Infrastructure Blog : Virtual Machine

Virtual Machine Collection - Configuration Manager 2007 SP1

Vikas Madan — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:40:57 GMT

Its been a while since I’ve blogged, after a long break I’m trying to catch up with blogging. Here is a configuration post in system center configuration manager 2007 sp1.

I spent sometime discovering the right query to be used for creating this collection, its helpful for the IT Pros who use SCCM and do a lot of Virtualization.

In this post we'll walkthrough creation of collection in configuration manager 2007 SP1 that would discover all Hyper-V based VM's:

Open Configuration Manager 2007 Management Console
Collapse Computer Management
Collapse Collections
Right Click Collection, hit New Collection, now follow the instruction in the screenshot below
At the first screen in the wizard specify the name of the collection. (in my case 'All Virtual Machines'). Hit Next.

Click 'Query Rule Properties'

Click "Edit Query Statement' tab

Click on 'Select' and select 'System Devices - Hardware IDs' from the drop down menu > Drop the' operator' menu and select 'is equal to' > Drop the 'Value' menu and select 'APCI\VMBus, *VMBus' as the string value

Click 'OK' all through. You should now see a new collection created under collections.

Right Click on the new collection (All Virtual Machines in my case) and update collection membership. Wait for few minutes, it'll fill the collection with all discovered VM's.

Hope this was helpful!!!

Hyper-V Best Practices - Quick Tips (2)

Vikas Madan — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:25:50 GMT

Best Practices for Configuring Virtual Machines

In continuation to my first post on best practices, I'm back with some more.

This post discusses best practices that should be considered when configuring virtual machines in Hyper-V. Virtual machine performance is not only impacted by how the physical server is configured but also by the selections made when configuring the virtual machine itself.

Install Integration Services
The first, and probably the most important, best practice for virtual machines is to install the Integration Services (IS) that come with Hyper-V as soon as possible provided the operating system running in the virtual machine is supported (refer to the Integration Services section for information on supported Guests). Then, update the IS as needed.

Uninstall VMAdditions and Compact VHDs
When migrating virtual machines from Virtual PC or Virtual Server 2005 R2, uninstall the VMAdditions and compact the virtual hard disk before moving the disk to the Hyper-V server.

Set Display for Best Performance
For the best display in a virtual machine ensure the display interface is set for Best Performance. This will ensure the hardware acceleration is set to Full.

Configure Fixed-Size VHDs
Choose to configure fixed-size virtual hard disks as opposed to dynamically expanding. Performance is faster, the file system is less likely to fragment and managing space on the physical disk is easier. Always defragment a physical disk before creating a virtual hard disk.

Use SCSI Virtual Adapters for Data Drives
Hyper-V requires the virtual machine to boot from a virtual IDE Controller, however, SCSI virtual adapters can be used after that for mounting additional virtual hard disks. While performance differences between a virtual IDE and a virtual SCSI controller in Hyper-V is almost negligible (with Integration Services installed), the fact is more and larger capacity virtual hard disks can be attached to a virtual SCSI controller (4 controllers with 64 virtual disks each for a total of 256). So, if you need more than four virtual hard disks attached to a virtual machine, use a virtual SCSI controller.

Allocate CPU Resources Based on Anticipated Usage
It is also important to determine virtual machine performance to ensure CPU resource allocation on the physical server is adequate to support the workload inside the virtual machine.

Consider Using Pass-Through Disks
It is best practice to use virtual hard disks when creating virtual machine. However it is no always possible due to circumstances. Using pass-through disks the performance is slightly better versus using VHD's. It allows you leverage greater than 2TB. Very important, when using pass-through disks, virtual machine configuration files should be relocated to another hard disk or share. Here we loose the snapshot and portability of like in VHD's.

Ensure File Share High Availability
If a file share is being used to store virtual machine configuration data, it is best practice to ensure the file share is highly available.

Configure Domain Controllers to Optimize Performance
Domain Controllers are supported in Hyper-V when running in a virtual machine. The following best practices are recommended for these configurations: Never save state in a domain controller as this may cause synchronization issues in the domain. Never Pause a domain controller virtual machine for long periods of time as this may adversely impact replication. Always shutdown a domain controller. Do not take snapshots of a domain controller. Make a determination regarding time synchronization. The decision is either to use the Hyper-V Integration Service for Time Synchronization or not. If the decision is to treat the virtualized DCs like hardware based DCs, then disable the Time Synchronization capability in the Settings for each virtual machine and point the PDC Emulator to an external time source and allow all the other DCs to synchronize with the PDC Emulator. If the decision is to synchronize with the Parent partition, only enable the Time Synchronization capability for the DC holding the PDC Emulator FSMO Role.

