If you would like to read the other parts in this article series please go to:
In the part 3 of this article series, we explained Network Adapters associated with a Hyper-V host, and Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) settings. BMC settings, once configured for a Hyper-V host, can be used by a VMM administrator to power the host on and off manually or automatically using the Power Optimization feature of VMM. In case you need to turn a Hyper-V host on and off, right click on the Hyper-V host and then click on “Power On” or “Power Off” actions as shown in the red square of the figure 1.0 below:
Figure 1.0: Power On and Power Off Actions on Right Click Context Menu of Hyper-V Host
This is part 4 of this article series. In this article, we will look at virtual machine paths and host access tabs available on the property page of a Hyper-V host managed by Virtual Machine Manager.
Virtual Machine Paths Tab: When a Hyper-V host is added under VMM management, VMM gathers the list of virtual machines registered on the Hyper-V host. You can see the list of virtual machines registered with a Hyper-V host by navigating to the Virtual Machines Paths tab as shown in the figure 1.1 below.
Figure 1.1: Virtual Machine Paths for Selected Hyper-V Host
VMM displays the virtual machines registered with the Hyper-V host under the Virtual Machines list box. As you can see, this Hyper-V host has two virtual machines registered; Gen2VM and VM1. Virtual Machines list box also shows the status, processor, memory and storage used by a virtual machine. VMM also allows you to register virtual machines with selected Hyper-V host. In case you need to register virtual machines, you need to click on the “Add” button and then select the path where virtual machine files reside.
Tip:
When registering virtual machines with the Hyper-V host, select the virtual machine folder where virtual machine files such as XML files, VHD files reside.
Host Access Tab: In the Host Access tab, you can configure the RunAs account used by the VMM to communicate with the Hyper-V host. Host Access tab also allows you to configure host placement options and remote connection port as shown in the figure 1.2 below.
Figure 1.2: Host Access Tab for a Hyper-V Host
To configure a new RunAs account for a Hyper-V host, click on the “Browse” button and then select a RunAs account to communicate with VMM Agent running on the Hyper-V host.
Tip:
It is important to note that if the Hyper-V host is part of a Hyper-V cluster, the “Browse” button will be greyed out. In case you need to change RunAs account for Hyper-V host that is part of a Hyper-V cluster, you need to use a series of PowerShell cmdlets as listed below:
- $MyHVCluster = Get-SCVMHostCluster –Name “Hyper-VClusterName”
- $MyRunAsAccount – Get-SCRunAsAccount –Name “RunAsAccountName”
- Set-SCVMHostCluster –VMHostCluster $MyHVCluster –VMHostManagementCredential $MyRunAsAccount
Tip:
In case you wish to see the list of Hyper-V hosts associated with a RunAs account, navigate to Settings > Security > click on “RunAs Accounts” > right click on a RunAs account and then click on the Property action to bring the property page of the selected RunAs account. In RunAs account property, click on the “Consumers” tab to see the list of Hyper-V hosts that are using the selected RunAs account as shown in the figure 1.3 below:
Figure 1.3: Run As Account Consumers
On the Host Access tab, you need to pay attention to one setting that is “This host is available for placement”. By default, when you add a Hyper-V host under VMM management, VMM checks “This host is available for placement” option. If you uncheck this option, the Hyper-V host will not be listed during placements and will not be available to host virtual machines deployed via VMM.
Configuring Remote Connection Port
On the Host Access tab, you can also configure Remote Connection Port. VMM connects to virtual machines running on a Hyper-V host over network port 2179. By default, when you add a Hyper-V host under VMM management, VMM configures 2179 as the network port for connecting to virtual machines registered on that Hyper-V host. You can change the port number on the Host Access Tab, but just changing the port number on the Host Access tab will not work. You might also want to configure the new port in the firewall to allow VMM to connect to virtual machines on that Hyper-V host.
Each remote connection to a virtual machine is opened using a separate VMConnect.exe connection. There are several components running in the VMMS.exe process on the Hyper-V host. One of them is “Single Port Listener for RDP”. This is what happens when you connect to a virtual machine on a Hyper-V host:
- VMM Administrator connects to a virtual machine via VMM.
- The connection request is redirected to VMMS.EXE process on the Hyper-V host.
- VMMS.EXE process receives the request and then redirects the request to “Single Port Listener for RDP” component.
- Single Port Listener for RDP receives the request and redirects the request to worker process (VMWP.EXE) of the virtual machine.
- Worker Process receives the request and enables a remote connection to the virtual machine.
Tip:
Virtual Machine Connection uses the Terminal Services ActiveX control to create a connection over TCP port 2179. ActiveX control is the same component that is used by the RDP client application (MSTSC.EXE).
Summary
In the part 4 of this article series, we explained Virtual Machine Paths and Host Access tabs. We also explained the process for registering the virtual machines on the destination Hyper-V host by just providing the path to virtual machine files. You can configure a RunAs account on the Host Access tab for a Hyper-V host to allow VMM to communicate with VMM Agent running on the Hyper-V host. And, to configure RunAs account for a Hyper-V host that is part of a failover cluster, you must use the PowerShell commands as explained in this part.
In the next part, we are going to explain Reserves Tab and how to configure live migration settings available on the Migration Settings tab of a Hyper-V host.
If you would like to read the other parts in this article series please go to:
