Azure and Hyper-V Resources

Estimated reading time: 15 minutes

Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe! Happy New Year 2024!

Page last updated on 2019-04-25

Hyper-V Resources

Free Tools for Hyper-V Management

A Free tool to manage Virtual Machine Configuration
ManageEngine provides a free tool to manage Virtual Machine configuration on Hyper-V Server. This free tool addresses monitoring and management requirement. The Free software can configure Microsoft Hyper V Virtual server’s resources such as CPU, RAM or execute Power operations or change the boot order start-up, and also it fetches valuable data about the servers and its virtual machines and presents them as visually elegant graphs.

Monitor Hyper-V Server Performance
HyperV_Mon is a tool designed to monitor Hyper-V Server performance. The tool supports Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2012. It shows detailed information about the performance of the Hyper-V Server. The tool is capable of monitoring CPU, memory, and I/O operations and provides the graphical summary of the Hyper-V Server performance in an easy to understand format.

VMConnect.exe on Windows Server 2012 Core Hyper-V Server
Windows Server 2012 Core Hyper-V Server does not come with a vmconnect.exe. If you ever wanted to connect to a Virtual Machine which does not have an IP yet, you could download and run the VMConnect.bat. VMConnect.bat calls PowerShell scripts which redirects connection requests to Hyper-V Server on port 2179 and then allow you to connect to a virtual machine of your choice.

iOMETER
With customizable virtualized workloads, IOMETER can be helpful to measure Hyper-V disk and network performance. It is an open source tool.


VHD Attach
Using this tool, you will see the Attach and Detach options on the Right-Click Context menu of the Virtual Hard Disk files. You can easily detach or attach a Virtual Hard Disk without a need to open the Disk Management console. There is also an option to attach various VHD files upon the system start-up. This program has been tested to work on Windows Server 2008 R2 but I have tested it on Windows Server 2012 and it works very well!


AMD and Hyper-V System Compatibility Check
This utility checks your system’s compatibility with Microsoft Hyper-V and AMD processors. The utility has been updated to check and report on AMD’s Rapid Virtualization Indexing (RVI) feature that provides the necessary Second Level Address Translation (SLAT) support for Hyper-V.
FreeBSD Support on Hyper-V
Now FreeBSD Operating System is a supported guest virtual machine in Hyper-V environment.

Folder2ISO
For security reasons, moving files between Hyper-V Host and virtual machines are not allowed but with the help of Folder2ISO tool, you can convert a folder to ISO and then mount the ISO inside the virtual machine.

Hyper-V Gadgets
The Hyper-V Gadgets are specifically designed for Hyper-V Server and virtual machines running on it. It is a small program which is displayed on your desktop to monitor Hyper-V Server including monitoring resources such as CPU, memory, disk, and processor. It also allows you to run some commands from your desktop.

SecurAble
To check if your server supports Hyper-V’s prerequisites, you can always download and run SecurAble. With just two easy clicks, you can get the status of the Hardware DEP, Hardware Virtualization, and Processor architecture. This tool is written by Steve Gibson from GRC.com….a great security expert and podcaster

MRemoteNG
MRemoteNG is an open source, tabbed, multi-protocol, remote connections manager. It allows you to view all of your remote connections in a simple but powerful interface.

Hyper-V Bandwidth Meter
Hyper-V Bandwidth Meter is a tool for Hyper-V bandwidth usage monitoring, counting, and reporting.
It provides a bandwidth control on a per-VM basis for different protocols (ARP, TCP, UDP, ICMP, IGMP). With this tool, you can see the amount of data used (downloaded and uploaded) by each virtual server. Thus you can bill your customers for bandwidth usage or just find out which servers cause a high network load.

AMD-V Technology and Microsoft Hyper-V System Compatibility Check
The AMD Virtualization Technology and Microsoft Hyper-V System Compatibility Check tool were designed to check your system’s compatibility with Microsoft Hyper-V and AMD processors.
The utility has been updated to check and report on AMD’s Rapid Virtualization Indexing (RVI) feature that provides the necessary Second Level Address Translation (SLAT) support for Hyper-V.

