Hyper-V with Server Core - too hard for VMware to use?
There was an video posted recently showing the difference between setting up Hyper-V with Windows Server Core, and setting up ESX3i. Mike DiPetrillo posted an interesting comment to the effect that the commands that were entered were net new for Windows Server 2008 Core.
I watched the first video and counted one net new command line for Windows Server 2008 (let alone core). The command sequence is something like:
netdom (around since Windows NT 4.0)
shutdown (around since Windows NT 4.0)
netsh (around since Windows 2003)
netdom (see above)
netsh (see above)
ocsetup (Only net new command)
The second video shows setting up the ISCSI storage and I counted no net new command line tools there:
iscsicli (has been available as part of the ISCSI initiator for a while now - it's available for 2K, XP, 2003 - this is first time the iscsi initiator is in the OS) - it is probably fair to say that it's not the most intuitive command line in the world, but it is well documented.
diskpart (been around since Windows XP)
So far from being all net new command lines, we have one net new command line tools, and a bunch that have been around for a while (over ten years in some cases). Guess you'll need to update that MCSE to the new Windows 2008 certification Mike? :)
The great thing about having all this command line stuff available is that it works on both Windows Server Core & Windows Server Full installs, and you can use all this stuff to automate your server builds (or even better, use System Center Configuration Manager to deploy your Windows Server with image based deployment and task sequences).
My question to Mike is this: once I have my host up and running, what extra steps do I have to do to do things like copy my ISO files on there, or copy my gold images on there?
With Windows I browse to my file share and copy them on. It's the Windows you know and love.
What do I have to do to do this on ESX3i? Usually it's getting a SCP tool and copying files on there, then when I want to provision it means logging on to the console (command line) and copying my images around. It's the *nix you might not know or love.
Either that or I deploy System Center Virtual Machine Manager and use that to manage my Hyper-V & VMware environments, and use that to do all my provisioning.
Comments
Anonymous
January 01, 2003
Duncan Maybe it's changed, but when I worked with VMware, the only way to get files on was using SCP, rather than a native Windows copy. That was the point I was trying to get across - I don't have to get an extra tool to get my images onto Hyper-V, it's just native Windows file copies. Cheers StuAnonymous
January 01, 2003
The comment has been removedAnonymous
January 01, 2003
Setting the Record Straight One Post at a Time ... That's the tagline of the Virtual Reality VMWare blog,Anonymous
January 01, 2003
The comment has been removedAnonymous
September 29, 2008
To upload the files, double click or browse your data store and use the upload button for files or folders and select the files to upload.....pretty easy. The deployment of images (without virtual centre) is pretty easy as well. No less difficult that using the net new commands I would guess.. CheersAnonymous
September 29, 2008
Thanks for reading, stufox. Hadn't heard from you in a while. Yes, some of these commands have been around for a while but how often do real admins use them? I guess that's something that neither of us can answer since neither of us are "real admins" in corporate datacenters. I do setup and use a lot (over 10) different VMs on a weekly basis during my testing of various products and troubleshooting stuff and I can count on one hand how much I've used netsh in the past year (all of those instances were with Server Core). Same thing with iscsicli (an ugly command). Most of the time I chose the GUI to set all of that stuff up. I also use Sysprep and unattanded installs a lot - neither of which use these commands. Without Google or a book nearby I wouldn't have a clue how to use some of these. I haven't taken the MCSE tests in a while (since I got 2003 cert) but pretty sure these commands aren't even on there. I think Jame's O'Neil even agrees on this one in his blog: http://blogs.technet.com/jamesone/archive/2008/09/28/server-core-too-dry-and-crunchy.aspx. So here's the question to all the other readers that are admins in real datacenters (large or small) - how much do you use these commands in your work or do you even know them at all?Anonymous
November 07, 2008
I never use these commands, I am only using most of them now because I am setting up a 2008 Core Server and attempting to implement Hyper-V etc.Anonymous
November 17, 2008
Those command lines are effectively new to many of us Stu. Since we don't deal with them on a daily basis since Windows is effectively GUI based. Its nice that Server Core is bringing them to the surface. One counter point about "How do I copy the ISOs over?" With ESXi since I'm running a real enterprise shop and all, I keep all of my ISOs in a central location and run them from there. So from VMware I just mount the location as a datastore (NFS likely in this case). I'd expect I'd do the same for Hyper-V / Server Core / Server 2008 (SMB likely here then). Its silly to copy ISOs around since then I have to manage them and clean them up and update them and do all that fun stuff. That just doesn't make sense.Anonymous
December 05, 2008
If I'm going to memorize a lot of CLI and get certified, you can bet it will be for the CCIE and not the MCSE (this cert has been retired/replaced BTW by the MCITP). Still contemplating whether or not I will certify on 2008. When I was MCSE'ing on 2003 I promised myself it would be the last round.Anonymous
December 05, 2008
So, maybe you've heard of NFS or VMFS. Mounting one of those shared filesystems is as easy as 1 2 3. Copying to VMFS -> WinSCP of FastSCP Prepped GoldImages? Copy Sysprep to VirtualCenter(WINDOWS) and create a template, easy as 1 2 3 again. Sorry, but I hardly see the point you are trying to bring across. Duncan - Yellow-Bricks.com