Ben Armstrong’s Virtualization Blog
Hyper-V Program Manager
Moving to a new home...
This is the last blog post that I am going to write as Virtual PC Guy. But do not fear, I am...
Date: 01/01/2018
Getting VM Memory Usage and Demand Programmatically
A couple of people have recently asked me how to get virtual machine memory usage and memory demand...
Date: 06/12/2017
Using Hyper-V Resource Pools to ease migration between different configurations
Today I was asked about the following configuration: A user has a stretched Hyper-V cluster running...
Date: 05/03/2017
Performance Tuning Windows Server 2016
While we were working on developing Windows Server 2016 – we had a team dedicated to testing the...
Date: 05/02/2017
Editing a .VMCX file
In Windows Server 2016 we moved from using .XML for our virtual machine configuration files to using...
Date: 04/18/2017
Phone Emulator + Containers + VMs + Networking == Finally working!
I have had a problem for a little while now – the problem is that on my personal laptop I want to...
Date: 03/20/2017
New Hypervisor Top-Level Functional Specification
At the end of last week we published version 5.0 of the Hypervisor Top Level Functional...
Date: 03/13/2017
Giving a Workgroup Server an FQDN
Recently I needed to be able to securely, remotely manage a set of Windows Servers that were not...
Date: 03/10/2017
Hyper-V vs. KVM for OpenStack performance
During the development of Windows Server 2016 we spent a lot of time working on delivering the best...
Date: 02/03/2017
Bulk changing virtual hard disk path
I received this in email today: "I have XCOPY’d a bunch of VHDX files from one volume to another on...
Date: 01/26/2017
PSA - Flickering Laptop Screen with Hyper-V? Update your drivers.
Last year I went out and got an Alienware 13 laptop. Later I got the Alienware Amplifier and put a...
Date: 01/20/2017
Creating a remote PowerShell Direct shortcut
So here is the scenario: I have a remote Hyper-V server running Nano Server. I have PowerShell...
Date: 11/08/2016
Delay when opening VM Connect on disconnected systems
When I am building Hyper-V systems for big public demonstrations – I often build them with zero...
Date: 11/07/2016
Project “Lift and Shift”–Phase 1: Triage
This is the first blog post in what is going to be a series that I am tagging “Lift and Shift”....
Date: 10/11/2016
Scaling out PowerShell with PowerShell Direct
I have spent a bunch of time this week working on various demos for Ignite in Atlanta. While...
Date: 09/16/2016
Hyper-V @ Ignite
I am busily getting ready for my Hyper-V session at Ignite this year – and went to check for other...
Date: 09/13/2016
Script to Inventory VM Guest OSes – Updated
The other day a colleague asked me how to use PowerShell to gather information about what operating...
Date: 09/06/2016
Fixing Network Adapter settings on Checkpoints
Here is an interesting question from the Hyper-V...
Date: 08/23/2016
Hyper-V UI updates for High DPI
In the latest Windows Insider builds (14371 and later) we have made some strategic changes to...
Date: 06/23/2016
Windows – Read me that virtual machine
After a couple of weeks of playing around with Hyper-V APIs for reading virtual machine screens and...
Date: 06/17/2016
Find a bitmap on the VM screen
Continuing with my series on how to do interesting automation stuff with Hyper-V – today I want to...
Date: 06/16/2016
Reading a pixel on a VM Screen
Two weeks ago I provided a code sample that allowed you to capture a Hyper-V virtual machine screen...
Date: 06/15/2016
Network Device Naming in Hyper-V
In Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016 we have introduced a set of new capabilities around managing...
Date: 06/10/2016
Lock the VM Console when you close Hyper-V UI
There is a little feature that we snuck into Hyper-V recently that is very handy for our security...
Date: 06/03/2016
Adding yourself to the Hyper-V Administrators group with PowerShell
I am currently setting up a couple of new computers – and thought I would share this little tidbit...
Date: 05/30/2016
Capturing a Hyper-V VM Screen to a file
Here is an interesting thing you can do with Hyper-V - with a little bit of code you can grab a copy...
Date: 05/27/2016
Copy files over PowerShell Direct (and more)
We recently updated a number of the capabilities of PowerShell Direct. In Windows 10 Insider builds...
Date: 05/26/2016
Windows 10, Hyper-V and Wireless - a new way to make this all work
Anyone who has used Hyper-V on a laptop is familiar with the pain of configuring Hyper-V virtual...
Date: 05/02/2016
PowerShell for Docker
For the last couple of months I have been conflicted when working with containers. Do I use...
Date: 04/26/2016
Virtual Holograms
As opposed to real holograms?Anyway, semantic issues aside, this is something that I am really...
Date: 04/11/2016
Ubuntu on Windows
For a while now I have had the fun of being involved with a new technology that we announced today....
Date: 03/30/2016
Making and tuning a “safe automated mouse click”
Over the last week I have been talking about the components needed to automate the mouse in...
Date: 03/18/2016
Checking the mouse button state in Hyper-V
Continuing in my series on Hyper-V automation; as well as being able to get the position of the...
Date: 03/16/2016
Reading the mouse position of a Hyper-V VM
Last week I showed you how to automate setting the mouse position in a virtual machine. You can...
Date: 03/14/2016
Controlling the mouse on a virtual machine
Continuing on my series of how to automate virtual machines - you can also script the mouse on a...
Date: 03/11/2016
Typing special characters on a virtual machine
On Monday I showed you how to send a string into a virtual machine. But what if you need to send in...
Date: 03/09/2016
Typing a string on a virtual machine
This weekend I did a bunch of virtual machine automation - and wanted to share some code snippets....
Date: 03/07/2016
Disable VMConsoleSupport???
In Windows 10 / Windows Server 2016 we have two, rather odd, new PowerShell cmdlets:...
Date: 03/04/2016
A new home for the Hyper-V TLFS
With every release of Windows - we have released a matching "Hypervisor Top Level Functional...
Date: 03/02/2016
Building your own integration service for Hyper-V
Over time many people have asked me how they can extend Hyper-V integration services. There are all...
Date: 02/29/2016
Changes to Remote Management using Hyper-V Manager
In Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016 we have made some significant changes to the way Hyper-V...
Date: 02/01/2016
Hyper-V Documentation for All!
With the recent release of Windows Server Technical Preview 4 - I now have a huge amount of material...
Date: 11/20/2015
CimSession now works with Hyper-V PowerShell cmdlets
Yesterday I discussed the fact that there is a new Hyper-V PowerShell module in Windows 10 (the v2.0...
Date: 11/17/2015
Why are there two Hyper-V PowerShell modules in Windows 10?
If you use get-module in PowerShell on Windows 10 - you will see that there are now two Hyper-V...
Date: 11/16/2015
Heading to Australia - to speak at Ignite Australia 2015
I am writing this on the plane as I fly towards my home town to spend a week talking about Hyper-V,...
Date: 11/10/2015
What do you need to develop server applications?
As we are working on Windows and Hyper-V Containers we are spending a bunch of time talking to...
Date: 11/09/2015
Using a hypervisor to secure your desktop - Credential Guard in Windows 10
In Windows 10 we have some cool new technology where we use the Hyper-V hypervisor to provide an...
Date: 10/26/2015
Windows 10 Build 10565: Creating VMs with different versions
In Windows 10 we introduced the idea that you could have virtual machines with different versions....
Date: 10/20/2015