Hyper-V automation scripts

Collection of Powershell scripts to create Windows, Ubuntu and Debian VMs in Hyper-V.

For Windows Server 2016+, Windows 8.1+ only.

For Hyper-V Generation 2 (UEFI) VMs only.

To migrate an existing Windows VM from Hyper-V to Proxmox (QEMU) see Prepare a VHDX for QEMU migration.

How to install

To download all scripts into your $env:TEMP folder:

iex (iwr 'bit.ly/h-v-a' -UseBasicParsing)

Examples

Create a new VM for Hyper-V

$isoFile = '.\en_windows_server_2019_x64_dvd_4cb967d8.iso'
$vmName = 'TstWindows'
$pass = 'u531@rg3pa55w0rd$!'

.\New-VMFromWindowsImage.ps1 `
    -SourcePath $isoFile `
    -Edition 'Windows Server 2019 Standard' `
    -VMName $vmName `
    -VHDXSizeBytes 60GB `
    -AdministratorPassword $pass `
    -Version 'Server2019Standard' `
    -MemoryStartupBytes 2GB `
    -VMProcessorCount 2

$sess = .\New-VMSession.ps1 -VMName $vmName -AdministratorPassword $pass

.\Set-NetIPAddressViaSession.ps1 `
    -Session $sess `
    -IPAddress 10.10.1.195 `
    -PrefixLength 16 `
    -DefaultGateway 10.10.1.250 `
    -DnsAddresses '8.8.8.8','8.8.4.4' `
    -NetworkCategory 'Public'

.\Enable-RemoteManagementViaSession.ps1 -Session $sess

# You can run any commands on VM with Invoke-Command:
Invoke-Command -Session $sess { 
    echo "Hello, world! (from $env:COMPUTERNAME)"

    # Install chocolatey
    Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force
    [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol -bor 3072
    iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://community.chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))

    # Install 7-zip
    choco install 7zip -y
}

Remove-PSSession -Session $sess

Prepare a VHDX for QEMU migration

$vmName = 'TstWindows'

# Shutdown VM
Stop-VM $vmName

# Get VirtIO ISO
$virtioIso = .\Get-VirtioImage.ps1 -OutputPath $env:TEMP

# Install VirtIO drivers to Windows VM (offline)
$vhdxFile = "C:\Hyper-V\Virtual Hard Disks\$vmName.vhdx"
.\Add-VirtioDrivers.ps1 -VirtioIsoPath $virtioIso -ImagePath $vhdxFile

# Copy VHDX file to QEMU host
scp $vhdxFile "root@pve-host:/tmp/"

After the copy is complete, you may use new-vm-windows on Proxmox to import the vhdx file and create the Windows VM.

Once the VM is running, ensure that the QEMU Guest Agent is installed within the guest environment.

Create a Windows `vhdx` template for QEMU

$isoFile = '.\en-us_windows_server_2025_x64_dvd_ccbcec44.iso'
$targetVhdx = '.\Server2025Standard-template.vhdx'

# Get VirtIO ISO
$virtioIso = .\Get-VirtioImage.ps1 -OutputPath $env:TEMP

# Get Cloudbase-Init installer
$cloudbaseInitMsi = .\Get-CloudBaseInit.ps1 -OutputPath $env:TEMP

# Create VHDX
New-VHDXFromWindowsImage.ps1 `
    -SourcePath $isoFile `
    -Edition 'Windows Server 2025 Standard' `
    -VHDXPath $targetVhdx `
    -VHDXSizeBytes 60GB `
    -Version 'Server2025Standard' `
    -AddVirtioDrivers $virtioIso `
    -AddCloudBaseInit $cloudbaseInitMsi

# Copy VHDX file to QEMU host
scp $vhdxFile "root@pve-host:/tmp/"

After the copy is complete, you may use new-vm-windows on Proxmox to import the vhdx file and create the Windows VM.

