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Configuring the Network on Windows Server with Hyper-V on the HG & Scale Ranges

Stephanie R.
Updated

Learn how to configure the network in Windows Server with Hyper-V.

On the High Grade & SCALE ranges, it is not possible to operate additional IPs in bridged mode (via virtual MACs). It is therefore necessary to configure additional IPs in routed mode or via the vRack.

 

Requirements

NOTE: No virtual MACs should be applied to additional IPs in the OVHcloud Control Panel.

 

Instructions

On these server ranges, there are four network cards. The first two are for the public, and the last two are for the private network. To get all the bandwidth, aggregates must be created.

Additional IP in routed mode on public network interfaces

Explanations

You need to:

  • Set up NIC Teaming.
  • Install the Hyper-V and RRAS roles.
  • Set up RRAS to act as a router.

 

Identify Interfaces and Configure NIC teaming

Open Windows Powershell and execute the command Get-NetAdapter:

PS C:\Windows\system32 Get-NetAdapter

Name                      InterfaceDescription                    ifIndex Status       MacAddress             LinkSpeed
----                      --------------------                    ------- ------       ----------             ---------
Ethernet                  Mellanox ConnectX-5 Adapter                   9 Up           04-3F-72-D5-C3-38        25 Gbps
Ethernet 4                Mellanox ConnectX-5 Adapter #4                7 Up           0C-42-A1-DD-37-B3        25 Gbps
Ethernet 2                Mellanox ConnectX-5 Adapter #2                6 Up           04-3F-72-D5-C3-39        25 Gbps
Ethernet 3                Mellanox ConnectX-5 Adapter #3                4 Up           0C-42-A1-DD-37-B2        25 Gbps

In our example:

  • The public interfaces are Ethernet 3 and Ethernet 4.
  • The private interfaces are Ethernet and Ethernet 2.
Check that your configuration is similar. You can access information on MACs and public or private interfaces in your OVHcloud Control Panel or via the OVHcloud API.

Now go back to the Server Manager, go to Local Server, and click Disabled opposite NIC Teaming.

hypervscale1.png

On the following page, right-click one of the public interfaces identified earlier and click Add to New Team.

hypervscale2.png

Next, give your team a name, add the second interface to the team, expand the Additional Properties, set “Teaming Mode” to LACP, and finally click OK.

 

Configure a static IP

To prevent a connection loss on a reboot we will need to configure the IP statically on the team.

Press Windows Key + R to open a “Run” window. Enter ncpa.cpl and click OK. This will open your Network Connections control panel.

hypervscale3.png

Right-click on the team that you created and click Properties.

hypervscale4.png

Next, double-click on Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4).

hypervscale5.png

Select Use the following IP address and insert your Dedicated Server's IP address.

The “Subnet mask” and “Default gateway” will be 255.255.255.255 and 100.64.0.1 as shown below.

For DNS servers, you can choose your own. For our example, we are using 213.186.33.99 and 8.8.8.8.

Once done, click OK to close the Window, and OK again to close the adapter properties Window.

hypervscale6.png

 

Installing the Hyper-V and RRAS roles

Go to the Server Manager and open the Dashboard, then click on Add roles and features

hypervscale7.png

Go through the Wizard until you reach the Server Roles section and select Hyper-V and Remote Access.

hypervscale8.png

Next, proceed to the Virtual Switches subsection of Hyper-V and select the NIC team that you created earlier.

hypervscale9.png

Next, proceed to the Role Services subsection of Remote Access and select Routing.

hypervscale10.png

Finally, proceed to the Confirmation section, select Restart the destination server automatically if required, and click Install.

 

Creating the virtual switch

With the newest versions of Windows Server, Hyper-V virtual switches on an LBFO-Type Network adapter cluster are deprecated. As such we will need to create the switch manually using Powershell. Run the following command and replace "vSwitch_Name" with the name of your choice and replace "NIC_Team_Name" with the name of the NIC team that you created earlier:

New-VMSwitch -Name "vSwitch_Name" -NetAdapterName "NIC_Team_Name" -AllowNetLbfoTeams $true -AllowManagementOS $true

 

Configure routing and remote access

Open the new application called Routing and Remote Access, right-click on your server, and choose Configure and Enable Routing and Remote Access.

hypervscale11.png

Now, choose Custom configuration and click Next.

hypervscale12.png

Next, you need to select LAN routing and then click Next.

hypervscale14.png

Finally, click on Finish and then Start Service on the pop-up that will appear.