Hyper-V Command Line Tools
Hyper-V Command Line Tools is a very lightweight and useful application that will allow you to easily set the state of a virtual machine from the console.
The command-line program supports a variety of actions, like shutdown, reboot, start, reset, force shutdown or power off.

Hyper-V Performance Monitor
Hyper-V Performance Monitor addresses monitoring requirement. The application was designed to monitor important parameters of Microsoft Hyper V platform. This tool fetches comprehensive data about the servers and virtual machines and presents them as visually elegant graphs and reports in a desktop tool dashboard providing wealth of information and the real-time functioning of the virtual servers. This tool shows the actual resource utilization of the virtual servers along with CPU usage, Memory details, Disk and Network utilization of each guest operating system on Microsoft HyperV Environment.

Wake-On-LAN Virtual Machine
Wake-On-LAN Virtual Machine is a handy and reliable application designed to start up virtual machines by Wake-On-LAN packets.
When the program starts it searches for existing Microsoft Hyper-V, Microsoft Virtual PC 2007, Oracle VM VirtualBox, VMware Server, VMware Workstation and VMware Player virtual machines. Then it retrieves a list of virtual machine names and their MAC addresses and shows it as a tree view. The list can be exported to different file formats. If Wake-On-LAN Virtual Machine receives a magic packets with MAC address which is in the list it turns on the found virtual machine using vendor utilities.

Core Server 2012 Powershell Script Hyper-v Manager
Hyper-V Manager, a tool designed for Server Core 2012, can be used to manage virtual machines and Hyper-V Hosts. There is no need to use Hyper-V Manager.

MyEventViewer
An alternative Event Viewer that works on Hyper-V Server and Core installations of Windows Server.

Migrate Management OS Virtual Adapters to Another Switch
The built-in tools for Hyper-V Server 2012 have no method for moving virtual adapters in the management operating system to another switch. This tool handles that for you.

Synchronize Virtual Machine Names
Use this tool to synchronize computer names for virtual machines with Hyper-V’s names for them.

Microsoft Tools and Downloads for Hyper-V

Hyper-V Architecture Posters
Microsoft has published a set of digital posters with a visual representation of Hyper-V’s architecture.
VHD Manipulation ToolVHD Manipulation is a command line tool which provides VHD file manipulation actions such as creating large VHD files, converting VHD files, extending and repairing a VHD file are the most common uses. The final release of Version 2.0 is available from the Microsoft site. There is no such requirement for this tool except you need to be running on the supported Operating Systems.

Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit (MAP)
The Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit (MAP) is an agentless, automated, multi-product planning and assessment tool for quick and easier desktop, server and cloud migrations. MAP provides detailed readiness assessment reports and executive proposals with extensive hardware and software information, and actionable recommendations to help organizations accelerate their IT infrastructure planning process, and gather more detail on assets that reside within their current environment. MAP also provides server utilization data for Hyper-V server Virtualization planning; identifying server placements, and performing Virtualization candidate assessments, including ROI analysis for server consolidation with Hyper-V.

Linux Integration Components 2.1
Microsoft Hyper-V provides Integration Services component for all Windows guest Operating Systems. Linux Integration Components provide maximum integration with Hyper-V and Linux Operating Systems. There are a number of improvements in version 2.1. The new version provides support for Susi, RedHat, CentOS, and other non-Windows Operating Systems.

Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter Solution Accelerator
The Microsoft Virtual Machine Converter (MVMC) Solution Accelerator is a Microsoft-supported, stand-alone solution for the IT pro or solution provider who wants to convert VMware-based virtual machines and disks to Hyper-V-based virtual machines and disks.

P2V Migration Tool
Microsoft P2V Migration for Software Assurance uses the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) and Sysinternals Disk2vhd to convert a user’s existing Windows XP or later client environment to a virtual hard disk (VHD), then automates the delivery of an updated and personalized Windows 7 operating system containing a virtual machine (VM) with the user’s previous Windows environment, applications, and Web browser. The user’s previous virtual desktop retains its existing management components, domain membership, and policies. The process also publishes applications and the browser so that the user can access them seamlessly within the Windows 7 Start menu.

