The primary design goal of the HyperV.NET library is to abstract Hyper-V's WMI provider and present a simplified and strongly typed .NET implementation for managing Hyper-V Virtual Machines. Much of the underlying mechanics have therefore purposefully been abstracted behind private or internal modifiers.
This library targets .NET Framework 4.5 and 5.0 and references the System and System.Management namespaces only.
Only Generation 2 virtual machines can be created.
This has only been tested on Windows Server 2016 and Windows Server 2019 at the moment.
VMMS vmms = new VMMS("hostname");// Define the Virtual Machine
VirtualMachineDefinition virtualMachineDefinition = new VirtualMachineDefinition(
"vmname",
@"C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Hyper-V"
);
virtualMachineDefinition.Memory.Startup = 4096;
virtualMachineDefinition.Processor.Quantity = 2;
virtualMachineDefinition.ScsiControllers[0].Drives[0] = new VirtualHardDrive(new VirtualHardDisk(
VirtualHardDiskFormat.Vhdx,
VirtualHardDiskType.FixedSize,
64,
@"C:\Users\Public\Documents\Hyper-V\Virtual Hard Disks\vmname.vhdx"
));
virtualMachineDefinition.ScsiControllers[0].Drives[1] = new VirtualDvdDrive();
virtualMachineDefinition.NetworkAdapters[0].VirtualSwitch = "VM Switch Name";
virtualMachineDefinition.AutomaticStop.Action = AutomaticStopAction.Shutdown;
// Create the Virtual Machine
vmms.CreateVirtualMachine(virtualMachineDefinition);// Get boot order
BootEntries bootOrder = vmms.GetVirtualMachineBootOrder(virtualMachineDefinition.Name);
// Rearrange boot order
BootEntries newBootOrder = new BootEntries();
newBootOrder.AddRange(bootOrder.Where(bootDevice => bootDevice.DeviceType == BootDeviceType.DvdDrive));
newBootOrder.AddRange(bootOrder.Where(bootDevice => bootDevice.DeviceType == BootDeviceType.File));
newBootOrder.AddRange(bootOrder.Where(bootDevice => bootDevice.DeviceType == BootDeviceType.HardDrive));
newBootOrder.AddRange(bootOrder.Where(bootDevice => bootDevice.DeviceType == BootDeviceType.NetworkAdapter));
newBootOrder.AddRange(bootOrder.Where(bootDevice => bootDevice.DeviceType == BootDeviceType.Unknown));
// Set new boot order
vmms.SetVirtualMachineBootOrder(virtualMachineDefinition.Name, newBootOrder);// Get current state of virtual machine
VirtualMachineState state = vmms.GetVirtualMachineState(virtualMachine.Name);
// If the virtual machine is running, shut it down
if (state == VirtualMachineState.Running)
vmms.ShutDownVirtualMachine(virtualMachine.Name);
// Alternatively, turn off the Virtual Machine
vmms.TurnOffVirtualMachine(virtualMachine.Name);// Delete the virtual machine
vmms.DeleteVirtualMachine("vmname");Developing this library would not have been possible without some important resources.
At least there is some documentation of the Hyper-V WMI provider. It is very sparsely documented and as a result I banged my head against the wall several times trying to put this together. Nevertheless, it is the golden resource.
WMI Explorer is an excellent tool and allowed me to fill the gaps in the aformentioned documentation.
Using a combination of Stephane Thirion's post discussing the issue with the Add-VMTPM Powershell Cmdlet and Luís Henrique Demetrio's useful tidbit on how to get the source code of Powershell Cmdlets using ILspy, I was finally able to get the security settings to work through WMI. The error messages are about as helpful as the documentation!