DS_confignetwork_windows_hyper-v_scale-hg01.png

 

Set primary and Additional IP statically on Hyper-V interface

We must now move the IP configuration to the Hyper-V interface.

Press Windows Key + R to open a “Run” window. Enter ncpa.cpl and click OK. This will open your Network Connections control panel.

hypervscale15.png

Right-click on your vEthernet Adapter and click Properties.

hypervscale16.png

Next, double-click on Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4).

hypervscale17.png

Select Use the following IP address and insert your Dedicated Server's IP address.

The “Subnet mask” and “Default gateway” will be 255.255.255.255 and 100.64.0.1 as shown below.

For DNS servers, you can choose your own. For our example, we are using 213.186.33.99 and 8.8.8.8.

hypervscale18.png

Next, click on the Advanced... button and, in the new Window, click Add... under IP addresses.

Add your IP address and subnet mask for your additional IP and click Add.

hypervscale19.png

Once done, click OK to close the Advanced Window, click OK again to close the TCP/IPv4 settings, and finally click OK, to close the adapter properties Window.

NOTE: This step can cause a connection loss. If it occurs, please connect using the IPMI and edit the configuration again. You will find that your default gateway is reverted back to blank. You would need to re-add the gateway of 100.64.0.1.

 

Add a static route

Open a command prompt as administrator and run the command route print interface:

C:\Users\adminroute print interface
===========================================================================
Interface List
 22...0c 42 a1 dd 37 b2 ......Hyper-V Virtual Ethernet Adapter
 10...04 3f 72 d5 c3 38 ......Mellanox ConnectX-5 Adapter
  7...04 3f 72 d5 c3 39 ......Mellanox ConnectX-5 Adapter #2
  1...........................Software Loopback Interface 1
===========================================================================

In our example, you will see that our Hyper-V adapter has an ID of 22.
Take note of your Hyper-V adapter then run the command route add -p 192.xxx.xxx.16 mask 255.255.255.255 0.0.0.0 if 22 (replace the IP and interface ID with the one you received).
You should have the result OK!

PS C:\Users\admin route add -p 192.xxx.xxx.16 mask 255.255.255.255 0.0.0.0 if 22
 OK!

 

Configure your VM

Once you create your VM, go to the settings, select Network Adapter from the left-hand menu, and click Advanced Features.

Set the MAC address to Static and enter the MAC address of the virtual switch.

DS_confignetwork_windows_hyper-v_scale-hg05.png

Set the Static IP address inside your VM to the Additional IP address.

DS_confignetwork_windows_hyper-v_scale-hg06*.png

Your VM should now have internet access.

DS_confignetwork_windows_hyper-v_scale-hg07.png

 

Configuration example of a client VM on Ubuntu

File contents of /etc/netplan/ip.yaml:

network:
        version: 2
        ethernets:
                eth0:
                        dhcp4: no
                        addresses:
                                - 192.xxx.xxx.16/32
                        nameservers:
                                addresses:
                                        - 213.186.33.99
                                        - 8.8.8.8
                        routes:
                                - to: 0.0.0.0/0
                                  via: 100.64.0.1
                                  on-link: true

 

Additional IP via vRack

Requirements

NOTE: The limit on public bandwidth capacity in every location is set to 5Gbps (egress, per region, per vRack network).

 

Explanations

You need to:

  • Create an aggregate.
  • Create a bridge connected to the aggregate.

