Hyper-V VMs don't have any network connectivity by default. You have to create a Virtual Network Switch on the VM host (the Windows computer) to let the VM share internet with the host.
To do this, open Hyper-V Manager.
- In the Actions Pane on the right, click the link for "Virtual Switch Manager".
- If you want your VM to be able to access the internet, you want to create an External Virtual Switch.
- In the Virtual Switch Manager dialog, click "New Virtual Switch" in the pane on the left, at the top, and then select "External" in the list and click the "Create Virtual Switch" button.
- Now, the main panel in the Virtual Switch Manager dialog will have changed to your newly created virtual switch.
- Make sure the "External Network" radio button is selected.
- In the drop down below the "External Network" radio button, select the physical network interface your host computer uses. If your host has more than one network interface, make sure to select the one that is connected to the internet. Name your Virtual Switch something you'll recognize.
- THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT
Check the box that says "Allow management operating system to share this network adapter".
This allows your VM host to share the network switch with the VMs hosted on it. If this is not checked, your VM host will lose internet connectivity when you click "Ok".
- Click "Apply". NOTE: You will lose any internet connections for a few seconds when you do this. This is because Windows is creating the Virtual Network Switch device, and then adding the Windows computer to the Switch.
- Click "Ok" on the Virtual Switch Manager Dialog.
- With your Arch Linux VM in the "Off" state, select it from the Hyper-V Manager window, and click the "Settings" link in the right pane.
- In the settings dialog, select the network adapter from the Hardware list on the left.
- In the main pane, in the drop-down list labelled "Virtual Switch", change it from "Not Connected" to the name of the Virtual Switch you picked in Step 6.
- Click "Ok".
Now you can start up your Arch VM and it will have network connectivity.
In a general rule, whenever creating a Hyper-V VM, you will need to connect it to a Virtual Switch if you want it to have network connectivity.
1Just a few comments. 1) Arch is difficult, if you are a beginner. It might be wise to use another distro, or problems like this will take up so much of your time. 2) Arch does not install well on Hyper-V, why don't you try VMWare or VirtualBox, for which the Arch Wiki has detailed instructions? 3) The Arch Wiki for installation on bare metal is particularly well-written, I strongly suggest you use that guide. – MariusMatutiae – 2013-12-18T12:27:35.380
Thanks. What would a good first linux distro be? – detectivecalcite – 2013-12-19T02:05:55.797
1A good first distro is Ubuntu. It installs all by itself, has enormous number of extra applications in the repositories which will help you do everything you wish. From there you can start exploring. A year from now, you will want to switch to Arch. – MariusMatutiae – 2013-12-19T05:05:18.380