Nearly all of the configurable settings found in the standard Hyper-V management interface are available when creating a new virtual machine using this library. The following table describes which settings from that dialog can be configured.
| Setting | Available | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| General | ||
| Name | ✔️ Yes | |
| Notes | ✔️ Yes | |
| Configuration Path | ✔️ Yes | |
| Add Hardware | ||
| SCSI Controller | ✔️ Yes | ℹ️ Up to 4 SCSI Controllers can be added. |
| Network Adapter | ✔️ Yes | ℹ️ Up to 8 Network Adapters can be added. |
| RemoteFX 3D Video Adapter | ❌ No | |
| Fibre Channel Adapter | ❌ No | |
| Firmware | ||
| Boot Order | ✔️ Yes | ℹ️ Can be configured after the virtual machine is created. |
| Security | ||
| Secure Boot | ✔️ Yes | |
| Secure Boot Template | ✔️ Yes | |
| Trusted Platform Module | ✔️ Yes | |
| Encrypt Traffic | ✔️ Yes | |
| Shielding | ✔️ Yes | |
| Memory | ||
| Startup RAM | ✔️ Yes | |
| Dynamic Memory | ✔️ Yes | |
| Minimum RAM | ✔️ Yes | |
| Maximum RAM | ✔️ Yes | |
| Memory Buffer | ✔️ Yes | |
| Memory Weight | ✔️ Yes | |
| Processor | ||
| Number of Processors | ✔️ Yes | |
| Processor Reservation | ✔️ Yes | |
| Processor Limit | ✔️ Yes | |
| Processor Weight | ✔️ Yes | |
| Processor Compatibility | ✔️ Yes | |
| NUMA Topology: Processors | ✔️ Yes | |
| NUMA Topology: Memory | ✔️ Yes | |
| NUMA Topology: Nodes | ✔️ Yes | |
| Hardware Threads per Core | ✔️ Yes | ℹ️ Requires configuration version 8.0 or higher. |
| SCSI Controller | ℹ️ Up to 64 devices per SCSI Controller can be added. | |
| Hard Drive | ||
| Controller | ✔️ Yes | |
| Location | ✔️ Yes | |
| Media: Virtual Hard Disk | ✔️ Yes | |
| Media: Physical Hard Disk | ❌ No | |
| Quality of Service | ✔️ Yes | |
| Minimum IOPS | ✔️ Yes | |
| Maximum IOPS | ✔️ Yes | |
| Policy | ❌ No | |
| Virtual Hard Disk | ||
| Format | ✔️ Yes | |
| Type | ℹ️ Differencing Disks are not supported. | |
| Size | ✔️ Yes | |
| Path | ✔️ Yes | |
| DVD Drive | ||
| Controller | ✔️ Yes | |
| Location | ✔️ Yes | |
| Media: Path | ✔️ Yes | |
| Network Adapter | ||
| Virtual Switch | ✔️ Yes | |
| VLAN | ✔️ Yes | |
| VLAN ID | ✔️ Yes | |
| Bandwidth Management | ✔️ Yes | |
| Minimum Bandwidth | ✔️ Yes | |
| Maximum Bandwidth | ✔️ Yes | |
| Virtual Machine Queue | ✔️ Yes | |
| IPsec Task Offloading | ✔️ Yes | |
| Maximum Offloaded SA | ✔️ Yes | |
| SR-IOV | ✔️ Yes | |
| Dynamic MAC Address | ✔️ Yes | |
| Static MAC Address | ✔️ Yes | |
| MAC Address Spoofing | ✔️ Yes | |
| DHCP Guard | ✔️ Yes | |
| Router Guard | ✔️ Yes | |
| Protected Network | ✔️ Yes | |
| Port Mirroring | ✔️ Yes | |
| NIC Teaming | ✔️ Yes | |
| Device Naming | ✔️ Yes | |
| Integration Services | ||
| Operating System Shutdown | ✔️ Yes | |
| Time Synchronization | ✔️ Yes | |
| Data Exchange | ✔️ Yes | |
| Heartbeat | ✔️ Yes | |
| Backup (Volume Shadow Copy) | ✔️ Yes | |
| Guest Services | ✔️ Yes | |
| Checkpoints | ||
| Enable | ✔️ Yes | |
| Production | ✔️ Yes | |
| Fallback | ✔️ Yes | |
| Standard | ✔️ Yes | |
| Path | ✔️ Yes | |
| Smart Paging | ||
| Path | ✔️ Yes | |
| Automatic Start | ||
| Action | ✔️ Yes | |
| Delay | ✔️ Yes | |
| Automatic Stop | ||
| Action | ✔️ Yes |