VMBus buffer sizes to increase network throughput to guest VMs

http://blogs.technet.com/b/winserverperformance/archive/2010/02/02/increase-vmbus-buffer-sizes-to-increase-network-throughput-to-guest-vms.aspx

Cristian Edwards

P2V with SCVMM & VS2005 to Hyper-V Slides

2010-05-25T13:53:13Z

Hello again,

Today I am starting to share with you some presentations that I’ve done during the last year for our Spanish customers. The presentations are in Spanish but feel free to contact me if you need a translated version.

P2V with SCVMM presentation

VS2005 to Hyper-V Migration

Live Migration fail and source node reboot on AMD processor servers

2010-05-16T22:39:23Z

Recently i found several customers that are running Hyper-V R2 under AMD Family 10h processors and they experienced server reboots on the source host that start the migration. There isn’t any information on the event viewer or any dump cause the root cause is a hardware problem. This crash was reported by AMD and our product team help to fix the issue with a software workaround. This issue mostly happens with virtual machines with 2 or more processors. Most of the customers who reported the issue were able to live migrate VMs with 1 virtual processors.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/981618

Hyper-V R2 Best Practice Analyzer

2010-05-16T22:29:23Z

At the end of April, the product team announced another tool to make our life easier when doing diagnostics for Hyper-V R2.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/977238

After the package installation you will find on Server Manager (Hyper-V Section) the BPA interface for Hyper-V. Good place to start before going to production or for troubleshooting

New Core Configurator 2.0 for Windows Server Core Lover's

2009-12-03T10:41:00Z

Yesterday was published a useful tool for common administration task on Server Core. The name of the tool is CoreConfigurator and is the second version of the tool with more features and improved UI. You can download it for free from codeplex http://www.codeplex.com/coreconfig. Enjoy it

Monitoring Hyper-V on Server Core using logman

2009-11-13T12:26:00Z

If you are trying to monitor Hyper-V performance and your servers are Server Core you have many options to capture data. The most easiest way is to use perfmon remotely and define a counter set with Hyper-V related counters.Unfortunately sometimes it does not work for several reasons so you can use this procedure to achieve your goal.

The first thing we need to capture Hyper-V counters is to have the list of the counters. At this point we have a very useful command called typeperf. This command will help us te generate the list of our desired counters. In this case we are looking for Hyper-V counters so we just need to run this :

typeperf /q | find "Hyper-V" > countershyperv.txt

If you also need some other counters you can change the filter word and add them to the .txt file.

Once the countershyperv.txt file has been created you just need to import it using logman.

logman.exe create counter HyperVCounters -f bin -cf countershyperv.txt -max 200 -si 30

With this command you will create a counter set with blg format, 200 MB of maximum data and with a sample interval of 30 seconds.

You can find other examples on http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb490956.aspx if you need other settings.

For starting and stopping the counter set data collection you just need to run these commands

logman start HyperVCounters

logman stop HyperVCounters

Once the capture is finished you can open the .blg file with perfmon or PAL to analyze the data.

Checking Integration Components version on Hyper-V RTM

2009-06-12T13:36:00Z

One important point to guarantee a good performance of our virtual machines, is to validate that they have installed the lastest version of the “Integration Components”. If we must validate the version in one or two machines we can do it checking the driver version of c:\windows\system32\drivers\vmbus.sys file.

But if we needed to obtain this data for a great number of machines we will have to use PowerShell or scripts. Unfortunately, checking IC's version from host by means of scripts or Powershell is not a simple task, and for that reason I wrote this script to facilitate this task.

This script check the driver version of vmbus.sys within the virtual machine , and creates a registry key with its value in “HKLM\SOFTWARE\Virtual Machine\Auto\IC Version”. Once executed inside our VM's, we will be able to get the value from host, by means of script that has been published by Micheal Michael http://blogs.technet.com/m2/archive/2009/06/10/how-to-get-data-like-the-integration-services-version-from-msvm-kvpexchangedataitem-in-hyper-v.aspx

Note that WS08 R2 and W7 VM's already have this registry so there is no need to add it manually. This script can be published inside a GPO to run it on every restart If our VM's are joined to a domain

const HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE = &H80000002
strVersion = ""
strkeyPath = "SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Virtual Machine\Auto"
strkeyName = "IC Version"
strComputer = "."

set WSHShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.shell")
sysroot = WshShell.ExpandEnvironmentStrings("%systemroot%")

Set objFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
strversion = objFSO.GetFileVersion(sysroot & "\system32\drivers\vmbus.sys")

Set oReg=GetObject("winmgmts:{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" & strComputer & "\root\default:stdRegProv")
oReg.SetStringValue HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,strkeypath,strkeyname,strversion

Wscript.Echo "IC version: " & strversion & " added to registry on HKLM\" & strkeypath

Windows Server 2008 SP2 RTM on Technet and MSDN

2009-05-06T15:03:00Z

Bueno, para aquellos que dispongan de una subscripción de Technet o de MSDN ya pueden descargarse la versión final del Service Pack 2 para Windows Server 2008 y Windows VISTA. Podréis encontrarlo en el siguente enlace y podréis evitaros tener que instalar los Hotfixes de Hyper-V uno a uno.. ;)

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dd262148.aspx

Si queréis saber que hotfixes vienen incluídos en el SP2, podéis descargaros la lista separado por componentes en el siguiente enlace

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4E478E21-3D31-4A10-B8ED-E1BB770E3212&displaylang=en

Well, the Windows Server 2008 SP2 RTM is ready to download for those who have a technet or an MSDN subscription. No more manual Hyper-V hotfixes installation. all in just one update! Here you have the link.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dd262148.aspx

You can download a detailed list of the included hotfixes on SP2 on the following link

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4E478E21-3D31-4A10-B8ED-E1BB770E3212&displaylang=en

Hyper-V Hotfixes List

2009-04-25T10:47:00Z

In order to avoid known problems during Hyper-V deployments I really encourage you to apply these updates to your environments

Hyper-V V1 Hotfixes list

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd430893.aspx

Hyper-V R2 Hotfixes list

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff394763(WS.10).aspx

Mi Primer blog / My first blog

2009-03-23T21:52:00Z

Good for all those who visit my blog for the first time. This is my christening on blogging with the simple aim of sharing a little knowledge and opinion about something that for years attracted my attention. Virtualization. For reasons of fate I am immersed in the Microsoft virtualization technologies, but always with respect to all other manufacturers in the market, and together we make the word "VIRTUALIZATION" bigger than ever

Cristian Edwards