Configure Lab Management for SCVMM environments

To create and manage System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) environments, you must first configure the required components for Lab Management. These components are:

• Hyper-V hosts

• SCVMM

• Team Foundation Server

• A test controller

For more information about Lab Management, see Using a Lab Environment for Your Application Lifecycle.

If you are upgrading from earlier versions of Lab Management or SCVMM, see upgrading.

Prerequisites

The Team Foundation Server administrator must set up and configure Team Foundation Server before configuring Lab Management. For more information about how to set up and configure Team Foundation Server, see the Team Foundation Server Installation Guide. After the administrator has configured Team Foundation Server and created a default team project collection, make sure that you have the following information:

• TfsMachine: The name of the machine that is running Team Foundation Server.

• domain: The Active Directory domain that is used by all machines.

• tfssvc: The account under which Team Foundation Server is running.

  Note

  You must use a domain user account and password for the TFSservice account to set up an SCVMM environment for lab management.

• domain\tfsadmin: The account for the Team Foundation Server administrator.

System requirements

The following table summarizes the minimum and recommended hardware and software requirements for the machines used with Lab Management. To make the requirements easier to understand, each role is broken out as if it were installed on a separate machine. For a simpler setup, you can run the HyperVHost machine, the VmmMachine and the LibraryMachine all on the same computer.

Configuration procedures

The following table details the procedures that you must follow to complete the configuration for Hyper-V, SCVMM, and Lab Management, and the permissions that are required. For a simple setup, the HyperVHost machine, the VmmMachine and the LibraryMachine can be the same machine.

Set up and configure Hyper-V hosts

To set up Hyper-V, you can do one of the following:

• Enable the Hyper-V role on your computer that has Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2012 installed. If you do not have the Hyper-V role enabled on the HyperVHost computer, you must first enable this by using Server Manager on each of the Hyper-V hosts so that you can create and manage virtual machines using the steps in the following procedure. For more information about Hyper V, see the following Microsoft Web site.

• Install Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 on your HyperVHost. For information about Hyper-V server and how to install it, see the following Microsoft Web site.

To enable the Hyper-V role on each Hyper-V host with Windows Server

1. On the Hyper-V host, log on as an administrator.

2. Choose Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then choose Server Manager.

3. In the left pane of Server Manager, right-choose Roles and point to Add Roles.

4. Follow the Add Roles Wizard. You can just choose Next in all except the following pages of the wizard:

   1. On the Select Server Roles page, select Hyper-V and then choose Next.

   2. On the Create Virtual Networks page, you must select an active network adapter and then choose Next.

      Note

      To find which network adapters are active, use the ipconfig command to view which network adapters have IP addresses. In the wizard, select the network adapter that should be used for creating a virtual network. You must select an adapter that is connected to the same network as the other machines in the lab. If there are several adapters, select the adapter to which the virtual machines that were created by Lab Management should be connected.

   3. On the Confirm Installation Selections page, choose Install.

   4. On the Installation Results page, choose Close.

   5. On the Do you want to restart now dialog box, choose Yes.

      The machine will restart and continue with Resume Configuration Wizard.

   6. On the Installation Results page, you will see a message that states Installation succeeded. Choose Close.

5. Install the update described on this Microsoft Web site. This update supports the network isolation capability of SCVMM environments.

Improve the reliability of WinRM

Windows Remote Management (WinRM) is used by SCVMM to communicate with Hyper-V hosts. You must make the following changes to the default configuration settings for WinRM. The changes to these settings help improve the reliability of WinRM because Lab Management performs a larger number of operations on Hyper-V hosts than are performed in a typical production scenario for Hyper-V. These changes to the WinRM settings must also be performed on any computer that is used for a library share.

To change Windows Remote Management configuration settings

1. Choose Start, open the shortcut menu for the Command Prompt, and then choose Run as administrator.

   Note

   You must be a domain user who has been added to the administrators group for this machine.

2. At the command prompt, run the following command:

   winrm set winrm/config @{MaxTimeoutms = "1800000"}

3. Restart the winrm service and the SCVMM agent on the host using the following commands:

   net stop winrm

   net start winrm

   net start scvmmagent

4. If the host OS is Windows Server 2008: 

   1. Run the following command:

      winrm set winrm/config/Service @{MaxConcurrentOperations="200"}

   2. Restart winrm and the SCVMM agent on the host using the following commands:

      net stop winrm

      net start winrm

      net start scvmmagent

Verify the Hyper-V setup

To verify that Hyper-V is installed correctly and is working

• Create a virtual machine using Hyper-V and check that you can start the virtual machine.

  If you have enabled the Hyper-V role for your HyperVHost, create a virtual machine using the information from the following Microsoft Web site.

  Note

  You can change the settings for the virtual machine based on your needs. You can update the hard disk size and the memory. For more information about these settings, see the following Microsoft Web site.

