John Howard - Senior Program Manager in the Hyper-V team at Microsoft : Downloads

Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM on Technet & MSDN

jhoward — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 21:38:00 GMT

After the Windows 7 RTM release was published last week, it was joined by Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM for Technet and MSDN subscribers this morning. Woo hoo!

Have fun with Hyper-V and all the great new features and improvements.

Cheers,
John.

Windows 7 RSAT final build available for download

jhoward — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:25:00 GMT

The Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) for Windows 7 RTM have been released to microsoft.com. These include the Hyper-V tools for remote management of Windows Server 2008 R2 and Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2.

You can download them from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=7d2f6ad7-656b-4313-a005-4e344e43997d&displaylang=en – remember to download the right architecture (x86 or x64) as necessary.

Once you install the update, you can enable one or more of the following tools from the Control Panel under Programs, Turn Windows features on or off.

Server Administration Tools:

Server Manager

Role Administration Tools:

Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS) Tools
Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) Tools
Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS) Tools
DHCP Server Tools
DNS Server Tools
File Services Tools
Hyper-V Tools
Terminal Services Tools

Feature Administration Tools:

BitLocker Password Recovery Viewer
Failover Clustering Tools
Group Policy Management Tools
Network Load Balancing Tools
SMTP Server Tools
Storage Explorer Tools
Storage Manager for SANs Tools
Windows System Resource Manager Tools

Cheers,
John.

HVRemote refresh

jhoward — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 02:21:00 GMT

So after some 22,000 downloads (thank you) in the 8 months since first released, HVRemote has undergone a refresh to make it even easier to configure Hyper-V Remote Management and diagnose issues.

The major change in version 0.7 is the ability to perform some verification of the configuration and provide hints as to what to follow if it detects an error through the use of the new /target option. Below is an example of the new bit of output running hvremote /show /target:servername from a Windows 7 client where everything is working just fine (yes, it is fine for the ping to timeout, that just means it’s blocked by the firewall).

HVRemote 0.7 fully supports Windows Server 2008 R2, Microsoft Hyper-V 2008 R2 and Windows 7. In addition, the home page has undergone a refresh to cover the some of the most commonly asked questions, and the documentation has been brought up to date.

For a list of other changes, please see the documentation.

Cheers,
John.

Windows Virtual PC Links

jhoward — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 06:45:00 GMT

A quick note to say that Windows Virtual PC has reached RC (release candidate) and is available for download. Ben has lots more information here, and I'm really pleased to see that Prasad has started a WVPC team blog where you can learn more about its features and capabilities.

Cheers,
John.

Linux Integration Services for Hyper-V - Two announcements

jhoward — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 21:46:00 GMT

Yesterday, we announced that the Linux Integration Components for Hyper-V have been released under a GPL v2 license for inclusion in future versions of the Linux kernel. More information on this can be found in the presspass article here.

The second announcement is that today, we released RC2 (Release Candidate 2) of the Linux Integration Services for download. These include support for RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux), versions 5.2 and 5.3, both x86 and x64, plus SLES (SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11) x86 and x64 .

These provide drivers for Linux running on both v1 (Windows Server 2008 with KB950050 applied, or Windows Server 2008 SP2), and Windows Server 2008 R2 RC (Build 7100). In addition, these can be used on the standalone products Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 and it's R2 RC release (Build 7100).

You can obtain the Linux ICs through Microsoft Connect. If you have feedback - please send it to linux_ic@microsoft.com.

At the current time, we support single-processor Linux guest operating systems. Mouse support can be found here. Note that as this is still a release candidate, you should not use them for production workloads.

Cheers,
John.

Hyper-V RC Release Download Links

jhoward — Wed, 06 May 2009 05:41:00 GMT

Today, the last of the download links for the Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008 R2 RC (Release Candidate) release, Windows 7 client and the Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) for Windows 7 RC have gone live.

Windows Server 2008 RC Download

If you have an MSDN or Technet subscription, the download has already been live for a few days.

As of today, you can also download directly. Follow this link and choose the "Download the RC now!" link at the top right of the page.

Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 RC Download

This is the standalone virtualization solution using the same Hyper-V technology present in Windows Server 2008 R2. It can be downloaded here.

Windows 7 RC Download

Follow this link to the TechNet Evaluation Center.

RSAT RC Download for Windows 7

The RSAT tools are packaged in KB958830 which you can obtain by following this link. Make sure you download the right architecture for your needs. Note that these require Windows 7 Client build 7100 to install successfully and do not install on Windows Vista.

