Mr Hicks script did almost exactly what I wanted, except he is building from an ISO image. I wanted a fully updated image that was ready to go. This means creating a template and syspreping the system. Now that I have a fully updated Server 2012 R2 vhdx image we can modify the script to use a copy of this as the base for our new systems.
Possible Feature enhancements
- Currently this script needs to be run from the Hyper-V host, but I plan on improving it to run remotely
- Add a loop to create multiple machines at once
- Expand the menu to include Win7, Win8.1, Win10, Server 2008 R2, Server 2016 images
The Script
#requires -version 3.0
<#
.Synopsis
Provision a new Hyper-V virtual machine based on a template
.Description
This script will create a new Hyper-V virtual machine based on a template or
hardware profile. You can create a small, medium or large virtual machine. All
virtual machines will use the same virtual switch and the same paths for the
virtual machine and VHDX file.
This script requires the Hyper-V 3.0 PowerShell module.
Credit goes to Jeffery Hicks
http://www.altaro.com/hyper-v/create-virtual-machine-from-template-powershell/
.Example
PS C:\Scripts\> .\New-VMFromTemplate lab101 -VMType small -passthru
Name State CPUUsage(%) MemoryAssigned(M) Uptime Status
---- ----- ----------- ----------------- ------ ------
lab101 Off 0 0 00:00:00 Operating normally
.Link
New-VM
Set-VM
#>
[cmdletbinding(SupportsShouldProcess)]
Param(
[Parameter(Position=0,Mandatory,HelpMessage="Enter the name of your new virtual machine")]
[ValidateNotNullOrEmpty()]
[string]$VMName,
[ValidateSet("small","medium","large")]
[string]$VMType="small",
[switch]$Passthru
)
#define parameter values based on VM Type
Switch ($VMType) {
"small" {
$MemoryStartup=2048MB
$VHDSize=150GB
$ProcCount=1
$MemoryMinimum=512MB
$MemoryMaximum=4096MB
}
"medium" {
$MemoryStartup=4096MB
$VHDSize=200GB
$ProcCount=2
$MemoryMinimum=1024MB
$MemoryMaximum=8192MB
}
"large" {
$MemoryStartup=8192MB
$VHDSize=200GB
$ProcCount=4
$MemoryMinimum=4096MB
$MemoryMaximum=16GB
}
} #end switch
Write-Verbose "Creating new $VMType virtual machine"
$SwitchName = "v207"
$VMRoot = "D:\Hyper-V"
$VMPath = "${VMRoot}\${VMName}"
$VHDimage = "D:\sysadmin\images\Server2012R2.vhdx"
$VHDPath = "${VMPath}\Virtual Hard Disks\"
$VHDName = "${VMPath}\Virtual Hard Disks\${VMName}.vhdx"
mkdir $VHDPath
Convert-VHD -Path $VHDimage -DestinationPath $VHDName
#define a hash table of parameters for New-VM
$newParam = @{
Name=$VMName
SwitchName=$SwitchName
MemoryStartupBytes=$MemoryStartup
Generation=2
Path=$VMRoot
VHDPath=$VHDName
ErrorAction="Stop"
}
#define a hash table of parameters for Set-VM
$setParam = @{
ProcessorCount=$ProcCount
DynamicMemory=$True
MemoryMinimumBytes=$MemoryMinimum
MemoryMaximumBytes=$MemoryMaximum
ErrorAction="Stop"
}
if ($Passthru) {
$setParam.Add("Passthru",$True)
}
Try {
Write-Verbose "Creating new virtual machine"
Write-Verbose ($newParam | out-string)
$VM = New-VM @newparam
}
Catch {
Write-Warning "Failed to create virtual machine $Name"
Write-Warning $_.Exception.Message
#bail out
Return
}
if ($VM) {
Try {
Write-Verbose "Configuring new virtual machine"
Write-Verbose ($setParam | out-string)
$VM | Set-VM @setparam
}
Catch {
Write-Warning "Failed to configure virtual machine $Name"
Write-Warning $_.Exception.Message
#bail out
Return
}
}
