nested virtualization Archives - Apostolidis Cloud Corner

VMWare Workstation Player on Azure VM for testing

Pantelis Apostolidis — Thu, 19 Nov 2020 10:20:55 +0000

VMWare Workstation Player on Azure VM for testing | Updated September 2021

I had a request to run VMWare Workstation Player on an Azure VM for some testing and labs. Challenge accepted!

UPDATE: Since version 15.5, VMware Workstation & Player Supports Host Hyper-V Mode. Find out more here & here

Demo environment:

Azure VM Standard E4s_v4 Gen 1 running Windows 10 2004 Enterprise

I tested it also with Windows 10 20H2 Enterprise, and since the Hyper-V mode is supported, it should run at all Windows Client & Server OSs that support nested virtualization and to all E_v4 & D_v4 Azure VM Serries.

To enable the Hyper-V Mode Support we need first to enable Hyper-V at the Windows Host via the add/remove features GUIor PowerShell

Via PowerShell Run:

Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName HypervisorPlatform -All
Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Hyper-V -All

and restart

Installed VMWare Workstation Player 16.0 free for non-commercial use, download from here: VMware Workstation Player – VMware Customer Connect

After the installation, I opened the VMWare Workstation Player and I managed to set up and run a Windows 10 VM.

Pantelis Apostolidis

Pantelis Apostolidis is a Sr. Specialist, Azure at Microsoft and a former Microsoft Azure MVP. For the last 20 years, Pantelis has been involved to major cloud projects in Greece and abroad, helping companies to adopt and deploy cloud technologies, driving business value. He is entitled to a lot of Microsoft Expert Certifications, demonstrating his proven experience in delivering high quality solutions. He is an author, blogger and he is acting as a spokesperson for conferences, workshops and webinars. He is also an active member of several communities as a moderator in azureheads.gr and autoexec.gr. Follow him on Twitter @papostolidis.

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VirtualBox on Azure VM for testing or run Old apps

Pantelis Apostolidis — Sun, 10 May 2020 12:47:44 +0000

VirtualBox on Azure VM for testing or run Old apps

This article is about testing VirtualBox on Azure VM, the open-ource virtualization platform of Oracle. For the official nested virtualization support in Microsoft Azure please use the Nested Virtualization feature. You can find more info at my post serries about Nested Virtualization here: https://www.e-apostolidis.gr/tag/nested-virtualization/

Virtualization has great interest and value to the information systems ecosystem. As a sence, Virtualization, refers to running two or more operating systems one one physical PC. Either the multiple operating systems run side-by-side, with a separate piece of software called a hypervisor used to manage them, or one operating system runs the other operating systems within program windows. The former is usually limited to servers, with the latter finding common use on desktop computers.

Microsoft Azure offers virtualization layer access at the following series Virtual Machines:

D_v3
Ds_v3
E_v3
Es_v3
F2s_v2
M 160

You can find out excactly the VM sizes that supports Virtualization at the official documentation: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/acu

Why VM virtualization on Azure?

Virtualization allows to run Old Applications, that need Operating Systems that are not officialy supported on Azure. If you have an old app that is preventing your jurney to Microsoft Azure then you can transfer your old machine that runs this application directly on Azure. Of cource you can use it for testing purposes!

Step by Step Guide

For my test I am using a Standard D2s v3 (2 vcpus, 8 GiB memory) Azure VM running Windows Server 2012 R2, as it is the most ligh Windows OS to run virtualization on Azure. You can also use Windows 10, WIndows Server 2016 & WIndows Server 2019.

Download the latest VirtualBox from the Official site, https://www.virtualbox.org/, currently 6.1

Install it with all default settings. Press yes at the Network Interfaces warning and proceed.

After the installation open the VirtualBox interface. You can add a previous created Virtual Machine from your on-premises VM, or you can create a New one.

For my test I downloaded a Windows Server 2003 Standard x86 image from my Visual Studio Subscription. Yes you can still download official Windows Server 2003 🙂

Create a new VirtualBox Virtual Machine, and select Microsoft Windows 2003 32-bit. I provided 4096 GB Ram, since it is 32-bit.

My VMs Hardware details:

Open the VM and at the “Optical Disk Selector” promt press Add and select the OS iso

And a tear droped… Windows Server 2003 setup screen, on a Virtual Machine on Azure… That runs Windows Server 2012 R2…

Networking

VirtualBox has already created a new Network Interface Card to use for the VirtualBox Virtual Machines.

