Hyper-V – Install & enable on Windows Server 2008 (64-bit)

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If you have installed your Windows Server 2008 from a recent media download or shipped by microsoft then chances are that you already have the Hyper-V Role installed on your system but not enabled yet.

To confirm this, click Start – Control Panel – Programs and Features – Installed Updates and look for “Update for Microsoft Windows (KB950050)”. If not found, click here to download and install the update.

Once installed, reboot your server and add the Hyper-V role as follows:

1. Click Start – Administrative Tools – Server Manager.

2. Click Roles in the leftpane and click “Add Roles” from the rightpane.

3. Click Next in the before begin window. Select “Hyper-V” role from the list in the Server Roles window and click Next.

4. Click Next on the Hyper-V introduction window. In the next “Virtual Networks” window, select the Network Adapters to which a Virtual Network will be created. For every, Network Adapter (if more than 1 is found) selected, a Virtual Network will be created to which Virtual Machines created later can be attached to. The Virtual Networks can also be created or modified at a later time.

  

5. Click Install on the confirmation window. Once the role is successfully added, the server requires a reboot. Click the “You must restart this server to finish the installation process” link in the results window to reboot the server or click Close and restart the server at a later time.

 

6. Once the server is restarted, the server continues configuring the Hyper-V role and when the installation is successfully completed, click Close.

 

7. This puts the Virtual Network created under “Network Connections” and the Hyper-V Manager under Administrative Tools. Click and launch the Hyper-V Manager under Administrative Tools.

 

From here you can create and modify the Virtual Machines, edit the Virtual Network Settings, general Hyper-V Settings, import Virtual Machines etc. One can also, stop and start Hyper-V services and check Virtual Disks.

Click here for a procedure to install and configure Hyper-V on Windows Server 2008  Core installation.