The guest VM will come pre-installed with the following software:

Command summary

For Windows VMs
For Ubuntu VMs
- Get-UbuntuImage
- New-VMFromUbuntuImage (*)
For Debian VMs
- Get-DebianImage
- New-VMFromDebianImage (*)
For images with no cloud-init support
- Get-OPNsenseImage
- New-VMFromIsoImage (*)
Other commands
- Move-VMOffline

(*) Requires administrative privileges.

For Windows VMs

New-VMFromWindowsImage (*)

New-VMFromWindowsImage.ps1 [-SourcePath] <string> [-Edition] <string> [-VMName] <string> [-VHDXSizeBytes] <uint64> [-AdministratorPassword] <string> [-Version] <string> [-MemoryStartupBytes] <long> [[-VMProcessorCount] <long>] [[-VMSwitchName] <string>] [[-VMMacAddress] <string>] [[-Locale] <string>] [-EnableDynamicMemory] [<CommonParameters>]

Creates a Windows VM from an ISO image.

For the -Edition parameter use Get-WindowsImage -ImagePath <path-to-install.wim> to see all available images. Or just use "1" for the first one.

The -Version parameter is required to set the product key (required for a full unattended install).

Returns the VirtualMachine created.

(*) Requires administrative privileges.

New-VHDXFromWindowsImage (*)

New-VHDXFromWindowsImage.ps1 [-SourcePath] <string> [-Edition] <string> [[-ComputerName] <string>] [[-VHDXPath] <string>] [[-VHDXSizeBytes] <uint64>] [[-AdministratorPassword] <string>] [-Version] <string> [[-Locale] <string>] [[-AddVirtioDrivers] <string>] [[-AddCloudBaseInit] <string>] [<CommonParameters>]

Creates a Windows VHDX from an ISO image. Similar to New-VMFromWindowsImage but without creating a VM.

You can add Windows VirtIO Drivers and the QEMU Guest Agent with -AddVirtioDrivers. In this case you must provide the path of VirtIO ISO (see Get-VirtioImage) to this parameter. This is useful if you wish to import the created VHDX in a KVM environment.

Returns the path for the VHDX file created.

(*) Requires administrative privileges.

New-VMSession

New-VMSession.ps1 [-VMName] <string> [-AdministratorPassword] <string> [[-DomainName] <string>] [<CommonParameters>]

Creates a new PSSession into a VM. In case of error, keeps retrying until connected. Useful for wait until a VM is ready to accept commands.

Returns the PSSession created.

Set-NetIPAddressViaSession

Set-NetIPAddressViaSession.ps1 [-Session] <PSSession[]> [[-AdapterName] <string>] [-IPAddress] <string> [-PrefixLength] <byte> [-DefaultGateway] <string> [[-DnsAddresses] <string[]>] [[-NetworkCategory] <string>] [<CommonParameters>]

Sets IPv4 configuration for a Windows VM.

Set-NetIPv6AddressViaSession

Set-NetIPv6AddressViaSession.ps1 [-Session] <PSSession[]> [[-AdapterName] <string>] [-IPAddress] <ipaddress> [-PrefixLength] <byte> [[-DnsAddresses] <string[]>] [<CommonParameters>]

Sets IPv6 configuration for a Windows VM.

Get-CloudBaseInit

Get-CloudBaseInit.ps1 [[-OutputPath] <string>] [<CommonParameters>]

Downloads latest stable MSI installer of Cloudbase-Init.

Use -OutputPath parameter to set download location. If not informed, the current folder will be used.

Returns the path for downloaded file.

Get-VirtioImage

Get-VirtioImage.ps1 [[-OutputPath] <string>] [<CommonParameters>]

Downloads latest stable ISO image of Windows VirtIO Drivers.

Use -OutputPath parameter to set download location. If not informed, the current folder will be used.

Returns the path for downloaded file.

Add-VirtioDrivers

Add-VirtioDrivers.ps1 [-VirtioIsoPath] <string> [-ImagePath] <string> [-Version] <string> [[-ImageIndex] <int>] [<CommonParameters>]

Adds Windows VirtIO Drivers into a WIM or VHDX file.

You must inform the path of VirtIO ISO with -VirtioIsoPath. You can download the latest image from here. Or just use Get-VirtioImage.ps1.

You must use -ImagePath to inform the path of file.

You may use -Version to specify the Windows version of the image (recommended). This ensures that all appropriate drivers for the system are installed correctly.

For WIM files you must also use -ImageIndex to inform the image index inside of WIM. For VHDX files the image index must be always 1 (the default).

Please note that -- unlike the -AddVirtioDrivers option from New-VHDXFromWindowsImage -- this script cannot install the QEMU Guest Agent in an existing vhdx, as its operations are limited to the offline image (cannot run the installer).

Enable-RemoteManagementViaSession

Enable-RemoteManagementViaSession.ps1 [-Session] <PSSession[]> [<CommonParameters>]

Enables Powershell Remoting, CredSSP server authentication and sets WinRM firewall rule to Any remote address (default: LocalSubnet).

For Ubuntu VMs

Get-UbuntuImage

Get-UbuntuImage.ps1 [[-OutputPath] <string>] [-Previous] [<CommonParameters>]

Downloads latest Ubuntu LTS cloud image and verify its integrity.

Use -OutputPath parameter to set download location. If not informed, the current folder will be used.

Use -Previous parameter to download the previous LTS image instead of the current LTS.

Returns the path for downloaded file.

New-VMFromUbuntuImage (*)

New-VMFromUbuntuImage.ps1 -SourcePath <string> -VMName <string> -RootPassword <string> [-FQDN <string>] [-VHDXSizeBytes <uint64>] [-MemoryStartupBytes <long>] [-EnableDynamicMemory] [-ProcessorCount <long>] [-SwitchName <string>] [-MacAddress <string>] [-IPAddress <string>] [-Gateway <string>] [-DnsAddresses <string[]>] [-InterfaceName <string>] [-VlanId <string>] [-SecondarySwitchName <string>] [-SecondaryMacAddress <string>] [-SecondaryIPAddress <string>] [-SecondaryInterfaceName <string>] [-SecondaryVlanId <string>] [-InstallDocker] [<CommonParameters>]

New-VMFromUbuntuImage.ps1 -SourcePath <string> -VMName <string> -RootPublicKey <string> [-FQDN <string>] [-VHDXSizeBytes <uint64>] [-MemoryStartupBytes <long>] [-EnableDynamicMemory] [-ProcessorCount <long>] [-SwitchName <string>] [-MacAddress <string>] [-IPAddress <string>] [-Gateway <string>] [-DnsAddresses <string[]>] [-InterfaceName <string>] [-VlanId <string>] [-SecondarySwitchName <string>] [-SecondaryMacAddress <string>] [-SecondaryIPAddress <string>] [-SecondaryInterfaceName <string>] [-SecondaryVlanId <string>] [-InstallDocker] [<CommonParameters>]

Creates a Ubuntu VM from Ubuntu Cloud image.

You must have qemu-img installed. If you have chocolatey you can install it with:

choco install qemu-img -y

You can download Ubuntu cloud images from here (get the amd64.img version). Or just use Get-UbuntuImage.ps1.

You must use -RootPassword to set a password or -RootPublicKey to set a public key for default ubuntu user.

You may configure network using -VlanId, -IPAddress, -Gateway and -DnsAddresses options. -IPAddress must be in address/prefix format. If not specified the network will be configured via DHCP.

You may rename interfaces with -InterfaceName and -SecondaryInterfaceName. This will set Hyper-V network adapter name and also set the interface name in Ubuntu.

You may add a second network using -SecondarySwitchName. You may configure it with -Secondary* options.

You may install Docker using -InstallDocker switch.

Returns the VirtualMachine created.

(*) Requires administrative privileges.

Ubuntu: Example

# Create a VM with static IP configuration and ssh public key access
$imgFile = .\Get-UbuntuImage.ps1 -Verbose
$vmName = 'TstUbuntu'
$fqdn = 'test.example.com'
$rootPublicKey = Get-Content "$env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\id_rsa.pub"

.\New-VMFromUbuntuImage.ps1 `
    -SourcePath $imgFile `
    -VMName $vmName `
    -FQDN $fqdn `
    -RootPublicKey $rootPublicKey `
    -VHDXSizeBytes 60GB `
    -MemoryStartupBytes 2GB `
    -ProcessorCount 2 `
    -IPAddress 10.10.1.196/16 `
    -Gateway 10.10.1.250 `
    -DnsAddresses '8.8.8.8','8.8.4.4' `
    -Verbose

# Your public key is installed. This should not ask you for a password.
ssh ubuntu@10.10.1.196

For Debian VMs

Get-DebianImage

Get-DebianImage.ps1 [[-OutputPath] <string>] [<CommonParameters>]

Downloads latest Debian cloud image.

Use -OutputPath parameter to set download location. If not informed, the current folder will be used.

Returns the path for downloaded file.

New-VMFromDebianImage (*)

New-VMFromDebianImage.ps1 -SourcePath <string> -VMName <string> -RootPassword <string> [-FQDN <string>] [-VHDXSizeBytes <uint64>] [-MemoryStartupBytes <long>] [-EnableDynamicMemory] [-ProcessorCount <long>] [-SwitchName <string>] [-MacAddress <string>] [-IPAddress <string>] [-Gateway <string>] [-DnsAddresses <string[]>] [-InterfaceName <string>] [-VlanId <string>] [-SecondarySwitchName <string>] [-SecondaryMacAddress <string>] [-SecondaryIPAddress <string>] [-SecondaryInterfaceName <string>] [-SecondaryVlanId <string>] [-InstallDocker] [<CommonParameters>]

New-VMFromDebianImage.ps1 -SourcePath <string> -VMName <string> -RootPublicKey <string> [-FQDN <string>] [-VHDXSizeBytes <uint64>] [-MemoryStartupBytes <long>] [-EnableDynamicMemory] [-ProcessorCount <long>] [-SwitchName <string>] [-MacAddress <string>] [-IPAddress <string>] [-Gateway <string>] [-DnsAddresses <string[]>] [-InterfaceName <string>] [-VlanId <string>] [-SecondarySwitchName <string>] [-SecondaryMacAddress <string>] [-SecondaryIPAddress <string>] [-SecondaryInterfaceName <string>] [-SecondaryVlanId <string>] [-InstallDocker] [<CommonParameters>]

Creates a Debian VM from Debian Cloud image. For Debian 11 only.

You must have qemu-img installed. If you have chocolatey you can install it with:

choco install qemu-img -y

You can download Debian cloud images from here (get the genericcloud-amd64 version). Or just use Get-DebianImage.ps1.

You must use -RootPassword to set a password or -RootPublicKey to set a public key for default debian user.

You may configure network using -VlanId, -IPAddress, -Gateway and -DnsAddresses options. -IPAddress must be in address/prefix format. If not specified the network will be configured via DHCP.

You may rename interfaces with -InterfaceName and -SecondaryInterfaceName. This will set Hyper-V network adapter name and also set the interface name in Debian.

You may add a second network using -SecondarySwitchName. You may configure it with -Secondary* options.

You may install Docker using -InstallDocker switch.

Returns the VirtualMachine created.

(*) Requires administrative privileges.

Debian: Example

# Create a VM with static IP configuration and ssh public key access
$imgFile = .\Get-DebianImage.ps1 -Verbose
$vmName = 'TstDebian'
$fqdn = 'test.example.com'
$rootPublicKey = Get-Content "$env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\id_rsa.pub"

.\New-VMFromDebianImage.ps1 `
    -SourcePath $imgFile `
    -VMName $vmName `
    -FQDN $fqdn `
    -RootPublicKey $rootPublicKey `
    -VHDXSizeBytes 60GB `
    -MemoryStartupBytes 2GB `
    -ProcessorCount 2 `
    -IPAddress 10.10.1.197/16 `
    -Gateway 10.10.1.250 `
    -DnsAddresses '8.8.8.8','8.8.4.4' `
    -Verbose

# Your public key is installed. This should not ask you for a password.
ssh debian@10.10.1.197

For images with no `cloud-init` support

Get-OPNsenseImage

Get-OPNsenseImage.ps1 [[-OutputPath] <string>] [<CommonParameters>]

Downloads latest OPNsense ISO image.

Use -OutputPath parameter to set download location. If not informed, the current folder will be used.

Returns the path for downloaded file.

New-VMFromIsoImage (*)

New-VMFromIsoImage.ps1 [-IsoPath] <string> [-VMName] <string> [[-VHDXSizeBytes] <uint64>] [[-MemoryStartupBytes] <long>] [[-ProcessorCount] <long>] [[-SwitchName] <string>] [[-MacAddress] <string>] [[-InterfaceName] <string>] [[-VlanId] <string>] [[-SecondarySwitchName] <string>] [[-SecondaryMacAddress] <string>] [[-SecondaryInterfaceName] <string>] [[-SecondaryVlanId] <string>] [-EnableDynamicMemory] [-EnableSecureBoot] [<CommonParameters>]

Creates a VM and boot it from a ISO image.

Returns the VirtualMachine created.

After installation, remember to remove the ISO mounted drive with:

Get-VMDvdDrive -VMName 'vm-name' | Remove-VMDvdDrive

(*) Requires administrative privileges.

OPNsense: Example

The following example will create a OPNsense router and a Windows VM in a private network which will have internet access through OPNsense.

It requires two Hyper-V Virtual Switches:

SWITCH (type: External), connected to a network with internet access and DHCP; and
ISWITCH (type: Internal), for the private netork.

From OPNsense convention, the first network interface will be assigned as LAN.

Note: The default network address will be 192.168.1.1/24 with DHCP enabled.

$isoFile = .\Get-OPNsenseImage.ps1 -Verbose
$vmName = 'TstOpnRouter'

.\New-VMFromIsoImage.ps1 `
    -IsoPath $isoFile `
    -VMName $vmName `
    -VHDXSizeBytes 60GB `
    -MemoryStartupBytes 2GB `
    -ProcessorCount 2 `
    -SwitchName 'ISWITCH' `
    -InterfaceName 'lan' `
    -SecondarySwitchName 'SWITCH' `
    -SecondaryInterfaceName 'wan' `
    -Verbose

# Windows Server 2022 image
$isoFile = 'C:\Adm\SW_DVD9_Win_Server_STD_CORE_2022__64Bit_English_DC_STD_MLF_X22-74290.ISO'
$vmName = 'TstOpnClient'
$pass = 'u531@rg3pa55w0rd$!'

.\New-VMFromWindowsImage.ps1 `
    -SourcePath $isoFile `
    -Edition 'Windows Server 2022 Standard (Desktop Experience)' `
    -VMName $vmName `
    -VHDXSizeBytes 60GB `
    -AdministratorPassword $pass `
    -Version 'Server2022Standard' `
    -MemoryStartupBytes 4GB `
    -VMProcessorCount 2 `
    -VMSwitchName 'ISWITCH'

The Windows VM should get an internal IP address (from 192.168.1.x/24 range) via DHCP from OPNsense and it should have working internet access.

Remember that OPNsense will be running in live mode from ISO image. To install it logon via console with installer user and opnsense password.

