easyvm

Simple Hyper-V template system. Some assembly required (for licensing reasons).

EasyVM is a PowerShell module designed to make it easy to deploy templated VM's in a domain environment. NOTE: You need to provide your own propery licensed Windows ISO's or VHD's in order to use this tool.

Quick Start (single machine)

• Clone the easyvm repo into a local folder, like G:\easyvm.
• Install Hyper-V.
• Create a folder where you want to store your VHD's in, like G:\vm.
• Obtain a Windows client ISO, from Windows Insider, MSDN, or VLSC.
• Download Convert-WindowsImage.ps1 from TechNet ScriptCenter.
• In PowerShell, Convert your ISO into a VHDX. Example:

    .\Convert-WindowsImage.ps1 -SourcePath "$pwd\en_windows_10_multi-edition_version_1709_updated_nov_2017_x64_dvd_100290211.iso" -Edition Professional -VHDFormat VHDX -VhdPartitionStyle GPT -VHDPath G:\easyvm\samples\vhd\16299.client.professional.vhdx -SizeBytes 200GB -Feature NetFx3

• Open PowerShell and run the following: import-module G:\easyvm\easyvm.psm1 Deploy-EasyVM -Name mytestvm1 -Template client-pro -NoDomainJoin
• Provide the appropriate responses when prompted. For example:
  • Which vswitch do you want to use?
    • MySwitch
  • Please enter the path where the EasyVM templates are stored.
    • G:\easyvm\samples
  • Where should we store the VM's you create?
    • G:\vm
• EasyVM will create and prepare the VM.

Advanced Setup

EasyVM requires the following setup:

• EasyVM Library: This can be a file share, or just a local folder. You can start with the samples/ and add your own templates.
• Hyper-V Server: One or more Windows machines with Hyper-V installed where you plan to deploy the templated VM's. The templates can be centrally maintained on the EasyVM library share, and then a whole team can use these templates on their own PC's.

Setting up your Template Server

The template share has 4 folders. You can start with the samples/ folder in this repo.

• support/ - The support files needed by EasyVM. (Get these from samples/support)
• template/ - Template definitions. The templates that you create here can be used when calling Deploy-EasyVM. A template consists of:
  • template.xml: A name, VHD name, product key, and list of tasks to be installed.
  • unattend.xml (optional): a Windows setup answer file. If this does not exist, the default unattend.xml file in the template library is used.
• tasklibrary/ - Task definitions. A task consists of:
  • task.xml: Descriptive name of the task
  • install.cmd,bat,ps1,exe: A setup command to be run for the task.
  • Any other contents of the task folder will be copied directly to the VM.
• vhd/ - The VHD's referenced in the templates. You need to provide these yourself, as they are not redistributed as part of this Git repo.

Creating Windows VHD's for use with EasyVM

• You can obtain Windows client ISO's from Windows Insider, MSDN, or VLSC.
• You can use Convert-WindowsImage.ps1 to convert ISO's to VHD or VHDX.
• You can download Convert-WindowsImage.ps1 from TechNet ScriptCenter.
• Examples:

.\Convert-WindowsImage.ps1 -SourcePath "$pwd\en_windows_server_2016_x64_dvd_9327751.iso" -Edition ServerDataCenter -VHDFormat VHD -VhdPartitionStyle MBR -VHDPath .\14393.server.datacenter.vhd -SizeBytes 200GB -Feature NetFx3
.\Convert-WindowsImage.ps1 -SourcePath "$pwd\en_windows_server_2016_x64_dvd_9327751.iso" -Edition ServerDataCenter -VHDFormat VHDX -VhdPartitionStyle GPT -VHDPath .\14393.server.datacenter.vhdx -SizeBytes 200GB -Feature NetFx3
.\Convert-WindowsImage.ps1 -SourcePath "$pwd\en_windows_10_multi-edition_version_1709_updated_nov_2017_x64_dvd_100290211.iso" -Edition Professional -VHDFormat VHDX -VhdPartitionStyle GPT -VHDPath .\16299.client.professional.vhdx -SizeBytes 200GB -Feature NetFx3

Setting up your Hyper-V server(s)

• Install the Hyper-V role, including the platform and the PowerShell management tools.
• Clone the easyvm repo into a local folder, like G:\easyvm.
• Create a folder where you want to store your VHD's in, like G:\vm.
• Open PowerShell and run the following: import-module G:\easyvm\easyvm.psm1 Deploy-EasyVM -Name mytestvm1 -Template client-pro -NoDomainJoin
• Provide the appropriate responses when prompted. For example:
  • Which vswitch do you want to use?
    • MySwitch
  • Please enter the path where the EasyVM templates are stored.
    • G:\easyvm\samples
  • Where should we store the VM's you create?
    • G:\vm
• EasyVM will create and prepare the VM.

Creating your own Tasks

• Stage all the required files into tasklibrary/[taskname]/
• Create a task.xml file that provides a friendly name for the task.
• Create a install file: install.[ps1|bat|cmd|exe] that contains the necessary instructions to install the content.

Using VLAN's

If your vswitch is attached to Trunk, you can configure the default VLAN to use:

• HKLM\Software\Awesome\EasyVM - vlan as REG_SZ

Product Keys

• The product keys in the Samples are default (non-activating) or AVMA product keys.
• You can specify a product key in your template using .
• You can pass an explicit product key to Deploy-EasyVM -ProductKey ...