You will see two IP configuration. The Ethernet adapter “Ehternet” shows the IP address of the Azure VM and the “VirtualBox Host-Only Network” shows the IP subnet that will be used for the nested VMs

Since we are inside an Azure Virtual Machine we need to use Network Address Translation to forward the traffic inside our VM. This will allow you to conenct directly to the VirtualBox VM directly from internet. This can be used for publishing a Web Service, Web Site, RDP or any other service that needs to be published from the VirtualBox nested VM.

To manage the Port Forwarding from the Host VM (Azure VM) to the Guest VM (VirtualBox VM) open the VirtualBox Preferences and go to Network

Add an Interface, add a Nertwork CIDR (the network subnet that you want the guest VMs to have) and press Port Forwarding

Now, close the VirtualBox preferences and open the VM settings and go to Network. At the Adapter 1 go select “NAT Network” and select the “NATNetwork”

After this close the VM’s settings and login to the VM. Check the IP configuration (for windows use the cms ipconfig) and you will see that the VM has been assigned an IP from the 172.16.1.0/24 range that we added at the VirtualBox NAT network. My VM has the 172.16.1.4 IP address. Note this.

Lets go back to the VirtualBox Preferences -> Network -> Edit the NatNetwork -> Port Forwarding and add a rule to forward the 443 port from the Host VM (Azure VM) to the Guest VM (VirtualBox VM).

in my example I use Prt Forward for HTTP, HTTPS & RDP. I forward HTTP & HTTPS directly but since the RDP port 3389 is already used by the Azure VM, I use 43389 Port from Azure VM to the 3389 port of the Guest VM.

Those are my rules:

There are three places that you need to open the spesified ports in order to allow the conenction to reach the VirtualBox VM. Below I will go trough the process of opening the HTTPS port 443. The same is for all other ports.

Azure Network Security Group (NSG)
Azure VM Windows Firewall
VirtualBox VM Windows Firewall

1. Go to the Azure Portal, find the Network Security Group that protects the Public IP of the Azure VM and add an inbound security rule to allow access from Any source, any port, to the IP address of the Azure VM that hosts the VirutalBox and destination port 443 (for the HTTPS Web Service)

2. At the Azure VM open the Windows Firewall and add an inbound rule to allow port 443 any to any.

3. At the VirtualBox VM open the Windows Firewall and add an exception for Port 443

To test the conenctivity I just added the Application server role at my VirtualBox VM. This will publish the default IIS web page

Once the web server is ready, from my laptop I try to access the web page, usign the Public IP address of the Azure VM using https using my browser

https://104.214.233.164/

The “Under Construction” default page of Windows Server 2003 IIS

Pantelis Apostolidis

www.cloudcorner.gr

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Microsoft Azure Nested Virtualization | VM in Nested VM in Azure VM

Pantelis Apostolidis — Tue, 29 Aug 2017 09:49:40 +0000

Microsoft Azure Nested Virtualization | VM in Nested VM in Azure VM

With the new Dv3 and Ev3 VM sizes Microsoft has released the Nested Virtualization, meaning you can simply have a Hyper-V VM inside an Azure VM. I have created a set of posts to explore the Nested Virtualization functionality. Of course nested virtualization is only supported in Windows Server 2016.

Microsoft Azure Nested Virtualization

After my main Microsoft Azure Nested Virtualization | Hyper-V VM inside Azure VM post, we saw two usage scenarios. One is running Hyper-V Replica and the other is running Web Server in nested VM on Azure. Now lets have some fun and try to run a VM nested inside a VM nested inside an Azure VM. As a fellow said, VM inception!

We will use again the nested VM that we created at the Microsoft Azure Nested Virtualization | Hyper-V VM inside Azure VM post. First we need to run two commands, one command to enable the virtualization and one to enable the MAC address spoofing. More details you can find at the Nested Virtualization Microsoft article

Set-VMProcessor -VMName  -ExposeVirtualizationExtensions $true
Get-VMNetworkAdapter -VMName  | Set-VMNetworkAdapter -MacAddressSpoofing On

After running the above commands we can go to the Server Manger and add the Hyper-V role.

I just click next accepting all the defaults. One exception, I checked the NIC to use it for Virtual Switch.

Finally we have a Hyper-V VM that is nested inside a Hyper-V VM that is nested inside an Azure VM

Pantelis Apostolidis

www.cloudcorner.gr

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Microsoft Azure Nested Virtualization | Web Server

Pantelis Apostolidis — Fri, 25 Aug 2017 00:00:07 +0000

Microsoft Azure Nested Virtualization | Web Server

Microsoft Azure Nested Virtualization

At my previous post, Microsoft Azure Nested Virtualization | Hyper-V VM inside Azure VM, I described how to create a Hyper-V VM inside an Azure VM with the new Dv3 and Ev3 VM sizes. Now we will see how to use a Hyper-V Nested VM as a Web Server that is hidden behind the Azure VM to secure access to your web application.

Starting we will add the IIS Role at the Nested VM. Go to the Server Manager, add Roles and Features and select the Web Server (IIS) Role.

Select the Features that your application requires and Install.

After that we will need to Forward the required ports to the Nested VMs. To accomplish this we will need to use PowerShell.

At my previews post I created a NAT in order to have network communication between the Host and the Nested VM. We will use that NAT to forward the port 80 and 443 to the Nested VM.

At the Host Azure VM open the PowerShell and rum:

Get-NetNat

From the results we can see the NAT Name.

Now we can create the Rules:

Add-NetNatStaticMapping -NatName "NVMNat" -Protocol TCP -ExternalIPAddress 0.0.0.0 -InternalIPAddress 192.168.168.10 -InternalPort 80 -ExternalPort 80
Add-NetNatStaticMapping -NatName "NVMNat" -Protocol TCP -ExternalIPAddress 0.0.0.0 -InternalIPAddress 192.168.168.10 -InternalPort 443 -ExternalPort 443

A final step is to create a rule at the Azure VM’s NSG to allow port 80 & 443 and also open the ports at the Windows Firewall on both the Host and the Nested VMs.

Finally we can browse to the Public IP of the Azure VM and see the IIS Welcome Page of the Nested VM.

Just add an https binding to the IIS default website and also browse at the https page.

Stay tuned for more usage scenarios for the Microsoft Azure Nested Virtualization!

Pantelis Apostolidis

www.cloudcorner.gr

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Microsoft Azure Nested Virtualization | Hyper-V Replica on Azure

Pantelis Apostolidis — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 11:30:32 +0000

Microsoft Azure Nested Virtualization | Hyper-V Replica on Azure

Microsoft Azure Nested Virtualization

After the Microsoft Azure Nested Virtualization | Hyper-V VM inside Azure VM post on how to create a Nested VM inside an Azure VM, I am following with how to have Hyper-V Replica on Azure.

To accomplish this we will use the Azure VM and the Nested VM from the Microsoft Azure Nested Virtualization | Hyper-V VM inside Azure VM post. The first step is to create an identical pair of Azure VM and Nested VM to use for replica server. The only requirement is that the two Azure VMs must have network connectivity. As you understand we can have Hyper-V Replica between two Azure VMs at different Azure Regions using VPN.

Next, at both Azure VMs open the 443 port at both the NSG and the Windows Firewall. For more security we can add the Public IPs of the VMs as Source.

Since the VMs are not part of a domain we need to use Certificate based authentication for the Hyper-V Replica. We will use the New-SelfSignedCertificate command to create both certificates.

The certificate process

First we need to create a root CA certificate, so login at the first host and run:

New-SelfSignedCertificate -Type "Custom" -KeyExportPolicy "Exportable" -Subject "CN=myazurerootca" -CertStoreLocation "Cert:\LocalMachine\My" -KeySpec "Signature" -KeyUsage "CertSign"

Next, using the certificate Thumbprint of the root CA certificate, create two server certificates, one for each Azure VM. To accomplish this run:

New-SelfSignedCertificate -type "Custom" -KeyExportPolicy "Exportable" -Subject "CN=anothertestvm" -CertStoreLocation "Cert:\LocalMachine\My" -KeySpec "KeyExchange" -TextExtension @("2.5.29.37={text}1.3.6.1.5.5.7.3.1,1.3.6.1.5.5.7.3.2") -Signer "Cert:LocalMachine\My\6A7196D9759FC2F7C49D62E08FA7195310DE5EB7" -Provider "Microsoft Enhanced RSA and AES Cryptographic Provider"

New-SelfSignedCertificate -type "Custom" -KeyExportPolicy "Exportable" -Subject "CN=anothertestvm2" -CertStoreLocation "Cert:\LocalMachine\My" -KeySpec "KeyExchange" -TextExtension @("2.5.29.37={text}1.3.6.1.5.5.7.3.1,1.3.6.1.5.5.7.3.2") -Signer "Cert:LocalMachine\My\6A7196D9759FC2F7C49D62E08FA7195310DE5EB7" -Provider "Microsoft Enhanced RSA and AES Cryptographic Provider"

The next step is to open the Certificates mmc (Local Computer) and at the Personal container you will find the three certificates created above.