Shared Storage for Hyper-V

Vikas Madan — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 23:19:00 GMT

We know that Hyper-V supports migration of virtual machines between physical hosts. To migrate virtual machines independently, each virtual machine must be stored on its own SAN storage LUN or copy would require you to use BITS over the Ethernet network.

Else if you would like to keep your virtual machine on a common storage and provide access to all available host you require clustered file system.

Sanbolic offers shared storage solution for Hyper-V, there is no need to create a separate LUN for each virtual machine, while providing the ability to migrate virtual machines independently.

Hyper-V Best Practices - Quick Tips (1)

Vikas Madan — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 21:19:00 GMT

Best Practices for Physical Servers

Before setting up a physical server to host Hyper-V Role, download, read and understand information included in the white paper "Performance Tuning Guidelines for Windows Server 2008"

Avoid Overloading the Server
Ensure High Speed Access to Storage
Avoid Mixing Virtual Machines that can and cannot use Integration Services
Configure Anti-Virus to Bypass Hyper-V Processes and Directories
Avoid Storing System Files on Drives used for Hyper-V Storage
Monitor Performance to Optimize and Manage Server Loading

I'll be back with more best practices keep watching the blog....

Migrating VM from VS2005 to Hyper-V

Vikas Madan — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 18:41:04 GMT

I've had a lot of customer asking on how to migrate VM from VS2005/VPC 2007 to Hyper-V.

Here are some best practices and steps that I bring to you which should be helpful in doing the migration.

VS2005 Migration Checklist

Consider migrating only virtual machines running operating systems that can take advantage of Hyper-V Integration Services.
Match HAL's when migrating to Hyper-V. Hyper-V uses APIC, Multi-Processor HAL which is applied when the Integration Services are installed.
Only the virtual hard disk can be migrated. All other files are not supported in Hyper-V.
Ensure the VMAdditions are uninstalled prior to migrating.
It is also recommended that the virtual hard disk be compacted after merging or discarding any differencing disks.
Virtual machines must be shutdown prior to being migrated.

It is recommended that only virtual machines running operating systems that are compatible with the Hyper-V Integration Services be migrated.

SUPPORTED GUEST OS ON WINDOWS SERVER 2008 HYPER-V

The only file that will be migrated to Hyper-V is VHD file. Virtual Server Configuration file cannot be used because Hyper-V understand the XML based files.

While preparing the VM for migration to Hyper-V, VMAdditions would need to be unintalled via Add\Remove Programs as they are incompatible with Integration Services in Hyper-V, differencing disks should be merged, VM should be in shutdown state.

If you miss to uninstall the VMAdditions before migrating and they are the latest version (13.813), you can uninstall it in Hyper-V. For earlier versions the VHD would need to be moved back to the Virtual Server Machine for removal of VMAdditions and then re-migrated.

Migrating the Virtual Machines to Hyper-V

To migrate a virtual machine from Virtual Server 2005 to Hyper-V:

In the Hyper-V management interface, select the Hyper-V server that will serve as the Host for the migrated virtual machines in the left-hand pane.
In the right-hand Actions pane, select New, Virtual Machine. This starts the New Virtual Machine Wizard.
Acknowledge the information on the Before You Begin screen. Click Next.
Provide the Name for the virtual machine and select a location for the configuration file. Click Next.
Assign Memory to the virtual machine. Click Next.
Choose not to select a Connection until after the migration is completed. Click Next.
In the next screen choose to Attach a virtual hard disk later. Click Next.
Review the information in the next screen, leave the Start the virtual machine after it is created unchecked. Click Finish.
Move the virtual hard disk you are migrating from Virtual Server 2005 to the desired location on the Hyper-V server.
With the migrated virtual hard disk in the correct location, select the Virtual Machine in the center pane of the Hyper-V Management interface. Next, in the lower right-hand Actions pane select Settings.
In the Settings interface for the Guest, select IDE Controller 0 and choose to Add a Hard Drive.
Installing and Configuring Hyper-V - Migrating Virtual Machines from Virtual Server Note: The VHD must be attached to an IDE Controller as Hyper-V does not support booting from a SCSI controller.
In the next screen, select the radio button Virtual hard disk (.vhd) file and Browse to where the migrated virtual hard disk was placed and choose it. Select Apply and then click OK.
With the Guest still selected in the Hyper-V Management interface, select Start in the right-hand Actions pane for the Guest.
The Guest will start and what you may see on boot is a failure of the W32 Time service to start and new hardware will be found with no drivers present in the OS.
If the VMAdditions were uninstalled prior to migrating the virtual machine, then proceed to install the Integrated Services. If they were not, uninstall them first.
During the installation of the Integration Services, the HAL will be updated first and a reboot will be required. Following the reboot, the installation of the Integration Services will complete and the VM should start without error.
Once the Integration Services have been installed, shutdown the virtual machine, add a Network Card and restart. Configure the network as needed after the reboot and patch the virtual machine as needed.