With the introduction of nested virtualization support in Azure back in 2017, Microsoft opened the door to a number of new and interesting scenarios. Nested virtualization in Azure is particularly useful for validating configurations that would require additional hardware in your environment, such as running Hyper-V hosts and clusters.
In this guide, you'll walk through the steps to stand up an Azure Stack HCI 21H2 infrastructure. At a high level, this will consist of deploying an Azure VM, running Windows Server 2019, to act as your main Hyper-V host - this will be automatically configured with the relevant roles and features needed for this guide. It will also download all required binaries, and deploy 2 Azure Stack HCI 21H2 nodes, ready for clustering.
- Overview
- Contents
- Architecture
- Important Note
- Get an Azure subscription
- Azure VM Size Considerations
- Deploying the Azure VM
- Access your Azure VM
- Please Read - Finish Setup
- Next Steps
- Troubleshooting
- Product improvements
- Raising issues
From an architecture perspective, the following graphic showcases the different layers and interconnections between the different components:
The outer box represents the Azure Resource Group, which will contain all of the artifacts deployed in Azure, including the virtual machine itself, and accompaying network adapter, storage and so on. You'll deploy an Azure VM running Windows Server 2019 Datacenter. On top of this, you'll run a 2-node Azure Stack HCI 21H2 cluster.
The steps outlined in this guide are specific to running inside an Azure VM, running on a single Windows Server 2019 OS. If you plan to use these steps in an alternative environment, such as one nested/physical on-premises, the steps may differ and certain procedures may not work. If that is the case, please refer to the official documentation.
To evaluate Azure Stack HCI 21H2 in Azure, you'll need an Azure subscription. If you already have one provided by your company, you can skip this step, but if not, you have a couple of options.
The first option would apply to Visual Studio subscribers, where you can use Azure at no extra charge. With your monthly Azure DevTest individual credit, Azure is your personal sandbox for dev/test. You can provision virtual machines, cloud services, and other Azure resources. Credit amounts vary by subscription level, but if you manage your AzSHCIHost VM run-time efficiently, you can test the scenario well within your subscription limits.
The second option would be to sign up for a free trial, which gives you $200 credit for the first 30 days, and 12 months of popular services for free.
NOTE - The free trial subscription provides $200 for your usage, however the largest individual VM you can create is capped at 4 vCPUs, which is not enough to run this sandbox environment. Once you have signed up for the free trial, you can upgrade this to a pay as you go subscription and this will allow you to keep your remaining credit ($200 to start with) for the full 30 days from when you signed up. You will also be able to deploy VMs with greater than 4 vCPUs.
You can also use this same Azure subscription to integrate with Azure Arc, once the deployment is completed.
Now, before you deploy the VM in Azure, it's important to choose a size that's appropriate for your needs for this workshop, along with a preferred region. It's highly recommended to choose a VM size that has at least 64GB memory. This deployment, by default, recommends using a Standard_E16s_v4, which is a memory-optimized VM size, with 16 vCPUs, 128 GiB memory, and no temporary SSD storage. The OS drive will be the default 127 GiB in size and the Azure VM deployment will add an additional 8 data disks (32 GiB each by default), so you'll have around 256GiB to deploy Azure Stack HCI 21H2. You can also make this larger after deployment, if you wish.
This is just one VM size that we recommend - you can adjust accordingly to suit your needs, even after deployment. The point here is, think about how large an Azure Stack HCI 21H2 infrastructure you'd like to deploy inside this Azure VM, and select an Azure VM size from there. Some potential examples would be:
D-series VMs (General purpose) with at least 64GB memory
| Size | vCPU | Memory: GiB | Temp storage (SSD): GiB | Premium Storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard_D16s_v3 | 16 | 64 | 128 | Yes |
| Standard_D16_v4 | 16 | 64 | 0 | No |
| Standard_D16s_v4 | 16 | 64 | 0 | Yes |
| Standard_D16d_v4 | 16 | 64 | 600 | No |
| Standard_D16ds_v4 | 16 | 64 | 600 | Yes |
For reference, the Standard_D16s_v4 VM size costs approximately US $0.77 per hour based on East US region, under a Visual Studio subscription.
E-series VMs (Memory optimized - Recommended for this Hybrid Workshop) with at least 64GB memory
| Size | vCPU | Memory: GiB | Temp storage (SSD): GiB | Premium Storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard_E8s_v3 | 8 | 64 | 128 | Yes |
| Standard_E8_v4 | 8 | 64 | 0 | No |
| Standard_E8s_v4 | 8 | 64 | 0 | Yes |
| Standard_E8d_v4 | 8 | 64 | 300 | No |
| Standard_E8ds_v4 | 8 | 64 | 300 | Yes |
| Standard_E16s_v3 | 16 | 128 | 256 | Yes |
| Standard_E16s_v4 | 16 | 128 | 0 | Yes |
| Standard_E16d_v4 | 16 | 128 | 600 | No |
| Standard_E16ds_v4 | 16 | 128 | 600 | Yes |
For reference, the Standard_E8s_v4 VM size costs approximately US $0.50 per hour based on East US region, under a Visual Studio subscription.
NOTE 1 - A number of these VM sizes include temp storage, which offers high performance, but is not persistent through reboots, Azure host migrations and more. It's therefore advisable, that if you are going to be running the Azure VM for a period of time, but shutting down frequently, that you choose a VM size with no temp storage, and ensure your nested VMs are placed on the persistent data drive within the OS.
NOTE 2 - It's strongly recommended that you choose a VM size that supports premium storage - when running nested virtual machines, increasing the number of available IOPS can have a significant impact on performance, hence choosing premium storage over Standard HDD or Standard SSD, is strongly advised. Refer to the table above to make the most appropriate selection.
NOTE 3 - Please ensure that whichever VM size you choose, it supports nested virtualization and is available in your chosen region.
The guidance below provides a simple template-based option for deploying the Azure VM. The template deployment will be automated to the point of which you can proceed immediately to start creating your Azure Stack HCI 21H2 cluster, and progress through your workshop.
As part of the deployment, the following steps will be automated for you:
- A Windows Server 2019 Datacenter VM will be deployed in Azure
- 8 x 32GiB (by default) Azure Managed Disks will be attached and provisioned with a Simple Storage Space for optimal nested VM performance
- The Hyper-V role and management tools will be installed and configured
- An Internal vSwitch will be created and NAT configured to enable outbound networking
- The DNS role and accompanying management tools will be installed and DNS fully configured
- The DHCP role and accompanying management tools will be installed and DHCP fully configured. DHCP Scope will be enabled
- Windows Admin Center will be installed and pre-installed extensions updated
- The Microsoft Edge browser will be installed
- The Azure Stack HCI 21H2 binaries will be downloaded
- 2 x Azure Stack HCI 21H2 nodes will be created and deployed, ready to start cluster creation
This automated deployment should take around 50 minutes, due to the image creation of the Azure Stack HCI 21H2 nodes - these are created, offline patched and deployed, which takes time.
To keep things simple, and graphical, we'll show you how to deploy your VM via an Azure Resource Manager template. To simplify things further, we'll use the following buttons.
Firstly, the Visualize button will launch the ARMVIZ designer view, where you will see a graphic representing the core components of the deployment, including the VM, NIC, disk and more. If you want to open this in a new tab, hold CTRL when you click the button.
Secondly, the Deploy to Azure button, when clicked, will take you directly to the Azure portal, and upon login, provide you with a form to complete. If you want to open this in a new tab, hold CTRL when you click the button.
Upon clicking the Deploy to Azure button, enter the details, which should look something similar to those shown below, and click Purchase.
NOTE - For customers with Software Assurance, Azure Hybrid Benefit for Windows Server allows you to use your on-premises Windows Server licenses and run Windows virtual machines on Azure at a reduced cost. By selecting Yes for the "Already have a Windows Server License", you confirm I have an eligible Windows Server license with Software Assurance or Windows Server subscription to apply this Azure Hybrid Benefit and have reviewed the Azure hybrid benefit compliance
The custom template will be validated, and if all of your entries are correct, you can click Create. Within a few minutes, your VM will be created.
If you chose to enable the auto-shutdown for the VM, and supplied a time, and time zone, but want to also add a notification alert, simply click on the Go to resource group button and then perform the following steps:
- In the Resource group overview blade, click the AzSHCIHost001 virtual machine
- Once on the overview blade for your VM, scroll down on the left-hand navigation, and click on Auto-shutdown
- Ensure the Enabled slider is still set to On and that your time and time zone information is correct
- Click Yes to enable notifications, and enter a Webhook URL, or Email address
- Click Save
You'll now be notified when the VM has been successfully shut down as the requested time.
With that completed, skip on to connecting to your Azure VM
If your Azure VM fails to deploy successfully, and the error relates to the AzSHCIHost001/ConfigureAzSHCIHost PowerShell DSC extension, please refer to the troubleshooting steps below.
