Using Hyper-V to Build a Private Cloud (Part 3)

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If you would like to read the other parts in this article series please go to:

Introduction

In the previous article in this series, I showed you how to extract the contents of the Windows installation media for the purpose of creating a deployment image. As you will recall, I ended the article by creating two task sequences. One of these sequences was for a generic Windows Server 2008 R2 deployment, and the other was for a Windows Server 2008 R2 machine running Hyper-V. Right now the two task sequences are completely identical, so it’s time to begin modifying the Hyper-V task sequence so that we can use it to deploy the Hyper-V servers that will be used to host the virtual machines in our private cloud.

Reconfiguring the Hyper-V Task Sequence

Begin the process by opening the Deployment Workbench and navigating through the console tree to Deployment Workbench | Deployment Shares | MDT Deployment Share | Task Sequences | OS Install. Now, right click on the task sequence that you created for Hyper-V and select the Properties command from the shortcut menu. When you do, a properties sheet will appear.

Select the properties sheet’s Task Sequence tab. This tab can be used to modify the existing task sequence. Because we are creating a Hyper-V server, we will need to install the Hyper-V server role. To do so, select the Tattoo option from the existing task sequence and then choose the Roles | Install Roles and Features commands from the Add menu. When you do, the details pane will display a series of roles and features that can be installed. Select the Hyper-V (c64 only) check box, as shown in Figure A.


Figure A: You must install the Hyper-V role.

More than likely there will be some additional features that you will want to install. For example, in a production environment you would probably want to deploy the Failover Clustering service. In the interest of simplicity I am not going to be using failover clustering in this article series.

Regardless of whether or not you plan to use failover clustering, you should select the Multipath I/O (Core) check box. This will make it easier to connect to a storage pool later on. Once you have selected the components that you want to install, click Apply followed by OK.

In a real world situation you would typically put a bit more work into your task sequences. For instance you might want to add some drivers or applications. I’ve got a lot of ground to cover in this series, so this is a topic that I might revisit later on depending on how long the series runs. For right now however, I want to move on and show you how to work with the task sequences that you have put in place.

Updating the Deployment Share

At this point, you must update the deployment share. Otherwise none of the task sequences that you have created will work. To do so, navigate through the console tree to Deployment Workbench | Deployment Shares | MDT Deployment Share. Next, right click on the MDT Deployment Share container and choose the Update Deployment Share command from the resulting shortcut menu.

You should now see a wizard whose initial screen asks you if you want to optimize the boot image updating process or if you would prefer to completely regenerate the boot images. For right now, go ahead and choose the option to completely regenerate the boot images, as shown in Figure B.


Figure B: You must update the deployment share.

Click Next, and you will be taken to a summary screen that confirms the action that you have chosen. Click Next one more time and the deployment images will be generated. The amount of time that this process takes to complete varies depending on your hardware capabilities, but on my lab server the process took about five minutes to complete.

Installing the Windows Deployment Services

The next step in the process is to install the Windows Deployment Services onto the server that is running the Deployment Workbench. This can be accomplished through the Server Manager. To do so, open the Server Manager and select the Roles container. Click the Add Roles link and Windows will launch the Add Roles wizard.

Click Next to bypass the wizard’s Welcome screen. When you do, you will see a screen asking you which roles you want to install. Select the Windows Deployment Services role and click Next. You will now see a screen introducing you to the Windows Deployment Services. Click Next to bypass this screen.

The next screen that you will see asks you which role services you want to install. You have the option of installing the Deployment Server and / or the Transport Server. I recommend leaving both options selected, as shown in Figure C.


Figure C: Install both of the role services.

Click Next, followed by Install. Windows will now install the Windows Deployment Services. When the process completes, click Close.

Configure the Windows Deployment Services

Now that the Windows Deployment Services have been installed they must be configured. To do so, navigate through the Server Manager to Roles | Windows Deployment Services | Servers | <your server>, as shown in Figure D.


Figure D: You must configure your server.

Now right click on the listing for your server and choose the Configure Server command from the shortcut menu. When the configuration wizard begins, click Next to bypass the introductory screen.

The next screen that you will encounter asks you to provide a path to the remote installation folder. If possible I recommend storing this folder on a drive other than C:.

Click Next and the wizard will ask you how you want the server to handle client requests. Choose the option to respond to all client computers (known and unknown) and then click Next. When you do, Windows will configure and start the Windows Deployment Services. When this process completes, you will see a screen asking you if you want to add images to the server now. This option is enabled by default, but you need to deselect this option because we are using the Deployment Workbench for our images. Click Finish to complete the configuration process.

Adding Your Images

Now let’s go ahead and add some deployment images to the Windows Deployment Services. To do so, navigate through the Server Manager to Roles | Windows Deployment Services | Servers | <your server> | Boot Images. Next, right click on the Boot Images folder and choose the Add Boot Image command from the shortcut menu. You will now be prompted to enter the location of the Windows Image (the .WIM file) that you want to add. Click the Browse button and then navigate to the path used by the deployment share that you created through the Deployment Workbench. In the previous articles in this series I created the deployment share in C:\DeploymentShare so my path would be C:\DeploymentShare\Boot. Within this path there is a file named LiteTouchPE_x64, as shown in Figure E. That is the file that needs to be imported, so select it and click OK.


Figure E: Import the LiteTouchPE_x64.wim file.

Click Next and you will be prompted to enter a name for the image. After doing so, click Next a couple of times and the image will be imported. When the process completes, click Finish.

Conclusion

Up to this point, we have created a boot image that can be deployed, but we are still a long way from using this technique to create a private cloud. I will show you what comes next in Part 4.

If you would like to read the other parts in this article series please go to:

About The Author

Brien Posey is a freelance technology author and speaker with over two decades of IT experience. Prior to going freelance, Brien was a CIO for a national chain of hospitals and healthcare facilities. He has also served as a network engineer for the United States Department of Defense at Fort Knox. In addition, Brien has worked as a network administrator for some of the largest insurance companies in America. To date, Brien has received Microsoft’s MVP award numerous times in categories including Windows Server, IIS, Exchange Server, and File Systems / Storage. You can visit Brien’s Website at: www.brienposey.com.

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