Here are the PowerShell commands that I found useful when studying for the Windows Server 2016 MCSE. I hope you find them useful. If you do please let me know.
Here is the PowerShell command to create a new Hyper-V virtual hard disk image file.
new-vhd –path c:\filename.vhd|c:\filename.vhdx –fixed|-dynamic|-differencing –sizebytes size [-blocksizebytes blocksize] [-logicalsectorsizebytes 512|4096]
The following command creates a 500 GB fixed VHDX image file with a logical sector size of 4 KB:new-vhd –path c:\diskfile.vhdx –fixed –sizebytes 500gb -logicalsectorsizebytes 4096
To create a VHD set in Windows PowerShell, you use the New-VHD cmdlet, just as you would to create any virtual disk file, except that you use VHDS for the extension of the file you are creating, as in the following example:new-vhd –path c:\diskfile.vhds –dynamic –sizebytes 1tb
To create a differencing disk using Windows PowerShell, you must run the New-VHD cmdlet with the Differencing parameter and the ParentPath parameter, specifying the location of the parent disk, as in the following example:new-vhd –path c:\disks\diffdisk.vhdx –sizebytes 1tb –differencing -parentpath c:\disks\parentdisk.vhdx
You can also mount and dismount a VHD or VHDX file by using the Mount-VHD and
Dismount-VHD PowerShell cmdlets, as in the following examples:mount-vhd -path c:\disks\server1.vhdx
dismount-vhd -path c:\disks\server1.vhdx
To install a Windows role or feature to an offline virtual disk, you add the Vhd parameter
to the Install-WindowsFeature command, as in the following example:
install-windowsfeature -vhd c:\disks\server1.vhdx -name web-server
-includemanagementtools
To compact a virtual hard disk file (mounted as a read-only disk), you use
the Optimize-VHD cmdlet, as in the following example:optimize-vhd -path c:\disks\server1.vhdx -mode full
To convert a virtual hard disk file, you use the Convert-VHD cmdlet, as in the following examples that converts a fixed VHD file to a dynamic VHDX:convert-vhd -path c:\disks\server1.vhd -destinationpath c:\disks\server1.vhdx -vhdtype dynamic
To expand or shrink a virtual disk, you use the Resize-VHD cmdlet with the SizeBytes parameter, as in the following example. The same command can expand or shrink a disk, depending on its original size. To shrink a disk to is smallest possible size, you can add the ToMinimumSize parameter.resize-vhd -path c:\disks\server1.vhdx -sizebytes 500gb
To merge a differencing disk into its parent disk, you use the Merge-VHD cmdlet, as in the following command. If there are multiple generations of child disks involved, merging the youngest child disk into the parent merges all of the intervening child disks as well. merge-vhd -path c:\disks\child.vhdx -destionationpath c:\disks\parent.vhdx
To apply a checkpoint with PowerShell, you use the Restore-VMCheckpoint cmdlet, as in the following example.restore-vmcheckpoint -name checkpoint1 -vmname server1
You can display a list of all the checkpoints for a specific VM, including their names, by using the Get-VMCheckpoint cmdlet.
To modify the checkpointing defaults in PowerShell, you use the Set-VM cmdlet, as in the following example:set-vm -name server1 -checkpointtype standard
To configure these settings with Windows PowerShell, you use the Set-VMHardDiskDrive cmdlet, as in the following example. The ControllerType and ControllerNumber parameters specify which drive to configure, and the MinimumIOPS and MaximumIOPS parameters specify the QoS settings.set-vmharddiskdrive -vmname server1 -controllertype scsi -controllernumber 0 -minimumiops 10 -maximumiops 500
After enabling resource metering on the VM, you can use the Measure-VM
cmdlet to display its current disk usage, as shown in the following examples. The output of the Measure-VM cmdlet is shown in Figure 3-54. After checking the IOPS under workload of the VM, you can zero in on appropriate QoS settings.enable-vmresourcemetering -vmname server1
measure-vm -vmname server1 | fl
To create a network adapter with PowerShell, you use the Add-VMNetworkAdapter cmdlet, as in the following example:add-vmnetworkadapter -vmname server1 -switchname private1
To remove a network adapter with PowerShell, you use the Remove-
VMNetworkAdapter cmdlet, as in the following example:remove-vmnetworkadapter -vmname server1 -vmnetworkadapter nic1
To create a new virtual switch with Windows PowerShell, you use the New-VMSwitch cmdlet,
as in the following examples:new-vmswitch -name lan1 –netadaptername "ethernet 2"
new-vmswitch -name private1 –switchtype private
You can also enable VMQ on a specific adapter by running a PowerShell command like the following:enable-netadaptervmq -name nic1
To discover whether your physical network adapters support VMQ, run the Get-Net-AdapterVmq
cmdlet in a PowerShell window with Administrator privileges. A blank response indicates that your adapters do not support VMQ.
use the Get-NetAdapterVmqQueue cmdlet to see which queues are assigned to which logical processors.
To modify the default VMQ settings, you use the Set-NetAdapterVmq PowerShell cmdlet.