Microsoft Deployment and Hyper-V

Now that I’m up and running with Hyper-V on my laptop, I decided to put together a LiteTouch demo using the latest Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT).  In the process, I discovered two annoying things concerning the so-called Uberbug.

1. The Hyper-V RC1 emulated BIOS for Windows XP is susceptible to the Uberbug. 
2. Windows XP SP3 does not include the published fix from Microsoft for the Uberbug in Windows XP SP2: KB931760.  The article specifically identifies only SP2 so I doubt that the patch would work on SP3 without breaking other things.

While neither problem is a show-stopper and both are easy to fix via the Set Diskpart BIOS Compatibility Mode task sequence task, it is still annoying that they were not accounted for or addressed.

Other than that, no issues.  Hyper-V rocks BTW.

Hyper-V RC0

As most folks know, the RTM version of Windows Server 2008 includes a beta version of Hyper-V. In March, Microsoft released Hyper-V Release Candidate Zero (RC0). The update from the beta to RC0 is described in KB 949219. Now the thing I discovered about 949219 is that it doesn’t only apply to the Hyper-V hypervisor itself, it must also be applied to any 2008 Server systems where the Hyper-V tools were installed in order to connect to an RC0 Hyper-V server – this unfortunately takes a reboot. Additionally, 949219 must also be applied to virtual guests running Windows Server 2008. By default, 2008 Server has the integration components installed; the problem is that it has the beta integration components and these must be updated to the RC0 integration components. Without the RC0 update, the mouse will not work via a terminal session and the NIC drivers will not be present (among other things).

So how do you get 949219 to the guest if it doesn’t have a network connection? The easiest way (for me) is to create an ISO using a tool like ImgBurn and then mount it in the guest. You can even get fancy and add an autorun.inf to the ISO so it launches the update automatically. I actually had to do this because I’m RDPed into a 2008 server where the Hyper-V tools are installed to connect to a server 2008 core Hyper-V system and without the mouse integration working, I can only use the keyboard to control the guest.

I also discovered a great way to enter product keys: Entering Product Keys into Virtual Machines.

Danger Will Robinson (Fun with Hyper-V)

In the process of installing Hyper-V for a customer, I made two discoveries. The first discovery was that the only way to manage Hyper-V on a Server 2008 Core system is from another, remote 2008 system or a remote Vista SP1 box. In both cases the Hyper-V Management Tool (MMC) must be installed separately. For Vista SP1, it’s a free download. For Server 2008, it can be installed via the Features. This would of course pose an issue in an XP only environment with a single Server 2008 system. Of course, the customer that I at was XP only; luckily, they did have another Server 2008 system.

Now for the second discovery: instead of installing the Hyper-V tools from features, I installed the Hyper-V role because I didn’t know about the feature. Not a big deal, everything installed fine, rebooted, and everything was still fine. Then I discovered that I could just install the tools via Features so I decided to remove the Hyper-V role. Again, not a big deal. Wrong. In the process of starting up (yes, a reboot was required), the server hung at Installing Updates – 75% for 20+ minutes. Uh-oh. I could connect to the server remotely and look at the logs, but there was nothing significant or out of the ordinary in them. Time to turn to my trusty web search tool of choice and bam: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/950792. Not sure who to blame this one on, but at least I wasn’t the first to experience it.

Server 08 with Hyper-V

I took the plunge and reloaded my laptop, a Dell Latitude D830, with 64-bit Server 2008 Enterprise with Hyper-V. I experienced no problems during actual installation and it even found most of my drivers. I did download all the Vista x64 drivers from the Dell site and installed those just because. They all worked great including the wireless: I’m attributing this to the fact that Server 08 and Vista SP1 share the same code base and presumably the same driver model.

I have experienced a few little “differences” that have caused me to do a little research though.

• The wireless feature is not installed by default, you have to go into the features and add it.
• The latest versions of Live Messenger won’t load. From what I’ve read and seen, it’s not a technical problem, rather an imposed limitation. The work-around to this is to download the Live Messenger 8.5 msi; it installs fine.
• After installing Hyper-V, the power management no longer allows standby and hibernation. From various posts, this appears to be a design choice because very few folks, if any will actually be running a production Hyper-V on a laptop or where these features are needed and so it just wasn’t worth the cost and effort to make it work.
• As with Vista, if you are remote and need to log on with a domain account that is not yet cached, you must log in with another valid account, most likely a local one. You can then connect however you connect to the corporate network and then do a switch user. This will bring you back to the logon screen while still being connected to the VPN.
• Virtualization must be enabled in the BIOS as this was not the default for this particular laptop. Windows will warn you that virtualization must be enabled, but it will not prevent you from actually installing Hyper-V.

I’m sure there will be other little things, but for now, I’m satisfied.