Windows Server runs best in Microsoft Azure, especially when you look at the great management capabilities like Azure Automanage. At Microsoft Ignite, the team announced the new Windows Server 2022 edition and some great new features for Azure Automanage and one called hotpatch for Windows Server Azure virtual machines (VMs). Yes, this allows you to patch and install updates to your Window Server VMs in Azure without requiring a reboot. Since I was part of this preview feature, I am happy to…

If you are running a virtual machine (VM) on Hyper-V, sometimes you want to know on which Hyper-V host this VM is running. If you don't have access to the Hyper-V host, you need to find that information from within the virtual machines operating system. Luckily, the hostname of the physical Hyper-V server the virtual machine is running on can be found in the virtual machines registry. You can find that information under the following registry key…

A couple of weeks back I promoted a post about how you can learn about Windows Server on Azure and a post on ITOpsTalk for New Microsoft Learn Modules for Azure and Windows Server IT Pros. This week I got another message by colleague Orin Thomas (Cloud Advocate and Author of the Windows Server 2019 Book), that a lot more Microsoft Learn modules have been published, covering Windows Server Hybrid and Windows Server on Azure IaaS VMs (Infrastructure-as-a-Service). Learn about Windows Server…

The Windows Insider and Windows Server team just announced a new Windows Server vNext Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) release that contains both the Desktop Experience and Server Core installation options for Datacenter and Standard editions. The new Windows Server vNext Preview build has build number 20201 and adds a couple of new features and enhancements. Keep in mind this is an early preview version of Windows Server vNext, and there will be more channels until the official release…

In this blog post, we are going to have a look at how you can force a Hyper-V virtual machine (VM) to turn off using the HCSDiag tool. A couple of days ago I had an issue where I wasn't able to shut down and turn off a Hyper-V virtual machine (VM). After I tried to shut down the Hyper-V VM using the Hyper-V Manager the VM was in a locked state and I couldn't really do anything with it. Of course the first thing I tried using the PowerShell Stop-VM cmdlet with the force parameter to turn off…

Hyper-V offers the capability to add an ISO image to a virtual CD/DVD drive and you can use Hyper-V Manager to do that, or you can also use PowerShell. Here is how you can add an ISO to a Hyper-V virtual machine (VM) using PowerShell. There are two ways of doing it if you already have a virtual DVD drive attached to the VM or if you need to add a virtual DVD drive. This works with Hyper-V on Windows Server and on Windows 10. Attach ISO to an existing DVD Drive on a Hyper-V VM using…

As many of you know, Microsoft Azure is the best cloud to run Windows Server workloads. Last week the team published two new Microsoft Learn Learning paths, where you can learn more about how to run Windows Server on Azure. The first two learning paths available are 'implement Windows Server IaaS VM networking' and 'implement Windows Server IaaS VM Identity'. These two learning paths offer a couple of modules around the specific topics. Implement Windows Server IaaS VM networking In this…

As you know, I am using an Intel NUC as my Windows Server lab machine, where I run Windows Server 2019 and Hyper-V on. Many people asked me about how you can install the Intel NUC Windows Server 2019 Network Adapter driver because there are no Windows Server 2019 drivers for it. My blog reader, Michael Williams, shared how you can install the Windows Server 2019 Network adapter drivers on the Intel NUC 8th generation. Here are the simple steps you can follow to install the Intel NUC Windows…

In this blog post, I want to quickly guide you through how you can install a Windows Server Container Host running Docker. This guide will help you set up, install, and run Windows Containers on Windows Server. In my example, I will install a container host on a Windows Server, version 2004, which is a Semi-Annual Channel (SAC) release. Windows Server SAC releases are released twice a year and are optimized for containers. In the Windows Server, version 2004 release, the team continued…

My friend and colleague Orin Thomas just shared some fantastic news. His new book Windows Server 2019 Inside Out for Microsoft Press is now available. I was able to provide some early feedback during the writing process and I can tell you this book is a must-have if you are working with Windows Server 2019. Dive into Windows Server 2019—and really put your Windows Serverexpertise to work. Focusing on Windows Server 2019’s most powerful and innovative features, this supremely organized…

In this blog post, I am going to show you the new Windows Performance Monitor feature in Windows Admin Center. This feature was announced publicly at Microsoft Ignite 2019. But before we are going to have a look at the new Windows Admin Center Performance Monitor extension, it is time for some history. If you have worked with Windows or Windows Server in the past, you almost certainly have used a tool called perfmon.exe, or Windows Performance Monitor. You can use Windows Performance Monitor…

Windows Admin Center is a locally deployed, browser-based app for managing servers, clusters, hyper-converged infrastructure, and Windows 10 PCs. If you ever asked yourself if Windows Admin Center (WAC) runs on Windows Server Core, the answer is yes. Run and install Windows Admin Center on Windows Server Core, simply copy the MSI installer to the Windows Server, or download it directly. If you are running Windows Server in a Hyper-V virtual machine, PowerShell Direct and be very handy to…

A couple of months ago Microsoft announced the Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL 2), which is a successor of the Windows Subsystem for Linux shipped a couple of years ago. WSL 2 is currently available for Windows Insiders running Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18917 or higher and with the Docker Tech Preview, you can now even run Docker Linux Container directly on WSL 2. With the latest Windows Server Insider Preview build 18945, you are also able to run WSL 2 on Windows Server. In this…

A couple of weeks ago Microsoft released the installation media, and you can download Hyper-V Server 2019 right now. In this blog post, I am going to show you how to install and configure Hyper-V Server 2019 step by step. This should especially help beginners with Hyper-V Server 2019. Hyper-V Server 2019 ships only a core option, so there won't be desktop experience version of Hyper-V Server like you would have with Windows Server 2019. Hyper-V Server 2019 Requirements Hyper-V has specific…

In this blog article, I am going to show you how you can add drivers to a Windows Server 2019 ISO Image or WIM file using PowerShell and the DISM module. This will allow you to already have the latest drivers within the Windows Server installation image when you install Windows Server 2019. We will add drivers to a Windows Server 2019 WIM file (WIM stands for Windows Imaging Format), which then can be used to create a new ISO image or for example in Windows Deployment Services. Preparation…

A lot of people have been waiting for this. After the release of Windows Server 2019 back in October 2018, you were able to download Windows Server 2019 Standard, Datacenter and Essentials. Today you can also download Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2019. This is the free version of the Hyper-V role which you can find in Windows Server 2019. It includes all the great Hyper-V virtualization features like the Datacenter Edition. This is especially interesting if you don't need to license Windows…