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+--- Thread: How do you configure nested virtualization for testing in Hyper-V? (/showthread.php?tid=31)
How do you configure nested virtualization for testing in Hyper-V? - savas - 04-22-2019
Configuring nested virtualization in Hyper-V is pretty straightforward once you wrap your head around it. So, if you’re looking to spin up some test environments within virtual machines themselves, here’s how to get that rolling.
Firstly, you need to make sure that your host machine supports virtualization and that it's enabled in the BIOS. In most cases, you’ll be looking for Intel VT-x or AMD-V, depending on your CPU. After that, boot into Windows and open PowerShell with administrative privileges because a lot of the setup happens through commands there.
Now, the magic happens when you create your virtual machine. If you haven’t already, create a new VM for your testing purposes. It’s pretty standard—just make sure to set it to use a generation 2 virtual machine since nested virtualization only works with that generation. The reason for this is that generation 1 VMs don't support UEFI, which is essential for this feature.
Once your VM is ready, you’ll need to enable the nested virtualization setting. You can do this in PowerShell with a command that modifies the VM’s configuration. You’ll use the Set-VMProcessor cmdlet, which allows you to enable “ExposeVirtualizationExtensions.” This is the part that tells Hyper-V to allow the VM to also function as a hypervisor. The syntax looks something like this:
```powershell
Set-VMProcessor -VMName "YourVMName" -ExposeVirtualizationExtensions $true
```
Replace “YourVMName” with the actual name of your VM, and hit enter. It’s that simple!
After you’ve done this, you’ll want to define some networking options for your nested VMs to communicate, especially if you plan to spin up multiple VMs inside the one you just created. You'll likely want to configure the virtual switch as well. Either use an existing switch or create a new one that your nested VMs can reference to access the network.
Now, here’s where you get to the fun part—installing a hypervisor inside your newly configured nested VM. You can set up Hyper-V again inside that VM pretty much the same way you would on a physical machine. Just go through the same installation process you’re familiar with, and before you know it, you've got a virtualized environment within your hypervisor.
After setting this up, you can test out whatever lab scenarios you had in mind, like simulating different network environments, testing software configurations without messing with your actual setups, or just playing around with various OS installations.
Just keep an eye on the performance; nested virtualization can be resource-intensive, so if things start lagging, consider allocating more resources or tuning your VMs a bit.
It’s pretty cool to see how they all interact, and it opens a lot of doors for testing without touching your main system directly. The flexibility is one of the best parts about using Hyper-V in this nested scenario.
I hope my post was useful. Are you new to Hyper-V and do you have a good Hyper-V backup solution? See my other post