 

Identify Interfaces and Configure NIC teaming

Open Windows Powershell and Execute the command Get-NetAdapter:

PS C:\Windows\system32 Get-NetAdapter

Name                      InterfaceDescription                    ifIndex Status       MacAddress             LinkSpeed
----                      --------------------                    ------- ------       ----------             ---------
Ethernet                  Mellanox ConnectX-5 Adapter                   9 Up           04-3F-72-D5-C3-38        25 Gbps
Ethernet 4                Mellanox ConnectX-5 Adapter #4                7 Up           0C-42-A1-DD-37-B3        25 Gbps
Ethernet 2                Mellanox ConnectX-5 Adapter #2                6 Up           04-3F-72-D5-C3-39        25 Gbps
Ethernet 3                Mellanox ConnectX-5 Adapter #3                4 Up           0C-42-A1-DD-37-B2        25 Gbps

In our example:

  • The public interfaces are Ethernet 3 and Ethernet 4.
  • The private interfaces are Ethernet and Ethernet 2.
Check that your configuration is similar. You can access information on MACs and public or private interfaces in your OVHcloud Control Panel or via the OVHcloud API.

Now go back to the Server Manager, go to Local Server, and click on Disabled besides NIC Teaming.

hypervscale20.png

On the following page, right-click one of the private interfaces identified earlier and click Add to New Team.

hypervscale21.png

Next, give your team a name, add the second interface to the team, expand the Additional Properties set “Teaming Mode” to LACP, and finally click OK.

 

Create the virtual switch via Powershell

We will need to create a virtual switch that will link our VMs to the Team that we created.

First, open Powershell as an admin and run the following command. Replace "vSwitch_Name" with the name of your choice and replace "NIC_Team_Name" with the name of the NIC team that you created earlier:

New-VMSwitch -Name "vSwitch_Name" -NetAdapterName "NIC_Team_Name" -AllowNetLbfoTeams $true -AllowManagementOS $true

You are now ready to create your VM and configure the network for it.

Once the VM is created go to the Hyper-V Manager and open the settings for your VM. Select Virtual and then choose your vSwitch, in this case "vSwitchScale."

DS_confignetwork_windows_hyper-v_scale-hg03.png

 

Create the virtual switch in Hyper-V Manager

We will need to create a virtual switch that will link our VMs to the Team that we created.

First, open the Hyper-V Manager and click on Virtual Switch Manager.

hypervscale22.png

On this page, make sure you have External selected and click Create Virtual Switch.

hypervscale23.png

Now, give your switch a name, choose your new Team adapter, then click Apply and then OK.

hypervscale24.png

You are now ready to create your VM and configure the network for it.

 

Configure a usable IP address

For vRack, the first, penultimate, and last addresses in a given IP block are always reserved for the network address, network gateway, and network broadcast respectively. This means that the first usable address is the second address in the block, as shown below:

51.81.3.240 # Reserved: network address
51.81.3.241 # First usable IP
51.81.3.242
51.81.3.243
51.81.3.244
51.81.3.245 # Last usable IP
51.81.3.246 # Reserved: network/default gateway
51.81.3.247 # Reserved: network broadcast

To configure the first usable IP address, you must edit the network configuration file as shown below. In this example, we use a subnet mask of 255.255.255.248.

The subnet mask used in this example is appropriate for our IP block. Your subnet mask may differ depending on the size of your block. When you purchase your IP block, you will receive an email notifying you of the subnet mask to use.

 

Windows-19 VM network configuration

In this example, enter one of the usable IP addresses in your block as the IP address and the second to last IP in your block as the Default gateway.

DS_confignetwork_windows_hyper-v_scale-hg04.png

 

Configuration example of a client VM on Ubuntu

Create a vrack.yaml file under /etc/netplan/vrack.yaml.

Content of the file /etc/netplan/vrack.yaml:

network:
        version: 2
        ethernets:
                eth0:
                        dhcp4: no
                        addresses:
                                - 51.81.3.245/29  #Any of your usable IPs
                        nameservers:
                                addresses:
                                        - 213.186.33.99
                                        - 8.8.8.8
                        routes:
                                - to: 0.0.0.0/0
                                  via: 51.81.3.246 #The default gateway
                                  on-link: true

For the netplan configuration changes to take effect, you must reboot the VM or run this command:

sudo netplan apply

 

Go further

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

Article Contributor(s):

  • Suhail R
  • Ashley Osei

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