The World According to Mitch

I always said I am not hard to please… I only need perfection.  So when I wrote my PowerShell script to build my environment the other day I was pleased with myself… until I realized a huge flaw in it.  Generation 1.

Actually to be fair, there is nothing wrong with Generation 1 virtual machines in Hyper-V; they have served us all well for several years.  However how could I claim to live on the bleeding edge (Yes, I have made that claim many times) and yet stay safe with Generation 1?

In the coming weeks Windows Server 2012 R2 will become generally available.  One of the huge changes that we will see in it is Generation 2 virtual machine hardware.  Some of the changes in hardware levels include UEFI, Secure Boot, Boot from SCSI, and the elimination of legacy hardware (including IDE controllers and Legacy NICs).

Of course, since Generation 1 hardware is still fully supported, we need to identify when we create the VM which Generation it will be, and this cannot later be changed.

I had forgotten about this, and when I created the script (of which I was quite proud) I did not think of this.  It was only a few hours later, as I was simultaneously installing nine operating systems, that I noticed in the details pane of my Hyper-V Manager that all of my VMs were actually Gen1.

Crap.

Remember when I said a couple of paragraphs ago that the generation level cannot be changed?  I wasn’t kidding.  So rather than living with my mistake I went back to the drawing board.  I found the proper cmdlet switches, and modified my script accordingly.

As there is a lot of repetition in it, I am deleing six of the nine VMs from the list.  You are not missing out on anything, I assure you.

# Script to recreate the infrastructure for the course From Virtualization to the Private Cloud (R2).
# This script should be run on Windows Server 2012 R2.
# This script is intended to be run within the Boot2VHDX environment created by Mitch Garvis
# All VMs will be created as Generation 2 VMs (except the vCenter VM for which it is not supported).
# All VMs will be configured for Windows Server 2012 R2
# System Center 2012 R2 will be installed.

# Variables

$ADM = "Admin"                # VM running Windows 8.1 (for Administration)
$ADMMIN = 512MB                # Minimum RAM for Admin
$ADMMAX = 2GB                # Maximum RAM for Admin
$ADMVHD = 80GB                # Size of Hard Drive for Admin

$SQL = "SQL"                # VM (SQL Server)
$SQLMIN = 2048MB            # Minimum RAM assigned to SQL
$SQLMAX = 8192MB            # Maximum RAM assigned to SQL
$SQLCPU = 2                # Number of CPUs assigned to SQL
$SQLVHD = 200GB                # Size of Hard Drive for SQL

$VCS = "vCenter"             # VM (vSphere vCenter Cerver) (Windows Server 2008 R2)
$VCSMIN = 2048MB             # Minimum RAM assigned to vCenter
$VCSMAX = 4096MB             # Maximum RAM assigned to vCenter
$VCSCPU = 2                 # Number of CPUs assigned to vCenter
$VCSVHD = 200GB                # Size of Hard Drive for vCenter

$VMLOC = "C:\HyperV"            # Location of the VM and VHDX files

$NetworkSwitch1 = "CorpNet"        # Name of the Internal Network

$W81 = "E:\ISOs\Windows 8.1 E64.iso"            # Windows 8.1 Enterprise
$WSR2 = "E:\ISOs\Windows Server 2012 R2.iso"        # Windows Server 2012 R2
$W2K8 = "E:\ISOs\Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1.iso"     # Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1

# Create VM Folder and Network Switch
MD $VMLOC -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
$TestSwitch1 = Get-VMSwitch -Name $NetworkSwitch1 -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue; if ($TestSwitch1.Count -EQ 0){New-VMSwitch -Name $NetworkSwitch1 -SwitchType Internal}

# Create & Configure Virtual Machines
New-VM -Name $ADM -Generation 2 -Path $VMLOC -MemoryStartupBytes $ADMMIN -NewVHDPath $VMLOC\$ADM.vhdx -NewVHDSizeBytes $ADMVHD -SwitchName $NetworkSwitch1
Set-VM -Name $ADM -DynamicMemory -MemoryMinimumBytes $ADMMIN -MemoryMaximumBytes $ADMMAX
Add-VMDvdDrive $ADM | Set-VMDvdDrive -VMName $ADM -Path $W81

New-VM -Name $SQL -Generation 2 -Path $VMLOC -MemoryStartupBytes $SQLMIN -NewVHDPath $VMLOC\$SQL.vhdx -NewVHDSizeBytes $SQLVHD -SwitchName $NetworkSwitch1
Set-VM -Name $SQL -DynamicMemory -MemoryMinimumBytes $SQLMIN -MemoryMaximumBytes $SQLMAX -ProcessorCount $SQLCPU
Add-VMDvdDrive $SQL | Set-VMDvdDrive -VMName $SQL -Path $WSR2

New-VM -Name $VCS -Path $VMLOC -MemoryStartupBytes $VCSMIN -NewVHDPath $VMLOC\$VCS.vhdx -NewVHDSizeBytes $VCSVHD -SwitchName $NetworkSwitch1
Set-VM -Name $VCS -DynamicMemory -MemoryMinimumBytes $VCSMIN -MemoryMaximumBytes $VCSMAX -ProcessorCount $VCSCPU
Set-VMDvdDrive -VMName $VCS -Path $W2K8

#Start Virtual Machines
Start-VM $ADM
Start-VM $SQL
Start-VM $VCS

In the script you can see a few differences between my original script (in the article) and this one.  Firstly on all machines that are running Windows 8.1 or Windows Server 2012 R2 I have set the switch –Generation 2.  That is simple enough.

Adding the virtual DVD was a little trickier; with Generation 1 hardware there was a ready IDE port for you to connect the .ISO file to.  In Gen 2 it is all about SCSI, so you have to use the Add-VMDvdDrive cmdlet, and then connect the .ISO file (Set-VMDvdDrive –VMName <Name> –Path <ISO Path>.  Not only for simplicity but also to demonstrate that you can I have put these two cmdlets on a single line, connected with a pipe (the | key).

I want to thank a couple of colleagues for helping me out with the Generation 2 hardware and DVD issues… especially Sergey Meshcheryakov , who was quick to answer.  The exact cmdlet switches were not easy to track down!

…and remember, if I can learn it, so can you!  Even the great Sean Kearney once did not know anything about PowerShell… and now look at him!

Related articles

• Building an IT Camp with PowerShell (garvis.ca)
• Managing Hyper-V Virtual Machines with Windows PowerShell (garvis.ca)