Once you have installed the update, to enable Hyper-V Manager, in the Control Panel, open Programs and Features. From here, choose "Turn Windows features on or off" and navigate down through Remote Server Administration Tools/Role Administration Tools and ensure Hyper-V Tools is selected.

Note that if you have a full installation of Windows Server 2008 RC, the Hyper-V role management tools are available without enabling the Hyper-V role itself.

Cheers,
John.

Hyper-V Security Guide available

jhoward — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 06:19:00 GMT

The Hyper-V Security Guide is now available online or for download as a Word document. It covers hardening, delegation (including using SCVMM), and protection mechanisms for virtual machines.

You can read it online here, or download the Word document(s) here.

It even includes a link to HVRemote :)

Cheers,
John.

Hyper-V KB967902 on Windows Update today

jhoward — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 08:22:00 GMT

Just a quick heads up – as posted on our team blog earlier this month, KB967902 resolves an issue in Hyper-V regarding a certificate expiration issue.

This was released earlier today on Windows Update. A restart will be required to complete the installation.

Cheers,
John.

Hyper-V: Mouse Integration Components for SUSE available now

jhoward — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 07:51:00 GMT

News just in – the VSC (Virtualization Service Client) component providing mouse integration for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server running as a guest operating system under Hyper-V has been released. The VSC is supported on SLES 10 SP2, x86 and x64 versions as virtual machines on systems running Hyper-V RTM or Windows Server 2008 R2 Beta.

For more information on the licensing and download links, follow this link to Citrix Project Satori.

Cheers,
John.

Understanding Microsoft Virtualization Solutions

jhoward — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 23:36:00 GMT

OK, so I'm a couple of months behind the times.... but in case you aren't already aware, there's a free 400+ page Microsoft Press E-Book available online. It makes interesting reading and has an all-up view of Microsoft virtualization covering Hyper-V, System Centre Virtual Machine Manager, Application Virtualization, Desktop Virtualization and VDI.

You can download the book from here.

Cheers,
John.

Hyper-V Fixed VHD creation

jhoward — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 03:50:00 GMT

As Ben mentioned last year, creating a large fixed size VHD in Hyper-V can be a lengthy operation as we zero out the contents of the file during the creation process. In Hyper-V itself, there is no workaround to this.

However Chris, a developer on our team, has just posted up a utility called VHDTool which can create large fixed VHDs in seconds. If you are comfortable with the security implications of using such a tool and want large fixed VHDs created quickly, it could be an option for you. The utility is available with source code and can be downloaded here.

Cheers,
John.

Configure Hyper-V Remote Management in seconds

jhoward — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 03:02:00 GMT

Update 19th Nov - v0.3 now released!

It has been a little quiet on the blog front, but sometimes, at least in this case, I hope I've come up with something worth waiting for. Announcing "HVRemote"...., a tool to "automagically" configure Hyper-V Remote Management. (Amazing what can be done with a few days vacation to kill before you lose them at the end of the year....).

I'm not going into the gory detail here as I've created a PDF containing the documentation, and a site on http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/HVRemote where you can download the tool and the documentation. All I ask, is that if you find the tool useful, drop me an email or a comment. Thanks!

What does the tool do: It reduces the manual configuration steps needed for Hyper-V Remote Management that I blogged about back in March this year 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 down to one or two commands.

It can configure Full installations and Server Core Installations of Windows Server 2008 with the Hyper-V role enabled, plus configure Microsoft Hyper-V Server. It runs across all locales (I've tested English and Japanese) and it doesn't matter if the server is domain or workgroup joined.
It can configure Vista SP1 and Server 2008 configured with the Hyper-V Remote Management tools. Again, doesn't matter if the client is domain or workgroup joined.

Quick how-to:

1. Server: To give or remove a user access permissions:

hvremote /add:domain\user or
hvremote /remove:domain\user

2. Server & Client: Display current settings (server or client): (Screenshot is client side)

hvremote /show

The other useful options are:

3. Find out all the command line options: hvremote /help or hvremote /?

and a couple of client side options:

4. Client: Add firewall exception for MMC: hvremote /mmc:enable
5. Client: Allow anonymous access to Distributed COM: hvremote /AnonDCOM:grant

I've tried this out with a a lot of test "guinea pigs" internally at Microsoft, and using the script literally dropped their remote configuration time down to seconds. Hopefully it will do the same for you.

