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Create and configure a virtual switch with Hyper-V
Learn how to create and configure a virtual switch for use by the Hyper-V host and guest virtual machines. You can use Hyper-V Manager or PowerShell to create and configure your virtual switch.
how-to
fdc8063c-47ce-4448-b445-d7ff9894dc17
roharwoo
robinharwood
12/02/2022

Create and configure a virtual switch with Hyper-V

Applies to: Windows Server 2022, Windows 10, Windows Server 2016, Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2016, Windows Server 2019, Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2019

This article shows you how to create and configure your virtual switch using Hyper-V Manager or PowerShell. A virtual switch allows virtual machines created on Hyper-V hosts to communicate with other computers. When you first install the Hyper-V role on Windows Server, you can optionally create a virtual switch at the same time. To learn more about virtual switches, see Hyper-V Virtual Switch.

For more information about how you can set up your networking infrastructure with Windows Server, review the Networking documentation.

Prerequisites

Before you can create and configure your virtual switch, your computer must meet the following prerequisites:

Create a virtual switch

Once you've completed the prerequisites, you'll be ready to create your virtual switch. In this section, we'll create a basic virtual switch by following these steps.

Hyper-V Manager

Here's how to create a virtual switch using Hyper-V Manager.

  1. Open Hyper-V Manager.

  2. From the Actions pane, select Virtual Switch Manager.

  3. Choose the type of virtual switch, then select Create Virtual Switch.

  4. Enter a name for the virtual switch, then perform one of the following steps.

    1. If you selected external, choose the network adapter (NIC) that you want to use, then select OK.

      You'll be prompted with a warning that the change may disrupt your network connectivity; select Yes if you're happy to continue.

    2. If you selected internal or private, select OK.

PowerShell

Here's how to create a virtual switch using the New-VMSwitch command.

  1. Run PowerShell on your computer in an elevated session.

  2. Find existing network adapters by running the Get-NetAdapter cmdlet. Identify the network adapter name that you want to use for the virtual switch.

    Get-NetAdapter

  3. To create an external virtual switch, run the following commands, replacing the placeholder <value> with your own values.

    New-VMSwitch -Name <switch-name>  -NetAdapterName <netadapter-name>

    Or

    To create an internal or private switch, run the following command. Again, replace <switch-name> with the name of your switch and <switchtype> with either Internal or External.

    New-VMSwitch -Name <switch-name> -SwitchType <switchtype>

For more advanced PowerShell scripts that cover improved or new virtual switch features in Windows Server, see Remote Direct Memory Access and Switch Embedded Teaming.

Management Operating System sharing

An external virtual switch allows your virtual machines to connect to an external network. You can also allow the management operating system to share the same selected network adapter. To begin, follow these steps.

Hyper-V Manager

Here's how to allow the management operating system to share the selected network adapter switch using Hyper-V Manager.

  1. Open Hyper-V Manager.

  2. From the Actions pane, select Virtual Switch Manager.

  3. Select the virtual switch you wish to configure, check the Allow management operating system to share this network adapter and select OK.

    You'll be prompted with a warning that the change may disrupt your network connectivity; select Yes if you're happy to continue.

PowerShell

Here's how to allow a virtual switch to be shared with the management OS using the Set-VMSwitch command.

  1. Run PowerShell on your computer in an elevated session.

  2. To allow a virtual switch to be shared with the management OS, run the following commands. Replace the placeholder <vmswitch name> the name of your virtual switch.

    Set-VMSwitch -Name <vmswitch name> -AllowManagementOS $true

Virtual LAN (VLAN) identification

You can specify the VLAN identification (ID) used by virtual machines network adapters and virtual switches. For virtual switches connected to either an external or internal network you can specify the (VLAN) ID. The VLAN ID number is used by the management operating system and virtual machines communicating through this virtual switch.

You can also configure your virtual switch with other VLAN options, such port mode and the native VLAN ID. For these options, you'll need to use PowerShell and ensure the configuration is compatible with your networks configuration.

To configure the VLAN identification for the switch, follow these steps.

Hyper-V Manager

Here's how to specify the VLAN ID using the Hyper-V Manager.

  1. Open Hyper-V Manager.

  2. From the Actions pane, select Virtual Switch Manager.

  3. Select the virtual switch you wish to configure, check the Enable virtual LAN identification for management operating system.

    1. You can enter any VLAN ID number or leave the default, then select OK.

      You'll be prompted to warn you that the change may disrupt your network connectivity, select Yes if you're happy to continue.

VLAN identifiers should be consistent with your network to ensure compatibility between your computer, virtual machines, and other network devices.

PowerShell

Here's how to set a VLAN identification using the Set-VMNetworkAdapterVlan command.

  1. Run PowerShell on your computer in an elevated session.

  2. To set the VLAN ID to tag traffic and set the port mode to access, run the following commands. Replace the placeholder <vmswitch name> the name of your virtual switch and <id> with your VLAN ID.

    Set-VMNetworkAdapterVlan -ManagementOS -VMNetworkAdapterName <vmswitch name> -Access -VlanId <id>

    Or

    To set port mode to trunk, the native VLAN ID, and allowed VLAN ID list, run the following commands. Replace the placeholder <vmswitch name> the name of your virtual switch and <id> with your VLAN ID. Replace <allowed ids> with a list of allowed VLAN IDs, for example, 200-210.

    $parameters = @{
     ManagementOS = $true
     VMNetworkAdapterName = <vmswitch name>
     Trunk = $true
     NativeVlanId = <id>
     AllowedVlanIdList = <allowed ids>
}
Set-VMNetworkAdapterVlan @parameters

This example above uses splatting to pass parameter values from the $parameters variable to the command. Learn more about Splatting.

Next step

Now you've created and configured your virtual switch, here are other articles to help you continue with Hyper-V.