Activating Windows Machines using Hyper-V on an OVHcloud licensed Windows Server
Find out how to create and activate a VM using Hyper-V on a Windows Server licensed by OVHcloud
Last updated 6th January 2022
Objective
This tutorial provides some basic information on creating virtual machines within Hyper-V on a Windows Server licensed with OVHcloud.
This tutorial will show you how to use one or more OVHcloud solutions with external tools, and will describe the actions to be carried out in a specific context. You may need to adapt the instructions according to your situation.
If you encounter any difficulties performing these actions, please contact a specialised service provider and/or discuss the issue with our community. You can find more information in the Go further section of this tutorial.
Requirements
- A dedicated server with Windows Server installed.
- The Hyper-V role installed
- A Windows License provided by OVHcloud
Instructions
This tutorial assumes that you have already installed the Hyper-V role and have access to the Hyper-V Manager. If you have not done this, you can refer to Microsoft's guide to installing the Hyper-V role here
Creating a NAT Network
First of all, Windows Server will request the activation of the guest OS through NAT (unless you had a SPLA license to be attached with a specific KMS). Open up a PowerShell session as an administrator. We will create it with the following command:
PS C:\Windows\system32> New-VMSwitch -SwitchName "NAT" -SwitchType Internal
Name SwitchType NetAdapterInterfaceDescription
---- ---------- ------------------------------
NAT Internal
After that, confirm the adaptor has been successfully created with:
PS C:\Windows\system32> Get-VMSwitch
Name SwitchType NetAdapterInterfaceDescription
---- ---------- ------------------------------
Intel(R) Ethernet Controller X550 - Virtual Switch External Intel(R) Ethernet Controller X550
Intel(R) Ethernet Controller X550 #2 - Virtual Switch External Intel(R) Ethernet Controller X550 #2
NAT Internal
We see that the "NAT" Virtual Switch has been created successfully. Once it's been created, we will need to confirm the InterfaceIndex or "interface ID" for the following step like this:
PS C:\Windows\system32> Get-NetAdapter
Name InterfaceDescription ifIndex Status
MacAddress LinkSpeed
---- -------------------- ------- ------
---------- ---------
vEthernet(Intel(R) Et... Hyper-V Virtual Ethernet Adapter #2 9 Up
D0-50-99-D7-2C-89 10 Gbps
Ethernet Intel(R) Ethernet Controller X550 7 Up
D0-50-99-D7-2C-8A 10 Gbps
Ethernet 2 Intel(R) Ethernet Controller X550 #2 5 Up
D0-50-99-D7-2C-89 10 Gbps
vEthernet (NAT) Hyper-V Virtual Ethernet Adapter #3 24 Up
00-15-5D-17-DD-04 10 Gbps
vEthernet(Intel(R) Et... Hyper-V Virtual Ethernet Adapter 12 Up
D0-50-99-D7-2C-8A 10 Gbps
In our case, we see our "NAT" adapter ID is 24.
Next, Let's create a NAT network that will allow our VM to connect to the internet; we will be able to see the information of it once it's been executed:
PS C:\Windows\system32> New-NetIPAddress -IPAddress 192.168.0.1 -PrefixLength 24 -InterfaceIndex 24
IPAddress : 192.168.0.1
InterfaceIndex : 24
InterfaceAlias : vEthernet (NAT)
AddressFamily : IPv4
Type : Unicast
PrefixLength : 24
PrefixOrigin : Manual
SuffixOrigin : Manual
AddressState : Tentative
ValidLifetime : Infinite ([TimeSpan]::MaxValue)
PreferredLifetime : Infinite ([TimeSpan]::MaxValue)
SkipAsSource : False
PolicyStore : ActiveStore
IPAddress : 192.168.0.1
InterfaceIndex : 24
InterfaceAlias : vEthernet (NAT)
AddressFamily : IPv4
Type : Unicast
PrefixLength : 24
PrefixOrigin : Manual
SuffixOrigin : Manual
AddressState : Invalid
ValidLifetime : Infinite ([TimeSpan]::MaxValue)
PreferredLifetime : Infinite ([TimeSpan]::MaxValue)
SkipAsSource : False
PolicyStore : PersistentStore
Note: The IPAddress value will be the internal gateway IP for our VM to be configured; it will connect the WinNAT service inside the host to reach internet. The PrefixLength will be the netmask prefix of the IP given before, and lastly the InterfaceIndex will be the ID of the virtual switch created on the step before (in our case, its ID is 24).
Lastly, let's create the network that will be used by our WinNAT service to reach the internet with the following command:
PS C:\Windows\system32> New-NetNat -Name MyNATnetwork -InternalIPInterfaceAddressPrefix 192.168.0.0/24
Name : MyNATnetwork
ExternalIPInterfaceAddressPrefix :
InternalIPInterfaceAddressPrefix : 192.168.0.0/24
IcmpQueryTimeout : 30
TcpEstablishedConnectionTimeout : 1800
TcpTransientConnectionTimeout : 120
TcpFilteringBehavior : AddressDependentFiltering
UdpFilteringBehavior : AddressDependentFiltering
UdpIdleSessionTimeout : 120
UdpInboundRefresh : False
Store : Local
Active : True
The Name parameter will define the name of this network, as well as the InternalIPInterfaceAddressPrefix parameter will connect to the network desired; in our case, the network is the one created before:
- 192.168.0.0 is the network IP
- 192.168.0.1 is the gateway for your virtual machines
- 192.168.0.2 - 192.168.0.254 will be used as IPs for your virtual machines
Activating the VM
At this point, the network will be correctly set for this validation. Create a new Windows Server 2019 Standard VM (We have used the evaluation ISO downloadable from the official Microsoft website). Once installed, configure your virtual machine with an IP of the range configured on the virtual switch (for example: 192.168.0.2/24):
Since the .ISO used has enabled the "Evaluation mode", we need to transfer this guest OS to the Standard version. Launch the following command on your CMD:
C:\Users\Administrator> DISM.exe /Online /Set-Edition:ServerStandard /ProductKey:N69G4-B89J2-4G8F4-WWYCCJ464C /AcceptEula
This license (N69G4-B89J2-4G8F4-WWYCC-J464C) belongs to our current KMS validation license repository for Windows Server 2019 Standard. You can grab each of our current license keys from the following guide: Changing a Windows Server product key
Reboot your VM, then do the following to set the KMS server and activate Windows.
Setting the KMS server
cscript.exe c:\windows\system32\slmgr.vbs -skms kms.ovh.net
Activating Windows
cscript.exe c:\windows\system32\slmgr.vbs -ato
Your VM should now be activated.
Go further
Join our community of users on https://community.ovh.com/en/.
Did you find this guide useful?
Please feel free to give any suggestions in order to improve this documentation.
Whether your feedback is about images, content, or structure, please share it, so that we can improve it together.
Your support requests will not be processed via this form. To do this, please use the "Create a ticket" form.
Thank you. Your feedback has been received.