The World According to Mitch

**DISCLOSURE: While I am contracted to Microsoft Corporation, I am not an employee. The articles that I write are not meant to represent the company, nor are they meant to represent me as an employee or spokesman for the company. As has always been the case, all articles on this website represent me and nobody else.

**NOTE: All of the command line entries in this article are performed in PowerShell. To differentiate between the PowerShell cmdlets and Command Line Interpreter commands, the PowerShell cmdlets are in blue, and the Commands are in black.

I have worn several hats throughout my career in IT, which has allowed me to become proficient (and occasionally expert) in many different technologies. For many years, my primary focus was Hyper-V. I remember saying to an audience that while I earned a good living as a Hyper-V trainer/evangelist/guru for several years, there would come a time when the advancement of technology would make me obsolete.

Please do not misunderstand me. Hyper-V is still a viable and robust technology with incredible versatility. It is just in what we do. Datacenters either use Hyper-V or VMware, and the newest generation of server and datacenter administrators grew up with virtualization, unlike those of us who started before it was a thing.

Of course, Hyper-V is no longer confined to the datacenter. It is included in Windows 10, and can be used to build local labs and demo machines… without the need to get approval from the Server Team.

Installing Hyper-V in Windows 10 is simple enough. Let’s cover that today, and tomorrow we will configure our environment so that we can start playing with it and building VMs.

Method 1: PowerShell

If you are still most comfortable with the GUI, we will cover that in a minute. First, let’s use PowerShell to install… or rather, to turn on the Windows Feature.

1. Open a PowerShell console as Administrator.
2. Run the following cmdlet:

Install-WindowsOptionalFeature –Online –FeatureName Microsoft-Hyper-V –All

Once it is finished, you will be prompted to reboot your computer. Click Y. When your computer comes back up, you will be ready to rock the Hyper-V.

Method 2: Command Line

Before the world went completely PowerShell, there was the trusty old Command Line. You can still use this method to install Hyper-V, and it is just as easy.

1. Open a Command Prompt with Administrator rights. If you are unsure how to do this, follow these simple steps:
1. Click on the Start menu.
2. Type cmd but do not press Enter.
3. Command Prompt will appear as an option at the top of your Start Menu. Right-click it, and click Run as administrator.
2. Run the following command:

dism /online /enable-feature /all /FeatureName:Microsoft-Hyper-V

Once it is finished, you will be prompted to reboot your computer. Click Y. When your computer comes back up, you will be ready to rock the Hyper-V.

Method 3: Graphical User Interface

Of course, some people still prefer to use the mouse to do their work, and that is fine. It is a little more work, but let’s do it.

1. In the Search bar type Turn Windows and the following should appear in your Start Menu. Click Turn Windows features on or off.

2. In the Turn Windows features on or off window that appears, click the check box next to Hyper-V. Make sure that the both the Hyper-V Platform and the Hyper-V Management Tools select, and click OK.

You will be prompted to reboot. Again, when your computer comes back up, you will be ready to rock the Hyper-V.

Conclusion

Hyper-V in Windows 10 is a great tool to build lab environments with virtual machines. Installing it is the easy part. In my next article, I will show you how to configure it and to start building out your lab. In the meantime, Let’s get virtual!