{"id":135,"date":"2006-09-15T20:54:27","date_gmt":"2006-09-16T06:54:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anildesai.net\/?p=135"},"modified":"2009-09-03T20:06:56","modified_gmt":"2009-09-04T01:06:56","slug":"microsoft-virtual-server-from-the-ground-up-part-1-installing-virtual-server","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anildesai.net\/index.php\/2006\/09\/microsoft-virtual-server-from-the-ground-up-part-1-installing-virtual-server\/","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft Virtual Server from the Ground Up, Part 1: Installing Virtual Server"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article was first published on <\/em>SearchServerVirtualization.TechTarget.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Series Introduction<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s hard to read about IT management these days without hearing about virtualization. Chances are good that you\u2019ve heard about the many features and benefits of using virtual machines. But, you might not know how to get started. That\u2019s where this article series comes in.<\/p>\n

Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 is an excellent platform for hosting your VMs, and it\u2019s quick and easy to get started. If you haven\u2019t installed the product and tried it out already, a tutorial that walks through the process \u201cfrom the ground up\u201d might be just what you need to get started. In this series, I\u2019m going to walk through the basics of working with Microsoft Virtual Server 2005. In this article, I\u2019ll begin with the crucial first step: Installing and configuring the product.<\/p>\n

Virtual Server Requirements<\/h2>\n

So, you\u2019ve heard a lot of about virtualization, and you\u2019re convinced that you should give Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 a try. The first question you\u2019re likely to have is, what do I need to be able to run Virtual Server? Without getting into all of the details (which you can find on Microsoft\u2019s Virtual Server System Requirements<\/a> page), you\u2019ll need to be running an edition of Windows Server 2003 (both 32-bit and 64-bit systems are supported) or Windows XP SP2. The latter is recommended for non-production use (such as testing and development), but will work just fine.<\/p>\n

As long as your hardware is supported by your choice of OS, you should be able to run Virtual Server. From a memory standpoint, the rule is simple: The more, the better. And, you\u2019ll need at least a few gigabytes of disk space to host your VMs. Details will be based on how many VMs you plan to support, and the amount of resources they\u2019ll require.<\/p>\n

Virtual Server Architecture<\/h2>\n

In order to fully understand how Virtual Server works, it\u2019s important to take a look at the overall architecture of the product. Figure 1 provides an overview. The first important aspect to note is that the Virtual Server service (which runs within the host OS) is responsible for creating virtual environments in which your Guest OS\u2019s will run. That\u2019s the heart of the product. Like most Windows services, this process can be started and stopped after it is installed.<\/p>\n

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Figure 1: A logical overview of the architecture of Microsoft Virtual Server.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The next important aspect is the Virtual Server Administration Web Site \u2013 the primary method by which you will interact with the Virtual Server service. This site runs within Internet Information Services (IIS). In the default configuration (which we\u2019ll cover in this article), you will need to have IIS installed on the machine on which the Virtual Server service is installed. It is also possible to install the Administration Web Site on another computer for security, performance, or management purposes.<\/p>\n

Installing Virtual Server<\/h2>\n

OK, enough of the background \u2013 let\u2019s get to the hands-on portion. With all of the pre-requisites out of the way, it\u2019s time to walk through the process of actually installing the Virtual Server product. You can obtain the Virtual Server installation package as a free download from the Microsoft Virtual Server<\/a> web site. Start the installation process by running the executable on that computer on which you want to install the Virtual Server service.<\/p>\n

One quick warning: During the installation process, the host computer\u2019s network connection will be dropped and then reconnected. Usually, the interruption is short (and a Remote Desktop session should automatically recover), but keep this in mind if you\u2019re in the middle of transferring a 42GB file over the network.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a guided tour of the setup process (I\u2019ve omitted \u201ceasy\u201d questions like user name and company):<\/p>\n

1) Setup Type<\/strong>: In general, you\u2019ll want to choose the Complete option, which will install the Virtual Server service, documentation, and the Virtual Server Administration Web Site. If you are planning to support numerous Virtual Server installations, you might choose not to install the Virtual Server Administration Web Site or other components by using the Custom option.<\/p>\n

2) Configure Components<\/strong>: On this screen (shown in Figure 2), you must specify the TCP port number on which the Virtual Server Administration Web Site will respond. The default (TCP port 1024) is applicable to most installations. If you change it from the default, all users of the site will need to be made aware of the port number in order to connect. If you\u2019re installing on Windows XP, you will not be given a choice of port numbers (since the Windows XP version of IIS only supports a single web site). Instead, a new virtual directory will be created.<\/p>\n

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Figure 2: Specifying the TCP port for the Virtual Server Administration Web Site.<\/strong><\/p>\n

You must also specify the security context under which the Administration Web Site will run. The recommendation is to run as the authenticated user, which means that the site will have the permissions of the user that is connecting. This is the simplest option for most installations. If you need to use constrained delegation (which allows you to access and share resources across multiple servers), you can choose the \u201cLocal System Account\u201d option. Rest assured that you can change these settings later.<\/p>\n

3) Windows Firewall Exceptions<\/strong>: The installation process will offer to place exceptions in the Windows Firewall list to support the configuration. Unless you\u2019re planning to administer Virtual Server only from the local machine, it\u2019s a good idea to accept the offer.<\/p>\n

4) Installation Summary<\/strong>: Once you\u2019ve completed the installation, you\u2019ll see an Installation Summary page (see Figure 3). Be sure to make a note of the URL for the Virtual Server Administration Web Site. Other users will need this information to connect to administer the server from another computer.<\/p>\n

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Figure 3: Viewing the Virtual Server Installation Summary page.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you want to remove Virtual Server for some reason, you can do this using the Add\/Remove Programs applet. The process won\u2019t delete your virtual machine files, but it will uninstall the Virtual Server service and the Administration web site. As you can see, the process couldn\u2019t be much simpler.<\/p>\n

Connecting to the Virtual Server Administration Web Site<\/h2>\n

To verify that the installation is working properly, you can use the \u201cVirtual Server Administration Web Site\u201d link in the Microsoft Virtual Server program group, or you can open an instance of Internet Explorer and navigate to the site\u2019s URL directly. Figure 4 shows a typical display that includes some VMs. Note that, the site uses ActiveX controls and IE-specific settings, so you\u2019ll need to use this browser for administration. When connecting, you\u2019ll be prompted for authentication information, and any domain or local user that has permissions to connect to the site will be able to continue.<\/p>\n

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Figure 4: Accessing the Virtual Server Administration Web Site<\/strong><\/p>\n

During installation, the setup process creates a new \u201cVirtual Server\u201d event log, which you can view using the Administration Web Site or through the Windows Event Viewer application. It\u2019s a good idea to look for any warnings and errors that might have occurred during the installation process. In most cases, though, you\u2019ll be all set to start working with the server right away.<\/p>\n

In the next article in this series, I\u2019ll cover details related to configuring Virtual Server and (the point of all of this): Creating your first VM.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article was first published on SearchServerVirtualization.TechTarget.com. Series Introduction It\u2019s hard to read about IT management these days without hearing about virtualization. Chances are good that you\u2019ve heard about the many features and benefits of using virtual machines. But, you might not know how to get started. That\u2019s where this article series comes in. Microsoft […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-microsoft-virtual-server","category-virtualization"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anildesai.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anildesai.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anildesai.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anildesai.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anildesai.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/anildesai.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":381,"href":"https:\/\/anildesai.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135\/revisions\/381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anildesai.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anildesai.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anildesai.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}