Overview

Deploy new Windows Server 2019 virtual machines on demand while you drink a beer.

This is a highly opinionated base install specific to my Intel NUC lab. You might find it useful.

Gremlins may appear after dark if used in production environments.

Cheers! 🍻

---

Prerequisites:

• A host Server running - Windows Server 2019 Datacenter with Hyper-V Role
• Adequate storage and memory for builds
• 3 Virtual Switches configured via Hyper-V Manager. Each Virtual Switch will be named:
  • External Switch
  • Internal Switch
  • Private Switch
• Windows Server 2019 ISO from Microsoft Evaluation Center

Optional Cloud Enhancement ☁️🚀🛰

• This can be paired with GitLab or Azure DevOps to yield some fantastic results
• Install a runner from your favorite CI/CD platform of choice, and the deployment process can be performed entirely from any browser 👌

---

Supported Operating Systems:

• Windows Server 2019 Datacenter Evaluation - ServerDatacenterCor
• Windows Server 2019 Datacenter Evaluation (Desktop Experience) - ServerDatacenter

Each new build includes:

• Built from Source each run
• Automatic virtual machine activation
• Configured for use with
  • Ansible
  • Chocolatey
• Lightning fast deploy on modern hardware
  • Desktop Experience , ~10 Minutes
  • Core , ~5 Minutes

---

Getting Started

This is short and sweet, enjoy 😀

New-WindowsServer2019VM.ps1 has minimal options, this may be expanded upon in the future.

• Name
• CPU
• Memory
• Storage
• SwitchName
• WindowsISO
• WindowsEdition
• AdminPassword (Optional)

Security Note: The administrator password will be generated for you if not selected. This will be output to you in plaintext upon build completion in either scenario.

Example Build

.\New-WindowsServer2019VM.ps1 -Name Server01415077 -CPU 2 -Memory 4GB -Storage 40GB -SwitchName 'External Switch' -WindowsISO C:\Temp\17763.737.190906-2324.rs5_release_svc_refresh_SERVER_EVAL_x64FRE_en-us_1.iso -WindowsEdition 'Windows Server 2019 Datacenter Evaluation'

A few moments later

[415077964] - 02/01/2020 20:33:11 - Build Start
[415077964] - 02/01/2020 20:33:11 - Finding Answers
[415077964] - 02/01/2020 20:33:11 - Mixing Server01415077 with Windows Server 2019 Datacenter Evaluation
[415077964] - 02/01/2020 20:35:30 - Setting up Server01415077
[415077964] - 02/01/2020 20:35:30 - Enabling Ansible Management on Server01415077
[415077964] - 02/01/2020 20:35:43 - Installing Chocolatey on Server01415077
[415077964] - 02/01/2020 20:35:53 - Converting Windows Server Evaluation to Full
[415077964] - 02/01/2020 20:36:14 - Restarting Server01415077
[415077964] - 02/01/2020 20:37:18 - Setting AVMA Key on Server01415077
[415077964] - 02/01/2020 20:37:26 - Cleaning up Server01415077
[415077964] - 02/01/2020 20:37:46 - Restarting Server01415077
[415077964] - 02/01/2020 20:37:46 - Server01415077 is now ready
[415077964] - 02/01/2020 20:37:46 - Credentials: Administrator\p/!xPaw6lfIK{g3QLTc(h8S<
[415077964] - 02/01/2020 20:37:46 - Build End
[415077964] - 02/01/2020 20:37:46 - Completed in 4 Minutes

---

Further Notes

• [1] Tested on NUC7i7BNH with NVMe Storage
• Microsoft Virtualization-Documentation