hyper-v

Run VMware Workstation and Microsoft Hyper-V together in Windows 10

In 2013 I wrote a blog post that it was not possible to run VMware Workstation when the Hyper-V role was enabled (link). Since VMware Workstation 15.5 it is possible to run VMware Workstation and the Hyper-V role together.

Requirements:

  • Windows 10 2004 or newer
  • VMware Workstation 15.5.5 or newer
  • Supported CPU: Intel Sandy Bridge or an AMD Bulldozer or newer

I tested this with my Windows 10 laptop with the Hyper-V role enabled, the Windows Subsystem for Linux running, and VMware Workstation 16 Pro. In Hyper-V and VMware Workstation a Windows 10 VM is running. In the screenshot below you see all the components started:

This is very cool, now you can run VMware Workstation and Hyper-V role at the same time even with the WSL active.

Manage Hyper-V in a workgroup remotely

Managing  Hyper-V remotely in a workgroup can be challenging to configure. This is still the case for Windows Server 2016. For a testing environment I needed to remotely manage Windows Server 2016 core server with the Hyper-V role enabled from Windows 10 with the Hyper-V manager. I used the following manual configuration:

  • Client with Hyper-V Manager (Windows 10). This client is called win10-01
  • Server with Windows Server 2016 core version with the Hyper-V role enabled. The server is called hv-02
  • Both systems are in the same workgroup called “workgroup”
  • Both systems have the same username and password.

Configuration on the Windows Server 2016  server:

  • Enable Remote Management
Configure-SMRemoting.exe -Enable
  • Open firewall for  Remote Computer Management
Set-NetFirewallRule -DisplayGroup 'Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)' -Enabled true -PassThru
Set-NetFirewallRule -DisplayGroup 'Remote Event Log Management' -Enabled true -PassThru
  • Open firewall for ping (ICMPv4)
Set-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName “File and Printer Sharing (Echo Request – ICMPv4-In)” -Enabled True -PassThru
  • Enable Remote Desktop and allow remote connections
cscript.exe c:\Windows\System32\SCregEdit.wsf /AR 0
  • Enable Remote disk management
Set-NetFirewallRule -DisplayGroup 'Remote Volume Management' -Enabled true -PassThru

 

Configuration on the Windows 10 client:

  • Create a host file with IP address and hostname of the server. Make sure you can ping the hostname

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  • Make sure that the network type is part of a private network before executing the WINRM command

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  • Enable Remote Management
winrm quickconfig
  • For Managing remote systems
winrm set winrm/config/client @{TrustedHosts="Name of the Server"}
  • Enable remote disk Management (add this command on both systems) firewall rule
Set-NetFirewallRule -DisplayGroup 'Remote Volume Management' -Enabled true -PassThru
  • Open c:\windows\system32\dcomcnfg.exe and allow ‘anonymous logon’ for local and remote access.

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After making this settings I was able to manage the Windows Server 2016 server with the following tools remotely:

  • Hyper-V manager
  • Computer Management
  • Disk Management

 

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Test Windows Server 2016 Hyper-V with VMware Workstation

Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 3 (TP3) is released with some cool new features. An easy way to test Windows Server 2016 TP3 is to use VMware Workstation. Windows Server 2016 can be installed with the Hyper-V role and have some VMs nested with minimal configuration.

For this test i used the following hard-and software:

Hardware: Dell Latitude E6540 with an Intel i5-4310M CPU and 16 GB memory.

Software: As desktop OS Windows 8.1 Enterprise, VMware Workstation 12 PRO and Microsoft Windows Server 2016 TP3.

To install Windows Server 2016 and enable the Hyper-V role and nest VMs use the following steps:

  • Open VMware Workstation
  • Create a new custom Virtual Machine
  • Choose the highest VM hardware compatibility -> Workstation 12.0
  • In the guest Operating System Installation -> browse to the Windows Server 2016 ISO
  • As Guest Operating System choose -> Microsoft Windows and as version -> Hyper-V (unsupported)

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  • Give the VM one or more CPU’s and 4 GB of memory if you want to install some VMs in Hyper-V
  • Controller -> LSI Logic SAS
  • Virtual disk type -> SCSI
  • Create a new virtual disk of 40 GB of more. (For the best performance use -> Allocate all disk space now)

You’re ready to install Windows Server 2016 you have two options: Windows Server with or without GUI.

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  • After the installation add the Hyper-V role and reboot the server.

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  • When choosing for the core version install the hyper-v with the following PowerShell command:
powershell
Install–WindowsFeature Hyper-V
  • Open Hyper-V Manager and create one or more VMs

Hyper-V Manager

When having limited hardware resources and want to test Hyper-V in Windows Server 2016, VMware Workstation is a great choice. Without minimal effort it is possible to install Windows Server 2016, add the Hyper-V role and nest some VMs.