Skip to main content

How to Manage Virtual Machines in Nutanix

Stephanie R.
Updated

Find out how to manage virtual machines in a Nutanix cluster, and how to create and migrate a virtual machine.

Requirements

  • a Nutanix cluster in your OVHcloud account
  • access to the OVHcloud Control Panel
  • You must be connected to Prism Central on the cluster

Overview of Virtual Machine Management in Prism Central

The Nutanix system uses the same interfaces to manage storage and virtualization and it can be installed with multiple hypervisors (Hyper-V, VMware ESXi, AHV). AHV comes with Nutanix without the need to purchase additional licenses for the hypervisor.

The OVHcloud solution is delivered with the AHV hypervisor.

AHV enables:

  • Using virtual machines on Windows and Linux.
  • Migrating virtual machines from one node to another in a cluster.
  • Micro-segmentation and network security between virtual machines using Flow software.

The Move tool makes it easy to migrate existing virtual machines in other environments (ESXi, Hyper-V & AWS) to Nutanix and its AHV hypervisor.

Instructions

The following instructions show the creation of a virtual machine in Windows Server 2022 and the migration of a virtual machine.

Creating a Virtual Machine for a Windows 2022 Operating System

Installing a virtual machine on Windows Server 2022 requires a particular setup because Microsoft does not provide the driver for the AHV hypervisor disk controller.

Creating a Windows Server 2022 VM

In the left-hand menu of Prism Central, expand Compute & Storage and click VMs.

manageVMs01.png

 

Click the Create VM button.

manageVMs02.png

 

Type a name in Name, choose the options in VM Properties, and click Next.

manageVMs03.png

 

Adding a system disk

Click the Attach Disk button.

manageVMs04.png

 

Enter 60 in the Capacity field and click Save to create a 60 GB disk.

manageVMs05.png

 
Adding Windows Server 2022 Installation ISO Image

The image must be imported before it can be used in a new virtual machine.

Click Attach Disk.

manageVMs06.png

 

Change the Type settings to CD-ROM, Operation to Clone from Image, Image to WS2022EN.ISO.

Click Save.

manageVMs07.png

 
Adding an ISO image containing AHV-specific drivers

This image contains the disk controller driver and should also be imported. It is available on the Nutanix website if you have a Nutanix customer account.

Click Attach Disk.

manageVMs08.png

 

Change the Type settings to CD-ROM, Operation to Clone from Image, Image to Nutanix-VirtIO-1.1.7.iso.

Click Save.

manageVMs09.png

 
Network configuration

Click Attach Subnet.

manageVMs10.png

 

Leave the default fields and click Save.

manageVMs11.png

 

Click Next.

manageVMs12.png

 

Select your timezone and click Next.

manageVMs13.png

 

Click Create VM.

manageVMs14.png

 

The newly created virtual machine will then appear in the dashboard.

manageVMs15.png

 

Windows Server 2022 setup

Select the virtual machine on which you want to install Windows Server 2022, by ticking the box to the left of the VM.

manageVMs16.png

 
Powering on the virtual machine

Click the Actions menu then Power ON.

manageVMs17.png

 
Launching the console

Click the Actions menu then Launch Console.

manageVMs18.png

 
Starting the installation

Choose your local settings and click Next.

manageVMs19.png

 

Click Install now.

manageVMs20.png

 

Select Windows Server 2022 Standard (Desktop Experience) and click Next.

manageVMs21.png

 

Review the Microsoft software license terms and conditions, accept them, and click Next.

manageVMs22.png

 

Click Custom: Install Microsoft Server Operating System only (advanced).

manageVMs23.png

 

Click on Load driver.

manageVMs24.png

 

Click Browse.

manageVMs25.png

 

Select the correct folder e:\Windows Server 2022\amd64 and click OK.

manageVMs26.png

 

Select these drivers:

  • Nutanix VirtIO Balloon Driver
  • Nutanix VirtIO Ethernet Adapter
  • Nutanix VirtIO SCSI pass-through controller
  • QEMU FWCfg Device

Click Next.

manageVMs27.png

 

The 60 GB disk will appear, click Next.

manageVMs28.png

 

Enter and confirm the password in both fields and click Finish.

manageVMs29.png

 

Windows Server 2022 and WS2022 specific drivers for the AHV hypervisor have been installed.

manageVMs30.png

 

Installing NGT (Nutanix Guest Tools)

NGT are tools that enable better interaction with Nutanix, particularly in terms of backups and snapshots.

Start the virtual machine console, right-click a CDROM drive, and click Eject.

manageVMs31.png

 

Go back to Prism Central and select the virtual machine.

manageVMs32.png

 

On the Actions menu, click Install NGT.

manageVMs33.png

 

Click Confirm & Enter Password.

manageVMs34.png

 

Click Skip and Mount.

manageVMs35.png

 

Return to the virtual machine console and right-click the CDROM drive containing the NGT.

Click Install Nutanix Guest Tools.

manageVMs36.png

 

Review the terms and conditions, accept them, then click Install.

manageVMs37.png

 

The installation will then begin.

manageVMs38.png

 

Once the installation is complete, close the installation wizard using the Close button.

manageVMs39.png

The installation of a virtual machine on Windows is then complete.

 

Migrating a virtual machine

Migrating a virtual machine involves moving a hot VM from one node to another in a cluster.

If you have several clusters and the appropriate licenses, you can also migrate a VM from one cluster to another.

This guide only shows you how to migrate a VM within the same cluster.

In Prism Central VM Management, click WS2022N.

manageVMs40.png

 

Check which node the VM is currently running on. It is displayed next to Host.

manageVMs41.png

 

Click the More button, then Migrate.

manageVMs42.png

 

Choose a destination node.

manageVMs43.png

 

The name of the new node will appear next to Host if the migration is complete.

manageVMs44.png

 

Go further

For more information and tutorials, please see our other Nutanix support guides or explore the guides for other OVHcloud products and services.

Related articles