8. Configuring Virtual Machine (VM) Settings

Guest operating system

Is available only if you connect to virtual machines that are running Windows Server 2012 R2 or higher, or Windows 8.1 or higher and Remote Desktop Services is running on the virtual machine. The user account you will be using to sign in to the virtual machine must be a member of the Remote Desktop Users local group.

BitLocker Drive Encryption

Protects against brute force attacks to gain access to your fixed drive or situations in which someone tries to install and access your fixed drive from another computer. It provides full disk encryption capabilities for fixed drives (including storage pools) and operating system drives.

Host Guarding Service (HGS)

Provide a transport key that will unlock and run a shielded VM.

Hyper-V Data Exchange Service

Provides a method to set, delete, enumerate, and exchange specific registry key values between the virtual machine and the Hyper-V host

Generation 2

Provides new functionality on a virtual machine, including PXE boot by using a standard network adapter, boot from a SCSI virtual hard disk or DVD, Secure Boot, and UEFI firmware support. Generation 2 VMs only support 64-bit guest operating systems. Generation 2 VMs cannot access a physical DVD drive. Generation 2 virtual machines currently support only Windows Server 2012, Windows 8 (64-bit), and newer 64-bit Windows operating systems. However, only Windows Server 2012 R2 and newer Hyper-V hosts support Generation 2 VMs.

Generation 1

Provides the same virtual hardware used in older versions of Hyper-V. Generation 1 VMs supports 32-bit and 64-bit guest operating systems. Generation 1 VMs can access a physical DVD drive.

Restore the virtual machine (use the existing ID)

The import option that is similar to registering; however, it enables you to specify different paths for the files and folders

Register the virtual machine in-place (use the existing ID)

The import option that takes the existing VM and corresponding files and folder structure as it is and registers the VM with the host

Secure Boot

Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) that ensures that each component that is loaded during the boot process is digitally signed and validated. It allows the machine to boot using only software that is trusted by the PC manufacturer or the user and to help prevent malware.

Restore the virtual machine (use the existing unique ID)

Used when you have VM files on other media (external drive, file server, and so on), there is no other VM on the machine that has the same unique ID, and you want Hyper-V to organize the files and register the VM

Copy the virtual machine (create a new unique ID)

Used when you have an exported VM that you are using as a template and want to import many times

Register the virtual machine in place (use the existing unique ID)

Used when you have manually placed the VM files where you want them, there is no other VM on the machine that has the same unique ID, and you just want Hyper-V to register the VM

Hyper-V Resource Metering

a tool that allows you to view the resource usage of a host and individual VMs. In Windows Server 2016, it is activated and viewed with Windows PowerShell.

Copy the virtual machine (create a new unique ID)

•The copy option that will register the VM with a new name and location

Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA)

A computer system architecture that is used with multiprocessor designs that organizes memory into regions; these regions are assigned access latencies, based on how these larger systems' processors and memory are interconnected.

Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip

A dedicated cryptographic processor chip that the computer uses to store the BitLocker encryption keys.

Virtual Machine (VM)

A self-contained, isolated unit that can be easily moved from one physical computer to another, runs its own operating system, and includes its own virtual hardware configuration.

Server settings

Affects all virtual machines that are running on the Hyper-V host. The default setting for the Allow enhanced session mode is set to Disabled on Hyper-V in Windows Server 2016, and is set to Enabled on Windows 10.

Discrete Device Assignment (DDA)

Allows guest virtual machines to communicate directly with PCIe devices.

Hyper-V Volume Shadow Copy Requestor

Allows the Hyper-V host to request the synchronization and backup of a running virtual machine

Hyper-V Guest Shutdown Service

Allows you to shut down a virtual machine without interacting directly with the operating system on the virtual machine via a Windows Management Instrumentation call

Enhanced session mode

Connect to a running VM with the same features as Remote Desktop Services (RDS), even if the virtual machine does not have network connectivity or does not have the Remote Desktop feature enabled on the guest operating system.

User settings

Determines if the Virtual Machine Connection tool attempts to use enhanced session mode.

Hyper-V Guest Service Interface

Enables enhanced session mode communication with virtual machines, including device redirection, shared Clipboard, and drag-and-drop functionality between the Hyper-V host and virtual machines

Hyper-V Remote Desktop Virtualization Service

Enables the Remote Desktop Virtualization Host to communicate with and manage virtual machines that are part of a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) collection

Hyper-V Time Synchronization Service

Synchronizes the time on the virtual machine with the time on the Hyper-V host

Hyper-V Heartbeat Service

Verifies if an operating system that is running on a virtual machine is responding to requests