After the installation, remove the installation media with:

Get-VMDvdDrive -VMName 'TstOpnRouter' | Remove-VMDvdDrive

Other commands

Move-VMOffline

Move-VMOffline.ps1 [-VMName] <string> [-DestinationHost] <string> [-CertificateThumbprint] <string> [<CommonParameters>]

Uses Hyper-V replica to move a VM between hosts not joined in a domain.

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Repository files navigation

Hyper-V automation scripts

How to install

Examples

Create a new VM for Hyper-V

Prepare a VHDX for QEMU migration

Create a Windows `vhdx` template for QEMU

Command summary

For Windows VMs

New-VMFromWindowsImage (*)

New-VHDXFromWindowsImage (*)

New-VMSession

Set-NetIPAddressViaSession

Set-NetIPv6AddressViaSession

Get-CloudBaseInit

Get-VirtioImage

Add-VirtioDrivers

Enable-RemoteManagementViaSession

For Ubuntu VMs

Get-UbuntuImage

New-VMFromUbuntuImage (*)

Ubuntu: Example

For Debian VMs

Get-DebianImage

New-VMFromDebianImage (*)

Debian: Example

For images with no `cloud-init` support

Get-OPNsenseImage

New-VMFromIsoImage (*)

OPNsense: Example

Other commands

Move-VMOffline

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Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 101 Commits
tools		tools
Add-VirtioDrivers.ps1		Add-VirtioDrivers.ps1
Enable-RemoteManagementViaSession.ps1		Enable-RemoteManagementViaSession.ps1
Get-CloudBaseInit.ps1		Get-CloudBaseInit.ps1
Get-DebianImage.ps1		Get-DebianImage.ps1
Get-OPNsenseImage.ps1		Get-OPNsenseImage.ps1
Get-UbuntuImage.ps1		Get-UbuntuImage.ps1
Get-VirtioImage.ps1		Get-VirtioImage.ps1
Move-VMOffline.ps1		Move-VMOffline.ps1
New-VHDXFromWindowsImage.ps1		New-VHDXFromWindowsImage.ps1
New-VMFromDebianImage.ps1		New-VMFromDebianImage.ps1
New-VMFromIsoImage.ps1		New-VMFromIsoImage.ps1
New-VMFromUbuntuImage.ps1		New-VMFromUbuntuImage.ps1
New-VMFromWindowsImage.ps1		New-VMFromWindowsImage.ps1
New-VMSession.ps1		New-VMSession.ps1
New-WindowsUnattendFile.ps1		New-WindowsUnattendFile.ps1
README.md		README.md
Set-NetIPAddressViaSession.ps1		Set-NetIPAddressViaSession.ps1
Set-NetIPv6AddressViaSession.ps1		Set-NetIPv6AddressViaSession.ps1
bootstrap.ps1		bootstrap.ps1

fdcastel/Hyper-V-Automation

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Hyper-V automation scripts

How to install

Examples

Create a new VM for Hyper-V

Prepare a VHDX for QEMU migration

Create a Windows vhdx template for QEMU

Command summary

For Windows VMs

New-VMFromWindowsImage (*)

New-VHDXFromWindowsImage (*)

New-VMSession

Set-NetIPAddressViaSession

Set-NetIPv6AddressViaSession

Get-CloudBaseInit

Get-VirtioImage

Add-VirtioDrivers

Enable-RemoteManagementViaSession

For Ubuntu VMs

Get-UbuntuImage

New-VMFromUbuntuImage (*)

Ubuntu: Example

For Debian VMs

Get-DebianImage

New-VMFromDebianImage (*)

Debian: Example

For images with no cloud-init support

Get-OPNsenseImage

New-VMFromIsoImage (*)

OPNsense: Example

Other commands

Move-VMOffline

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Create a Windows `vhdx` template for QEMU

For images with no `cloud-init` support

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