Right click each certificate and Export it, including the Private key, to a folder

Copy the certificates to the second Azure VM and import them. The root CA certificate needs to be imported to he Trust Root Certification Authorities and the other two to the Personal (or just use automatic placement).

Finally we need to disable the Certificate revocation check for Replication on both Azure VMs. To do this run the following command on both Azure VMs:

REG ADD "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Virtualization\Replication" /v DisableCertRevocationCheck /d 1 /t REG_DWORD /f

The Hyper-V Replica process

Lets start creating the Hyper-V Replica. Since Hyper-V Replica uses computer names, we need to use the host file to bind the Public IPs with the computer names. So, at the first Azure VM, open an elevated Notepad, browse to the path “C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc”, and open the “hosts” file. Enter the Public IP of the second Azure VM following by the computer name. Do the same at the second Azure VM.

After saving the host file, go to the Hyper-V Settings, go to the “Replication Configuration” and check the “Enable this computer as a Replica Server”. Then check the “Use certificate-based Authentication (HTTPS)” and select the certificate created before. Finally check the “Allow replication from any authenticated servers” and press OK. Do this at both Azure VM Hyper-V Servers.

Next go to the Hyper-V manager, right click the Nested VM and choose “Enable Replica”. Enter the name of the second Azure VM and select the certificate.

I just used the defaults at all the next screens and finally press finish to enable the replication.

Once the replication is enabled you will see the “Replication enabled successfully” message and the Status will change to “Sending Initial Replica”.

After a very short period of time, the VM will complete the initial sync.

Pantelis Apostolidis

www.cloudcorner.gr

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Microsoft Azure Nested Virtualization | Hyper-V VM inside Azure VM

Pantelis Apostolidis — Fri, 18 Aug 2017 11:36:05 +0000

Microsoft Azure Nested Virtualization | Hyper-V VM inside Azure VM

Microsoft Azure Nested Virtualization

At the first port, we will create a Hyper-V VM inside an Azure VM and have Network and Internet Connectivity.

Lets get started. First of all we will need a Dv3 or Ev3 VM and for best Nested Virtualization performance make use of SSD Managed Disks. I created a D4s_v3 Standard (4Cores, 16GB Ram, SSD managed disks) and I attached a 1023GB SSD Data Disk for performance.

Now remote desktop to the VM to add the Hyper V Role. From the Server Manager, add Roles and Features and add the Hyper-V role

Since this is an one NIC VM select the NIC to create the Virtual Switch

Change the default Store location to the SSD Data Disk, in this case the E: drive.

Finally wait for the installation to complete and reboot the VM. After the VM reboots, Remote Desktop and open the Hyper-V manager. Now we have Hyper-V inside an Azure VM.

Lets create a VM. You can download a Trial Windows Server 2016 from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/evaluate-windows-server-2016 or use your Subscription (MSDN, EA, etc).

I created a VM Called NestedVM01, with 4GB Ram using the Trial Windows Server 2016 ISO

After the VM creation setup the Windows Server 2016 with all defaults and login.

The first thing to notice is that the Network Interface does not have a valid IP address, since Microsoft Azure will not provide one. In order to have the Nested VM to have Network connectivity we need to use NAT.

First change the Virtual Switch to “Internal network”

At the Host’s Network interfaces, open the vEthernet NIC and add a static IP, only IP & Mask

Now we will need PowerShell, since we cannot configure NAT form the GUI.

Open the PowerShell (still at the Host Azure VM) and run

New-NetNat –Name NVMNat –InternalIPInterfaceAddressPrefix 192.168.168.0/24

The result:

After that we can provide the Nested VMs with IPs form the 192.168.168.0/24 range. So login to the Nested VM and add an IP fron the Range and for Default Gateway add the Host’s IP.

For DNS add your AD DNS or a Public DNS server just to have internet.

Now from the Nested VM you can ping the Host:

And also browse the Internet:

Stay tuned, on my next post we will see how we can make the Nested VM a Web Server, a hidden Web Server in a VM inside an Azure VM!

Of course this Features opens the door for many more features to test, like Hyper-V Replica, Containers, etc, that we will see in future posts.

Pantelis Apostolidis

www.cloudcorner.gr

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