  If you are using Hyper-V Server, create a virtual machine using the information in the Hyper-V Server Getting Started Guide from the following Microsoft Web site.

  Note

  If you have multiple hard disk drives on your Hyper-V machine, you must configure the paths for the virtual machines to be the larger disk, or you may not have sufficient disk space to create your virtual machines.

For more information about Hyper-V, see this overview of Hyper-V.

Install and configure SCVMM

To access the virtual machines that you create with Hyper-V from Lab Management, you must install and configure SCVMM. SCVMM is a tool for managing your Hyper-V host machines from a central console. Lab Management communicates with SCVMM to be able to use the virtual machines and templates to create environments. Two versions of System Center Virtual Machine Manager are supported for Lab Management: SCVMM 2012 or SCVMM 2008 R2.

Install and configure SCVMM 2012

For information about prerequisites, see: System Requirements: VMM Management Server

Install SCVMM server and its administrator console on the VMMMachine

1. On VmmMachine, log on as a domain user who is also a local administrator on the machine.

2. Run setup.exe.

3. In System Center 2012 setup, choose Install.

   Tip

   If you do not have Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 installed, VMM Setup prompts you to install it. Choose OK.

4. In Select features to add, choose VMM management server and then choose Next. VMM Console is automatically installed with the server.

5. Type your name, organization and product key and choose Next.

6. Choose I have read, understood, and agreed with the terms of the license agreement and choose Next.

7. Choose whether to participate in the customer experience improvement program and choose Next.

8. To accept the recommended installation location, choose Next.

9. Specify the SQL Server instance to use, as well as any particulars about it, and choose Next.

10. Specify the local system account or a domain account as the identity the VMM service will use and choose Next.

11. Choose Next to accept the default port assignments or to enter different values.

12. Choose Create a new library share and choose Next.

13. On the Installation summary screen, choose Install, and then choose Close after the wizard finishes.

After you install VMM manager, you must add your Hyper-V host machines to a host group, and optionally add more library shares.

To configure SCVMM

1. Open Virtual Machine Manager Console.

   1. Choose Start, All programs, Microsoft System Center 2012, Virtual Machine Manager, and then Virtual Machine Manager Console.

   2. On the Connect to Server dialog box, type localhost:<port number>or <the name of the SCVMM Server>:<port number>, and then choose Connect.

2. To add the HyperVHost machines to a host group in SCVMM, choose Fabric, and then choose Add resources, and then choose Hyper-V Hosts and Clusters. Choose Next in all except the following pages of the wizard:

   1. On Specify the credentials to use for discovery, choose Manually enter the credentials, type the credentials of an administrator for the Hyper-V host, and choose Next.

   2. On the Specify the search scope for virtual machine host candidates wizard page, choose Specify Windows Server computers by names, in the Computer names box, type the computer name of the host that you are adding to SCVMM (for example, HyperVHost), and then choose Next.

   3. On the Select the computer that you want to add as hosts page, select the Hyper-V host computers and choose Next.

   4. On the Summary wizard page, choose Finish.

      Note

      It is recommended that you configure a separate host group for each team project collection. For example, if you plan to configure Lab Management in two project collections in Team Foundation Server, you can create two host groups in System Center Virtual Machine Manager.

3. (Optional) By default, SCVMM configures the machine on which it is installed to act as a library server. It also sets up a default library share on the machine. You can add more library servers or shares to improve the performance.

   1. To add a new library server to SCVMM, choose Library, and then choose the Add library server button from the ribbon and follow the instructions in the wizard.

   2. To add a new library share to SCVMM, first create a Windows file share on a library server. Then choose Library, in the navigation pane, select the library server where you created the Windows file share, and choose Library Server from the menu. In the ribbon, choose Add library shares and follow the instruction in the wizard.

      Note

      We recommend that you configure a separate library share for each team project collection.

4. To ensure that virtual machines start quickly and that the host service and any network agents do not timeout, set the minimum amount of memory that the HyperVHost machine will always have in reserve. The default memory reserves on the host machine are often too low to accommodate the longer startup time required for virtual machines.

   1. In the SCVMM Administrator Console, choose Fabric.

   2. In the navigation pane, expand Servers, All Hosts, choose the Hyper-V host machine, and then choose the Properties button from the ribbon.

   3. In the properties dialog box, choose Reserves and then select the Override host reserves settings from the parent host group check box.