With your Azure VM (HybridHost001) successfully deployed and configured, you're ready to connect to the VM to start the deployment of the Azure Stack HCI 21H2.
Firstly, you'll need to connect into the VM, with the easiest approach being via Remote Desktop. If you're not already logged into the Azure portal, visit https://portal.azure.com/, and login with the same credentials used earlier. Once logged in, using the search box on the dashboard, enter "azshcihost" and once the results are returned, click on your AzSHCIHost001 virtual machine.
Once you're on the Overview blade for your VM, along the top of the blade, click on Connect and from the drop-down options.
Select RDP. On the newly opened Connect blade, ensure the Public IP is selected. Ensure the RDP port matches what you provided at deployment time. By default, this should be 3389. Then click Download RDP File and select a suitable folder to store the .rdp file.
Once downloaded, locate the .rdp file on your local machine, and double-click to open it. Click connect and when prompted, enter the credentials you supplied when creating the VM earlier. NOTE, this should be a domain account, which by default, is azshci\azureuser.
Username: azshci\azureuser Password: password-you-used-at-VM-deployment-time
Accept any certificate prompts, and within a few moments, you should be successfully logged into the Windows Server 2019 VM.
Once the Azure VM deployment process has completed, your Azure Stack HCI 21H2 nodes are still processing changes, including adding roles and features inside the nested hosts. Please allow ~5 minutes for this process to complete and stabilize.
You can then optionally shut down your Azure VM, should you wish to continue your evaluation on another day.
In this step, you've successfully created and automatically configured your Azure VM, which will serve as the host for your Azure Stack HCI 21H2. You're now ready to move on to the next step.
From time to time, a transient, random deployment error may cause the Azure VM to show a failed deployment. This is typically caused by reboots and timeouts within the VM as part of the PowerShell DSC configuration process, in particular, when the Hyper-V role is enabled and the system reboots multiple times in quick succession. We've also seen instances where changes with Chocolatey Package Manager cause deployment issues.
If the error is related to the AzSHCIHost001/ConfigureAzSHCIHost, most likely the installation did complete successfully in the end, but to double-check, you can perform these steps:
- Follow the steps above to connect to your Azure VM
- Once successfully connected, open a PowerShell console as administrator and run the following command to confirm the status of the last run:
# Check for last run
Get-DscConfigurationStatusNOTE - if you receive an error message similar to "Get-DscConfigurationStatus : Cannot invoke the Get-DscConfigurationStatus cmdlet. The <Some DSC Process> cmdlet is in progress and must return before Get-DscConfigurationStatus can be invoked" you will need to wait until the current DSC process has completed. Once completed, you should be able to successfully run the command.
- When you run Get-DscConfigurationStatus, if you get a status of Failure you can re-run the DSC configuration by running the following commands:
cd "C:\Packages\Plugins\Microsoft.Powershell.DSC\*\DSCWork\azshcihost.0\AzSHCIHost"
Set-DscLocalConfigurationManager -Path . -Force
Start-DscConfiguration -Path . -Wait -Force -Verbose- Depending on where the initial failure happened, your VM may reboot and you will be disconnected. If that's the case, log back into the VM and wait for deployment to complete. See #2 above to check progress. Generally speaking, once you see the Edge and Windows Admin Center icons on your desktop, the process has completed.
- If all goes well, you should see the DSC configuration reapplied without issues. If you then re-run the following PowerShell command, you should see success, with over 100 resources deployed/configured.
# Check for last run
Get-DscConfigurationStatus
NOTE - If this doesn't fix your issue, consider redeploying your Azure VM. If the issue persists, please raise an issue!
If, while you work through this guide, you have an idea to make the product better, whether it's something in Azure Stack HCI, Windows Admin Center, or the Azure Arc integration and experience, let us know! We want to hear from you!
For Azure Stack HCI, Head on over to the Azure Stack HCI 21H2 Q&A forum, where you can share your thoughts and ideas about making the technologies better and raise an issue if you're having trouble with the technology.
If you notice something is wrong with this guide, such as a step isn't working, or something just doesn't make sense - help us to make this guide better! Raise an issue in GitHub, and we'll be sure to fix this as quickly as possible!
If you're having an issue with Azure Stack HCI 21H2 outside of this guide, head on over to the Azure Stack HCI 21H2 Q&A forum, where Microsoft experts and valuable members of the community will do their best to help you.