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Managing Virtual Networks

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Applies To: Windows Server 2008

You can create many virtual networks on the server running Hyper-V™ to provide a variety of communications channels. For example, you can create networks to provide the following:

  • Communications between virtual machines only. This type of virtual network is called a private network.

  • Communications between the virtualization server and virtual machines. This type of virtual network is called an internal network.

  • Communications between a virtual machine and a physical network by creating an association to a physical network adapter on the virtualization server. This type of virtual network is called an external network.

You can use Virtual Network Manager to add, remove, and modify the virtual networks. Virtual Network Manager is available from Hyper-V Manager.

Important

If you connect a virtual network to a physical network adapter that uses static settings, such as a static IP address, and IPv6 is not disabled, the new connection will overwrite the static settings. Network connectivity will be lost until you reapply the static settings to the physical network adapter.

To add a virtual network

  1. Open Hyper-V Manager.

  2. From the Actions menu, click Virtual Network Manager.

  3. Under Create virtual network, select the type of network you want to create.

  4. Click Add. The New Virtual Network page appears.

  5. Type a name for the new network. Review the other properties and modify them if necessary.

Note

You can use virtual LAN identification as a way to isolate network traffic. However, this type of configuration must be supported by the physical network adapter. For information about configuring virtual LAN identification, see the Hyper-V deployment content at the Windows Server 2008 TechCenter (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=108560).

  1. Click OK to save the virtual network and close Virtual Network Manager, or click Apply to save the virtual network and continue using Virtual Network Manager.

To modify a virtual network

  1. Open Hyper-V Manager.

  2. From the Actions menu, click Virtual Network Manager.

  3. Under Virtual Networks, click the name of the network you want to modify.

  4. Under Virtual Network Properties, edit the appropriate properties to modify the virtual network.

  5. Click OK to save the changes and close Virtual Network Manager, or click Apply to save the changes and continue using Virtual Network Manager.

To remove a virtual network

  1. Open Hyper-V Manager.

  2. From the Actions menu, click Virtual Network Manager.

  3. Under Virtual Networks, click the name of the network you want to remove.

  4. Under Virtual Network Properties, click Remove.

  5. Click OK to save the changes and close Virtual Network Manager, or click Apply to save the changes and continue using Virtual Network Manager.

Additional considerations

  • By default, membership in the local Administrators group, or equivalent, is the minimum required to complete this procedure. However, an administrator can use Authorization Manager to modify the authorization policy so that a user or group of users can complete this procedure.

  • You cannot connect a virtual network to a wireless network adapter. As a result, you cannot provide wireless networking capabilities to virtual machines.

  • Only one virtual network can be attached to a specific physical network adapter at a time; you cannot attach multiple virtual networks to the same physical network adapter.

Additional references