But I must also point you to the disclaimer on my blog, the disclaimer in the documentation, and the license conditions at http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/HVRemote before use:

HVRemote and the associated documentation are provided "as-is". You bear the risk of using it. No express warranties, guarantees or conditions are provided. It is not supported or endorsed by Microsoft Corporation and should be used at your own risk.

Cheers,
John.

Hyper-V: RTM available on Windows Update

jhoward — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:37:00 GMT

Just a quick note to mention that Hyper-V RTM (KB950050) was made available on Windows Update yesterday.

See here for more information on the RTM release. Note that the Vista SP1 management tools are not currently available through Windows Update and need to be upgraded seperately.

It's a "recommended" update.

Cheers,
John.

Hyper-V RTM announcement. Available today from the Microsoft Download Centre

jhoward — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:48:00 GMT

In the Hyper-V shiproom this morning, we signed off on Hyper-V RTM (Release To Manufacturing). The build and articles are actively working their way through the systems and will be available from Microsoft Download Centre from around noon Pacific time. While waiting, please take a few moments to review the information in this post, plus the appropriate Knowledge Base (KB) articles I’ve linked to. There is a significant amount of information to take on board. It is fantastic for me to be able to publicly state that Hyper-V is released and ready for production deployment.

Resources:

Download links:

KB950050

This is the main KB for Hyper-V RTM. You need to apply the x64 version to upgrade the Hyper-V role in the parent partition to RTM.

Update for Windows Server 2008 (x64)

Update for Windows Server 2008 (x86)

I recommend you apply KB950050 to all Windows Server 2008 physical machines to ensure that the Hyper-V beta components (present on the RTM build of Windows Server 2008) are updated, for both x86 architectures and x64 architectures. Make sure you choose the correct download applicable to your machine architecture. This KB also contains the Hyper-V RTM remote management tools for Windows Server 2008.

KB951636

This is a supplementary download for localization of KB950050 in the following languages: Czech (Czech Republic); Hungarian (Hungary); Korean (Korea); Polish (Poland); Portuguese (Brazil); Portuguese (Portugal); Russia (Russia); Swedish (Sweden); Turkish (Turkey); Chinese (People’s Republic of China); Chinese (Taiwan) and Chinese (Hong Kong S.A.R).

Update for Windows Server 2008 (x64)

Update for Windows Server 2008 (x86)

KB952627

This download contains the Hyper-V remote management tools for Windows Vista SP1 (Hyper-V Manager and Virtual Machine Connection).

Update for Windows Vista (x64)

Update for Windows Vista (x86)

Changes:

The most significant change in Hyper-V RTM is the extended list of supported operating systems running in virtual machines.

Windows Server 2008 [x64/x86]
- Up to 4 virtual processors (1, 2 or 4 way)
- Standard/Enterprise/Datacentre (including “without Hyper-V” SKUs)
- Web Server
Windows HPC Server 2008 [x64]
- Up to 4 virtual processors (1, 2 or 4 way)
Windows Vista [x64/x86]
- Up to 2 virtual processors (1 or 2 way)
- Business, Enterprise and Ultimate
- Minimum service pack: SP1
Windows Server 2003 [x64] (With or without R2 update)
- Up to 2 virtual processors (1 or 2 way)
- Standard, Enterprise, Datacentre Editions
- Minimum service pack: SP2
Windows Server 2003 [x86] (With or without R2 update)
- Up to 2 virtual processors (1 or 2 way)
- Standard, Enterprise, Datacentre, Web Editions.
- Minimum service pack: SP2
Windows XP Professional [x86]
- Minimum service pack: SP2
- SP2: 1 virtual processor
- SP3: Up to 2 virtual processors (1 or 2 way)
Windows XP Professional [x64]
- Up to 2 virtual processors (1 or 2 way)
- Minimum service pack: SP2
Windows 2000
- 1 virtual processor
- Server, Advanced Server
- Minimum service pack: SP4
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 [x64/x86]
- Service Pack 1 or 2
- 1 virtual processor

Installation:

To upgrade to RTM, you need to apply KB950050 to the parent partition AND upgrade/install the RTM Integration Services in each virtual machine. For new installations, the general steps are:

Install RTM Windows Server 2008
- x64 Standard, Enterprise or Datacenter
- Select Core or full installation option as required
Apply the x64 version of the KB950050 update and reboot
Add the Hyper-V role (Server Manager or ocsetup)
After virtual machine operating system installation has completed, Insert the Integration Services setup disk into each virtual machine (Actions menu on Virtual Machine Connection), run setup.exe inside the virtual machine (or use autoplay if enabled), and reboot the virtual machine.

