In order to enable VSS based backups of Hyper-V VMs using Windows Server Backup you must add the following registry keys to register the Hyper-V VSS Writer with Windows Server Backup,  Note that the WindowsServerBackup key is not created when installing. This key must be created manually.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT

\CurrentVersion\WindowsServerBackup\Application Support\{66841CD4-6DED-4F4B-8F17-FD23F8DDC3DE}

Once you have the keys listed above created, you will need to create a String Value with the following.

Name: Application Identifier
Type: REG_SZ
Value: Hyper-V

When complete, the keys should resemble the following:

When backing up virtual machines, you must select all volumes where VM related files are present. Windows Server Backup only supports volume based backups.

For example, if you are using the default location for storing virtual machine configuration (C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Hyper-V\Virtual Machines) yet the VHD is stored on another volume, you must select both volumes in the backup.

When initiating recovery, select “Application Restore” and choose Hyper-V. You must use this method otherwise you will not be allowed to replace files for running VMs. As part of the restore, existing VMs will be turned off and deleted. The VMs that you restore will be registered with Hyper-V Hosting.

When installed on a virtual machine that is running a supported Linux operating system, Linux Integration Services for Hyper-V provides the following functionality:

• Driver support for synthetic devices: Linux Integration Services supports the synthetic network controller and the synthetic storage controller that were developed specifically for Hyper-V.

• Fastpath Boot Support for Hyper-V: Boot devices now take advantage of the block Virtualization Service Client (VSC) to provide enhanced performance.

• Timesync: The clock inside the virtual machine will remain synchronized with the clock on the host.

• Integrated Shutdown: Virtual machines running Linux can be shut down from either Hyper-V Manager or System Center Virtual Machine Manager, using the “Shut Down” command.

• Symmetric Multi-Processing (SMP) Support: Supported Linux distributions can use up to 4 virtual processors (VP) per virtual machine.

Download Linux Integration Components v2.1

a. Download Linux Integration Components v2.1 from Microsoft Download site.

b. Extract the .exe file into a temp folder. You will need only LinuxIC v21.iso file.

c. Place the LinuxIC v21.iso file into your VM host server where you can mount the ISO as a CDROM for your Centon Virtual Machine.

Installation :

You will need Development Tools installed to be able to compile the Integration Components. You could do that by running yum:

yum groupinstall “Development Tools”

NOTE: This command will try to use your network connection to download and if you used Synthetic Network Adapter for your Hyper-V machine you will not have internet connection. So make sure to install Development Tools during your Centos initial installation.

Now make sure you added LinuxIC v21.iso file to your Hyper-V CDROM as Image.

As the root user, mount the CD in the virtual machine by issuing the following commands at a shell prompt:

mkdir /mnt/cdrom
mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom

Copy Linux Integration Services to the virtual machine and unmount CDROM that no longer needed:

mkdir /opt/linux_ic_v21_rtm
cp –R /mnt/cdrom/* /opt/linux_ic_v21_rtm
umount /mnt/cdrom

As the root user, run the following command to compile and install the synthetic drivers:

cd /opt/linux_ic_v21_rtm/
make
make install

NOTE: If you’re using the x64 version of Centos, you have to perform an extra step.

Attach the Centos ISO that was used for installation in the virtual machine, and mount it:

mkdir /mnt/cdrom
mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom

Install the adjtimex RPM for more accurate time keeping in the virtual machine:

rpm –ivh /mnt/cdrom/Centos/adjtimex-1.20-2.1.x86_64.rpm

To verify that all subcomponents are running,, as the root user, issue the following command at a shell prompt:

/sbin/lsmod | grep vsc

Please remember when using Network Adapters on Hyper-V, NIC names would be changed from eth0 to seth0.

Please view ESDS’s Windows Hyper-V Hosting Services for More Information