VMC To Hyper-V Tool
If you want to migrate virtual machines running on Virtual PC or Virtual Server to Hyper-V, you can use the “VMC To Hyper-V” tool. You must perform some manual steps before you can have old virtual machines running on Hyper-V. This tool reduces manual efforts.

Configure Hyper-V Environment for Remote Access
Configuring remote access for Hyper-V Servers have never been easy. The HVRemote tool designed by MSFT reduces the manual configuration steps needed for Hyper-V Remote Management.

Virtual Machine Migration Test
A tool designed specifically to test Virtual Machines migration across Hyper-V Servers. It allows you to check the compatibility to make sure everything will work. You can use VMMT in the following scenarios:

  • Test compatibility of Processors on all the nodes of your existing cluster
  • Pre-Test a new Node to add to an existing cluster
  • Pre-test a group of new Nodes to a specific destination Server
  • Pre-Test a server pool

Virtual Machine Servicing Tool
Virtual Machine Servicing Tool (AKA VMST) allows you to update virtual machines offline. This tool helps you reduce IT costs by making it easier to update your offline virtual machines, templates, and virtual hard disks with the latest operating system and application patches—without introducing vulnerabilities into your IT infrastructure.

Enumerate the virtual machines and their properties in Hyper-V
Enumerate the virtual machines and their properties in hyper-v using WMI

Hyper-V Server Management Pack
The Windows Server Hyper-V Management Pack for System Center Operations Manager supports monitoring of Windows Server Hyper-V systems. This includes monitoring coverage of Hyper-V host servers, including critical services and disks, and Hyper-V virtual machines, including virtual components and virtual hardware.

RAMMap
See a visualization of the memory usage of any Windows system. This tool can be run inside a virtual machine to determine why Dynamic Memory isn’t working as expected.

NVSPBind
Command-line tool to modify virtual switch (and other protocols) binding from the command-line.

NVSPScrub
Command-line tool to cleanly remove the virtual switch and management operating system virtual adapters.

PowerShell Scripts for Hyper-V

Configurable PowerShell Script for Hyper-V Export
One of our own: A free set of PowerShell scripts that will help you automate the export of Hyper-V VMs.

PowerShell Script to Check Hyper-V Health
Jeffery Hicks has written a fantastic script to check the health of your Hyper-V system and output an easy-to-read HTML file. Read the instructions and get the script all right from this site.

PowerShell Script to identify Hyper-V Host for a Virtual Machine
If you ever wanted to identify the Hyper-V Host for a virtual machine, the quickest way is to use this PowerShell script.

Deleting a snapshot–via PowerShell [Hyper-V] There are a number of PowerShell cmdlets available for Hyper-V and Virtual Machines running on it. This PowerShell script can be used to delete a snapshot of a virtual machine.

GET-UpTime from localhost and/or remote Computer
Not specifically designed for Hyper-V, but you can use this PowerShell script to get Up Time for a local or Remote Hyper-V Computer.

Shutdown and Export Hyper-V VMs
Exporting all Virtual Machines running on a Hyper-V host requires that you shut down all the virtual machines before the export process takes place. This script does so for you! Not only it helps you export the Virtual Machine but also creates a log file which is emailed to you once the job is done. This script works perfectly fine on both stand-alone and clustered Hyper-V Server 2012.

Deleting a snapshot sub-tree–via PowerShell [Hyper-V] A PowerShell script to delete Snapshot Sub Tree of a Virtual Machine running on Hyper-V.

Applying a snapshot–via PowerShell [Hyper-V] Applying a snapshot for a Virtual Machine running on Hyper-V.

Hyper-V: Script to Check IC Version
This script is designed by Microsoft developer Stefan Wernli to check the Integration Components version on the Virtual Machine running on Hyper-V Server.

