Create and configure a virtual switch with Hyper-V

Here's how to create a virtual switch using Hyper-V Manager.

1. Open Hyper-V Manager.

2. From the Actions pane, select Virtual Switch Manager.

3. Choose the type of virtual switch, then select Create Virtual Switch.

4. Enter a name for the virtual switch, then perform one of the following steps.

   1. If you selected external, choose the network adapter (NIC) that you want to use, then select OK.

      You'll be prompted with a warning that the change may disrupt your network connectivity; select Yes if you're happy to continue.

   2. If you selected internal or private, select OK.

Here's how to create a virtual switch using the New-VMSwitch command.

1. Run PowerShell on your computer in an elevated session.

2. Find existing network adapters by running the Get-NetAdapter cmdlet. Identify the network adapter name that you want to use for the virtual switch.

   Get-NetAdapter
   

3. To create an external virtual switch, run the following commands, replacing the placeholder <value> with your own values.

   New-VMSwitch -Name <switch-name>  -NetAdapterName <netadapter-name>
   

   Or

   To create an internal or private switch, run the following command. Again, replace <switch-name> with the name of your switch and <switchtype> with either Internal or External.

   New-VMSwitch -Name <switch-name> -SwitchType <switchtype>
   

For more advanced PowerShell scripts that cover improved or new virtual switch features in Windows Server, see Remote Direct Memory Access and Switch Embedded Teaming.

Here's how to allow the management operating system to share the selected network adapter switch using Hyper-V Manager.

1. Open Hyper-V Manager.

2. From the Actions pane, select Virtual Switch Manager.

3. Select the virtual switch you wish to configure, check the Allow management operating system to share this network adapter and select OK.

   You'll be prompted with a warning that the change may disrupt your network connectivity; select Yes if you're happy to continue.

Here's how to allow a virtual switch to be shared with the management OS using the Set-VMSwitch command.

1. Run PowerShell on your computer in an elevated session.

2. To allow a virtual switch to be shared with the management OS, run the following commands. Replace the placeholder <vmswitch name> the name of your virtual switch.

   Set-VMSwitch -Name <vmswitch name> -AllowManagementOS $true
   

Here's how to specify the VLAN ID using the Hyper-V Manager.

1. Open Hyper-V Manager.

2. From the Actions pane, select Virtual Switch Manager.

3. Select the virtual switch you wish to configure, check the Enable virtual LAN identification for management operating system.

   1. You can enter any VLAN ID number or leave the default, then select OK.

      You'll be prompted to warn you that the change may disrupt your network connectivity, select Yes if you're happy to continue.

VLAN identifiers should be consistent with your network to ensure compatibility between your computer, virtual machines, and other network devices.

Here's how to set a VLAN identification using the Set-VMNetworkAdapterVlan command.

1. Run PowerShell on your computer in an elevated session.

2. To set the VLAN ID to tag traffic and set the port mode to access, run the following commands. Replace the placeholder <vmswitch name> the name of your virtual switch and <id> with your VLAN ID.

   Set-VMNetworkAdapterVlan -ManagementOS -VMNetworkAdapterName <vmswitch name> -Access -VlanId <id>
   

   Or

   To set port mode to trunk, the native VLAN ID, and allowed VLAN ID list, run the following commands. Replace the placeholder <vmswitch name> the name of your virtual switch and <id> with your VLAN ID. Replace <allowed ids> with a list of allowed VLAN IDs, for example, 200-210.

   $parameters = @{
        ManagementOS = $true
        VMNetworkAdapterName = <vmswitch name>
        Trunk = $true
        NativeVlanId = <id>
        AllowedVlanIdList = <allowed ids>
   }
   Set-VMNetworkAdapterVlan @parameters
   

This example above uses splatting to pass parameter values from the $parameters variable to the command. Learn more about Splatting.