System virtualization, also known as hardware virtualization, creates multiple virtual environments that run on a single physical system. It allows multiple operating systems or applications to run on a single hardware system, which can improve efficiency, flexibility, and scalability.
System virtualization works by creating a virtual layer, called a hypervisor or virtual machine monitor (VMM), that sits between the physical hardware and the virtual machines. The hypervisor manages the allocation of hardware resources, such as CPU, memory, and storage, to the virtual machines, and ensures that each virtual machine is isolated from others running on the same physical system.
There are two major types of Virtualization:
- Type 1 virtualization (bare-metal virtualization): is a form of system virtualization where the virtualization layer or hypervisor is installed directly on the host machine’s hardware, without the need for a host operating system. The hypervisor manages the physical hardware resources and provides a virtual environment for guest operating systems to run on. Type 1 hypervisors include VMware ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V, and Citrix XenServer.
- Type 2 virtualization, (hosted virtualization): is a form of system virtualization where the hypervisor is installed on top of a host operating system, which then manages the physical hardware resources. The guest operating systems run on top of the hypervisor as virtual machines. Type 2 hypervisors include Oracle VirtualBox, VMware Workstation, and Parallels Desktop.
Today, we will learn how to manage Virtual Machines on Hyper-V using Hyper-V Manager Web Interface. But before that, we need to understand what Hyper-V is.
What is Hyper-V?
Hyper-V, a component of the Microsoft Windows operating system is a type 1 hypervisor. This means it provides hardware-level virtualization. It allows multiple operating systems or applications to run on a single physical machine, using virtual machines. Hyper-V is available in several versions of Windows, including Windows Server and Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise.
Hyper-V creates a virtualized environment that allows each guest operating system to run on its own virtual machine, with access to its own virtualized hardware resources, such as CPU, memory, and storage. Hyper-V also provides features such as virtual networking, live migration, and virtual machine checkpointing. It supports various guest operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and others. It also supports integration with other Microsoft technologies, such as System Center Virtual Machine Manager, which provides a centralized management console for Hyper-V environments.
Hyper-V Manager is a web browser app that manages virtual machines on Hyper-V. It offers a lot of amazing features and benefits, some of which include:
- Hyper-V Management: You are able to manage multiple Hyper-V servers via one browser-based app.
- Role-based access: configure role-based authentication for AD users and groups. Assign VMs to users.
- Logging: monitor Users and Audit activities.
- RDP Connect: connect to servers and VMs via the RDP console from the browser.
- Easy to install and use: Quick Install and start to manage servers in minutes. No Dependencies.
- Web Interface: This offers secure access to virtual machines from any device with a browser.
Getting Started
To install the Hv manager, you need the following:
- CPU: x64 or x86 processor
- Memory: min 1 GB RAM
- Hard Disk Space: 12 MB for installation files and sufficient disk space for the HV Manager database
HV manager can be installed on:
- Windows Server 2022 added since v3.2.4
- Windows Server 2019
- Windows Server 2016 includes Nano and Core installations
- Windows Server 2012 R2
- Windows 10 (64-bit only)
You also need Hyper-V Server platforms. The supported ones are:
- Windows Server 2022 added since v3.2.4
- Windows Server 2016
- Windows Server 2012 R2
- Windows 10 (with Hyper-V feature installed)
Hyper-V installed on your Windows. This can be done by following any of the below guides:
- Install and Configure Hyper-V on Windows Server 2022
- Install and Configure Hyper-V on Windows Server 2019
Once installed, proceed as shown below:
Download and Install Hv Manager
Download the latest HV manager from the official downloads page. Once downloaded, proceed and install HV Manager as shown:
Accept the License Terms
Set the install directory:
Start the installation.
Wait until the installation is done.
Click Finish
Access and use Hv Manager
The Hv manager runs on port 8117 by default. To access it, you need to ensure that this port is allowed through the firewall.
Also, ensure that the service is running in the services window.
Now access the web console using the URL http://IP_Address:8117.
Log in using the default creds username administrator and password admin to login. Once authenticated, you will see the below dashboard.
In the servers tab, you can add another server by specifying the Hyper-V host address and credentials to connect. Here, we already have our local server added.
Now we can proceed and manage the virtual machines in the next tab.
Here, you can start, stop and connect to the desired Virtual machine. Since we have no roles added, we will add a test role as shown:
Then add a user and assign them the created role.
Now test if the user can access the resources by login in using the created account:
Verdict
That marks the end of this tutorial on how to manage Virtual Machines on Hyper-V using the Hyper-V Manager Web Interface. We can all agree that this is such an easy way to manage Hyper-V resources from the web and remotely. It is also easier to connect to the Vms directly from the web. I hope this was of importance to you.
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