PowerShell Script for Exporting a virtual machine
There are a number of scripts available to export a Virtual Machine running on Hyper-V Server. This one is written by Virtual PC Guy and written in PowerShell.

PowerShell Script to configure user account to manage Hyper-V Servers
You should not use an Administrator account to log on to Hyper-V Server. Instead, you can use Authorization Manager to configure a user account to control all aspects of Hyper-V Server. This PowerShell script can configure user accounts for you.

Hyper-V: How to Find Virtualization Hosts (Servers with Hyper-V Enabled)
John Howard, Senior Program Manager in the Hyper-V team at Microsoft, shared a sample VBScript you can use to determine which domain-joined servers are running Hyper-V by using the SCP or “Service Connection Point” information in Active Directory.

WMI Helper Module for Windows PowerShell Version 6
Written by Script Guy.

Taking a snapshot–via PowerShell [Hyper-V] Take a snapshot of a Virtual Machine using a PowerShell script.

Single PowerShell Script to Create a VM
Designed by Stephen, the script will ask you questions and then create a Virtual Machine on Hyper-V Server. This script can be used to create a Virtual Machine with Fixed or Dynamic VHDX disk.

PowerShell for Failover Clustering: CSV Free Disk Space (and other info)
If you ever wanted to check the free disk space on CSV (Custer Shared Volume) volume, this script can help you. The script helps you find free disk space and other information related to a CSV volume.

Enabling processor compatibility with a script [Hyper-V] The below PowerShell script, written by Virtual PC Guy, can be used to enable the process compatibility for Virtual Machines running on the Hyper-V Server. This is actually required when migrating virtual machines between different hardware platforms.

Get VM Last Use Time
Determine the last time that a virtual machine was used.

PowerShell Hyper-V Reporter
Single PowerShell script to get a detailed report of your Hyper-V Hosts and Virtual Machines running on it. The script works in Hyper-V Server Core 2012 versions. You must be running PowerShell 3.0 for this script to work.

Other Blog Resources

Hyper-V Root Page on TechNet
Microsoft’s TechNet page on Hyper-V is a launchpad for beginning with the hypervisor.

TechNet Hyper-V Forums
If you’ve done your research and just can’t find an answer, there are plenty of helpful volunteers on the TechNet Forums that will be glad to try to help.

Microsoft’s Virtualization Team Blog
This blog is a good place to find general information and announcements.

Ben Armstrong’s Blog
Ben Armstrong is a Hyper-V program manager that regularly provides useful information through his blog.

Didier Van Hoye’s Blog
Didier Van Hoye is a Microsoft MVP for Virtual Machines. His blog is a great source of information, particularly involving storage.

Hyper-V.nu Blog
The Hyper-V.nu blog has multiple contributors. Articles are usually in-depth and informative.

Brian Ehlert’s Blog
Brian Ehlert typically writes very interesting articles that often deal with issues that not many people will ever encounter. But, when you run into one of those issues, you’ll be very glad this resource is available as you’re unlikely to find the answer anywhere else.

Aidan Finn Blogs
Aidan Finn runs his own blog and writes for Petri. On his own blog, you’ll typically find quick summaries of new technologies and incisive commentaries. His Petri offerings add some how-tos: http://www.petri.co.il/author/aidan-finn

Robert Vierthaler’s Blog
Robert is a Microsoft Escalation Engineer that blogs about Hyper-V issues he encounters in the field. The content is quite varied.

John Howard’s Blog
John Howard is a Microsoft Senior Program Manager for the Hyper-V team. He posts very detailed series about specific Hyper-V technologies.

James Stephan’s Blog
James Stephan (also the author of the PSHVM tool mentioned below) runs a blog sharing his experience with Server Core and Hyper-V Server.

Hyper-V Security Documentation
A common question is, “How do I secure Hyper-V?” Microsoft has a TechNet page dedicated to this topic.

Hyper-V WMI Documentation
PowerShell and any .Net language can be used to communicate with Hyper-V for automation and development.

Virtualization News Site
A virtualization news aggregator curated by Scott Cutter.