Getting ready

There are different methods to install Hyper-V. The most common one is through the graphical interface.

To get ready to enable Hyper-V you must be logged on with administrative privileges.

How to do it...

The following steps will demonstrate how to enable the Hyper-V Role for Windows Server and what is changed in the Windows architecture after its installation.

How it works...

The process that you have performed to install Hyper-V is quite simple, but it changes the processor architecture by creating a new privileged layer called ring -1 that runs under the normal layers. The setup process, completed in the previous task, installs the Microsoft Hypervisor on this layer to make sure that Hyper-V has more privilege than Windows itself. Basically, the host operating system runs above the Hypervisor together and at the same level as the virtual machines. The host turns into a special virtual machine containing the virtualization stack, responsible to manage all the virtual machines from it. The following diagram illustrates Hyper-V being installed in the ring -1 and all the partitions running under it.

After the first reboot, the Windows boot (winload.exe) loads the driver (hvboot.sys) responsible to verify the processor that is running and if it supports virtualization. Then the Hypervisor image file is loaded. The host OS and the virtual machines are called partitions. Because they run at the same privileged access above the Hypervisor, the host OS is known as parent partition and the virtual machines are known as child partitions.

There's more...

For automation and fast installation, you can also enable Hyper-V using command lines. You can do that by using the command line ocsetup, Servermanagercmd, or Windows PowerShell.

Add-WindowsFeature Hyper-V

See also