(Note the order of applying the update and adding the role on the parent partition does not matter)

Upgrading:

If you are upgrading from an existing installation running Beta, RC0 or RC1, the steps are essentially same as above except you don’t need to add the role. Be aware of certain incompatibilities for virtual machine configurations, virtual networks, snapshots and saved states. The compatibilities depend on which build you were previously running. I’ve been through all these in previous posts in my previous RC announcements, so take a look through them, plus KB949222 for further information.

It is especially important to install the RTM version of the Integration Services inside the virtual machines. While on some levels, previous versions of the Integration Services may be compatible, there are several fixes which must be applied to ensure you are running a supported configuration. Verification of installation depends on the virtual machine operating system:

Windows Server 2008: Verify KB950050 or KB951634 is listed as an update
Windows Vista: Verify KB950214 is listed as an update
Other Windows Operating system: Check the build number of one of the Hyper-V drivers ends 18016. For example, \windows\system32\drivers\vmbus.sys

A few FAQs:

KB950050 can only be applied on top of Windows Server 2008 RTM – not on pre-release versions.
You can apply KB950050 to get to RTM from beta, RC0 or RC1. You do not need to go through interim builds
If installed correctly, Help/About in Hyper-V Manager will show build 6.0.6001.18016
If you installing on an HP Proliant Server with the Proliant Support Pack installed, refer to KB950792 before applying the update.

Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008 Remote Management Tools:

If you have been running pre-release versions of the Windows Vista SP1 management tools (KB949758 was RC0, KB949587 was RC1), you must upgrade to the RTM version available in KB952627. The download links are at the top. Once installed, Hyper-V manager will be present under Control Panel\Administrative Tools

If you have been running pre-release versions of the Windows Server 2008 management tools, you must upgrade to the RTM version by applying KB950050. Note that the Hyper-V role does not need to be enabled – the management tools are enabled through Server Manager\Features\Remote Server Administration Tools\Role Administration Tools\Hyper-V Tools. Note that Hyper-V Tools appears out of alphabetical order at the bottom of the list – an FAQ when people are looking for it.

I posted 5 articles on configuring remote management a while back – Part 1 is here. Note that there is configuration required both on the server and the client side.

Similarly, if you are using a Terminal Services gateway for publishing the remote management tools, you should also update them. More information on how to do this is here.

Limits:

This is a summary of the most “FAQ”’’d supported limits for running Hyper-V. Note that not all operating systems running in a virtual machine support all features (for example, SCSI controllers are not available in Windows XP and earlier). The full set of capabilities is available with Windows Server 2008 running as a virtual machine.

Parent partition:
- Up to 1 TB of physical memory (Enterprise and Datacenter Editions)
- Up to 32GB of physical memory (Standard Edition)
- Up to 16 logical processors
- Up to 128 virtual machines running at any one time
- Up to 512 virtual machines configured
Virtual machines:
- Up to 4 virtual processors (more information in the “Changes” section)
- Up to 64GB of RAM (requires Enterprise or Datacenter running on the parent partition and sufficient available resources)
- Up to 4 SCSI controllers per virtual machine, each controller having up to 64 disks
- Up to 8 NICs per virtual machine plus up to 4 legacy NICs per virtual machine
- Up to 4 devices on IDE controllers
- Up to 50 snapshots per virtual machine

There you go! Please make sure you read through the appropriate KB articles as I’m sure I will have missed some bits. (KBs are official statements – blogs are not, even if they are from people working in the Hyper-V team). There are several other items of documentation coming online soon – I’ll provide pointers as and when they go live.

Cheers,
John.

Windows Desktop Search - Index network shares for faster searching

jhoward — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 19:51:00 GMT

Can't wait to get home tonight..... just saw a pointer to this download on microsoft.com which is an addin for Windows Desktop Search, supported on Windows Vista which provides indexing capability for network shares. Given I've got hundreds of GB of data sitting on network shares which I'm regularly searching (slowly), this will make life far easier for me. Hopefully for you too.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=f7e981d9-5a3b-4872-a07e-220761e27283&displayLang=en

Cheers,
John.