This is the first blog entry of a multi-part series of blogs that addresses Import/Export in Windows Server 2008 R2. This blog talks about the scenarios enabled by the changes made to import/export in R2.
Ben Armstrong had blogged earlier about the intricacies of Import and Export with v1 Hyper-V in his blog posts:http://blogs.msdn.com/virtual_pc_guy/archive/2008/08/26/hyper-v-export-import-part-1.aspx http://blogs.msdn.com/virtual_pc_guy/archive/2008/08/27/hyper-v-export-import-part-2.aspx
Now, the big problem with how import export worked in v1 was that it just did not give the user enough control over the process of exporting and more significantly, importing a VM. Additionally, it was rather unforgiving. I bet many a user has been burnt trying to import a VM a second time only to find out that since he/she had imported it once already, the import folder could not be used anymore.
So, introducing the R2 version of Import Export: a lot more fine grained control on the entire process as well as added capabilities that are more in tune with user needs. Here is a list of capabilities enabled with the new Import Export functionality:
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I have a better understanding of this article with the description thank you
Hi...I know this is an old blog, but I was hoping to find an answer related to this topic.
Why is it (architecturally) that if I copy a VHD file over to another Hyper-V server (instead of Export/Import) and create a new VM that uses that VHD, it always loses its network settings, even when the virtual networks are named identically on each server.
The behavior is similar to performing an export and then importing into a machine that does not have an identically named Virtual Network - the network card inside of the VM drops off and a new one configured for DHCP gets created.
If I perform an export/import between the exact same two Hyper-V servers, the network settings are preserved without issue. What is the import doing differently under the covers than simply mounting that VHD on a new server?
Thanks for any insight you can provide!
Doug
Doug,
Think of what happens when you do the following to a physical machine.
1. Remove the hard drive.
2. Install the hard drive in a different physical machine.
3. Start the new machine with the moved hard drive in it.
When that hard drive is first started in the new physical machine the current hardware resources available are detected and drivers are installed to use those detected devices.
Moving a VHD from one host to another and then creating a new VM is essentially the exact same process. The network settings for a VM are not stored in the VHD file but rather in the VM configuration file (that is not on the new host if you only copied the VHD file to the new location). When you export a VM to a folder on the other host and then import that VM on the new host, the network settings are preserved because the file that contains them has also been copied to the new host. Since the new host has a virtual network with the same name/identity as the old host, the VM is able to reuse those network settings that were transferred during the export/import process.
The import is using the VM configuration data that is copied to the new location when a VM is exported. Look at the contents of the folder where you export a VM. Not only is the VHD there but also the other files necessary to get the VM running, the memory configuration, the network settings, the disk locations and settings for not only a VHD file but also any passthrough disks.
Please review the following post on the TechNet Wiki for more information regarding the files that are associated with a Hyper-V VM.
social.technet.microsoft.com/.../hyper-v-how-to-find-vm-files.aspx
Hope this helps.
David