4

We are relocating our office and a Hyper-V Server 2008 was shutdown for the move. At the new location, after connecting the cables and powering it up, I realise I can no longer access the VM on it at a fixed static IP.

I connected a monitor, keyboard and mouse directly to the server and logged in only to find 2 command prompt, one black and one blue background, with the latter running sconfig.cmd with a bunch of options like setting network settings, computer name, add local administrator, log off, shutdown etc.

How can I view the list of VMs configured on the server and see their status and boot them up?

After much research, and trial and errors, here is my situation:

The DC responsible for the Hyper-V server is located in another country and I do not have VPN access to the DC's site. Using Hyper-V Manager, I get RPC service error most probably due to password expiry and I have no way to refresh the password on Hyper-V.

I need a way to start VM on the command prompt itself. Thanks.

Jake
  • 1,150
  • 6
  • 26
  • 48
  • Ouch. Just read the comment. Nasty. THere is something to be said about having a DC locally all the time. And VPN hardware. – TomTom Aug 04 '13 at 16:56
  • I am unfamiliar with Hyper-V, that is why I am hitting blocks every step. I went back to the fundamentals and found the solution eventually. – Jake Aug 04 '13 at 17:20
  • Yeah. the problem now looks seriously different. A real word of warning - never do that. Try to keep a physical DC locally, better two. If you run windows VM's then use WIndows as Hyper-V host - unless you are large it is totally acceptable to run a DC on the hardware server, then hyper-v for additional virtual machines, DC / DNS roles are very low cpu usage. – TomTom Aug 04 '13 at 17:24
  • Our company has a complicated IT structure and I have limited authority over the said server. I have posted my finding as answer. Thanks for your help, the tools documentation did somewhat help. – Jake Aug 04 '13 at 17:27
  • Been there, done that. Terrible terrible terrible life.Enterprises have something in ther DNA that makes a sane IT environment hard to have. I feel with you. At least it works again. Properly documnt it in case of a power failure (and those DO happen, even in data centers). – TomTom Aug 04 '13 at 17:29
  • this just saved me major pain – Corey Apr 04 '16 at 14:16

2 Answers2

5

There are lots of libraries and GUI tools to manage Hyper-V as suggested by TomTom and also includes the MMC Hyper-V Manager Microsoft provides. However, all these tools assumes a particular set up before they can actually connect and be useful.

If you are really messed up and have only the server core installation, in a different domain, with a expired cached administrator username/password, no access to DCs, and no idea what the VM name is, the powershell commands will come in handy (it's probably the only way to start the VM given this scenario).

#The name of the virtual machine to be started
$VMName = "Windows Server 2003"

#Get the VM Object
$query = "SELECT * FROM Msvm_ComputerSystem WHERE ElementName='" + $VMName + "'"
$VM = get-wmiobject -query $query -namespace "root\virtualization" -computername "."

#Request a state change on the VM
$Result = $VM.RequestStateChange(2)

By the way, to start powershell on Server Core installation where you are greeted by the blue (sconfig.cmd) and black commad prompt windows, type "powershell" in the black command line prompt.

Jake
  • 1,150
  • 6
  • 26
  • 48
3

Powershell. Various additional tools. Or just use sconfig to reestablish networkng (change ip setup) and then use a server / workstation to manage it, like before.

http://pshyperv.codeplex.com/

is a powershell library to manage Hyper-V.

http://www.manageengine.com/free-hyper-v-configuration/free-hyper-v-configuration-index.html

is a UI for Hyper-V.

TomTom
  • 50,857
  • 7
  • 52
  • 134
  • I did not set up the VM. "then use a server / workstation to manage" how? I have the IP of Hyper-V x.x.2.103 by going through the options on the 2 command prompts. I have tried the UI for Hyper-V. It says host not reachable. I also see options on the Hyper-V o allow/disallow remote management and MMC. All too many options. – Jake Aug 04 '13 at 10:55
  • I have VMware EXSI and when it boots, all the VM just boots together. And vSphere is a no brainer... – Jake Aug 04 '13 at 10:56
  • I have downloaded pshyperv and tried to install on my windows 7 and I get a bunch of errors. I read the documentation PDF and it doesn't say where to install. I suppose it needs to be installed on the Hyper-V server itself? I don't know how to do it.. – Jake Aug 04 '13 at 11:07
  • Sorry, this is not a place for an end user. If you did not set this up, ask your admin or hire someone whith the knowledge to manage your hardware. Hyper-V also start up machines automatically - if the admin asked for it. If they got manually shut down before the server was shut down - that was an admin decision. – TomTom Aug 04 '13 at 11:18
  • How is this an end user question? I am trying to administrate the server! If I set the thing up before, or if I knew how to do it, I would not need to ask here, right? I work in a situation where all the servers on the rack except this Hyper-V is done by me, and I wasn't given prior warning that the VMs were set to manual boot before I shut it down for the relocation. – Jake Aug 04 '13 at 12:01
  • Soemone managing servers "in professional capacity" should know how to set up his network. I wont explain you how to do baseline maintenance. I pointed you to the toold needed. Tip: Reinstall the host and put a real windows server there, with UI - then you can do emergency mainteanance right there. In the meantime, the PowerSHell cmdlets I provided you with a link to can be used to start the VM's. Powershell knowledge is windows administration 101 today. – TomTom Aug 04 '13 at 12:04