   4. In the Memory (MB) edit box, type or select 1024, and then choose OK.

   5. Repeat steps b. through d. for each host.

Install and configure SCVMM 2008 R2

To install SCVMM server and SCVMM Administrator Console on the VmmMachine

1. On VmmMachine, log on as a domain user who is also an administrator on the machine.

2. To install System CenterVirtual Machine Manager, run setup.exe.

3. To install the SCVMM Server, under Setup choose VMM Server. Choose I accept the terms of this agreement. Then choose Next in all except the following pages of the wizard:

   1. On the SQL Server Settings wizard page, choose Install SQL Server 2005 Express Edition SP3, and then choose Next.

      Note

      If you do have an existing instance of SQL that you want to use, then select Use a supported version of SQL Server.

   2. On the Library Share Settings wizard page, select Create a new library share.

      Note

      You can accept the default names and locations for the library share or enter different values.

   3. On the Installation Settings wizard page, you can either accept the default port numbers and VMM service account or enter different values.

   4. On the Summary of Settings wizard page, choose Install.

   5. On the Installation wizard page, choose Close.

4. To install the Virtual Machine Manager Administrator Console, under Setup choose VMM Administrator Console. Choose I accept the terms of this agreement. Then choose Next in all except the following pages of the wizard:

   1. On the Summary of Settings wizard page, choose Install.

   2. On the Installation wizard page, choose Close.

5. On the System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 startup page, choose Exit.

After you install VMM manager, you must add your Hyper-V host machine to a host group, and optionally add more library shares.

To configure SCVMM

1. Open Virtual Machine Manager Administrator Console.

   1. Choose Start, All programs, Microsoft System Center, Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2, and then Virtual Machine Manager Administrator Console.

   2. On the Connect to Server dialog box, enter localhost:<port number>or <the name of the SCVMM Server>:<port number>, and then choose Connect.

      Note

      If you receive an error message that states that you cannot connect because the service is not running, run services.msc and verify that Virtual Machine Manager Service is running.

2. To add the HyperVHost machines to a host group in SCVMM, in the Actions pane choose Add host. Choose Next in all except the following pages of the wizard:

   1. On Select Host Location wizard page of the Add Hosts wizard, enter the credentials of an administrator for the Hyper-V host.

   2. On the Select Host Servers wizard page, enter the computer name of the host that you are adding to SCVMM—for example, HyperVHost—and then choose Add.

   3. On the Summary wizard page, choose Add Hosts.

      Note

      We recommend that you configure a separate host group for each team project collection. For example, if you plan to configure Lab Management in two project collections in Team Foundation Server, you can create two host groups in System Center Virtual Machine Manager.

3. (Optional) By default, SCVMM configures the machine on which it is installed to act as a library server. It also sets up a default library share on the machine. You can add more library servers or shares to improve the performance.

   1. To add a new library server to SCVMM, choose Add library server in the Actions pane on the right side and follow the instructions in the wizard.

   2. To add a new library share to SCVMM, first create a Windows file share on a library server. Then select the library server on the Library tab of SCVMM Administrator Console and choose Add library shares under the Actions pane on the right side.

      Note

      We recommend that you configure a separate library share for each team project collection.

   3. On each SCVMM library server, install the update described on this Microsoft website. This update supports the network isolation capability of SCVMM environments.

4. To ensure that virtual machines start quickly and that the host service and any network agents do not timeout, set the minimum amount of memory that the HyperVHost machine will always have in reserve. The default memory reserves on the host machine are often too low to accommodate the longer startup time required for virtual machines.

   1. In the SCVMM Administrator Console, choose Go, Hosts.

   2. In the center All Hosts pane, open the shortcut menu for the name of the host machine, and then choose Properties.

   3. In the Host Group Properties for host machine dialog, choose the Reserves tab.

   4. In the Memory edit box, enter or select 1024, and then choose OK. For more information about the minimum required memory for Hyper-V hosts, see this Microsoft website.

   5. Repeat steps b through d for each host.

To verify that SCVMM is installed correctly and is working

1. In the Virtual Machine Manager Administrator Console, in the Actions pane on the right side, choose New virtual machine. Choose Next in all except the following pages of the wizard.

   1. On the Select Source wizard page, select Create the new virtual machine with a blank virtual hard disk.

   2. On the Virtual Machine Identity wizard page, in Virtual machine name, enter blank.

   3. On the Select Destination wizard page, select Place the virtual machine on a host.

   4. On the Select Host wizard page, view the ratings, and then choose Next.

      You should see all the HyperVHost machines that you are using for Lab Management. All of them should have positive star ratings. If not, you might have an issue that must be corrected. To determine why the HyperVHost machines are not usable by SCVMM, examine the Rating Explanation.

   5. On the Summary wizard page, choose Create.

      A new virtual machine called blank should be created without any errors and should be visible in the Virtual Machines tab of SCVMM. There might be a warning that SCVMM could not locate the boot volume. This is expected and can be ignored.

2. In the Virtual Machine Manager Administrator Console, choose Virtual Machines, open the shortcut menu for the virtual machine displayed in the list, and then choose Start. If the virtual machine does not start, review the information located on the following sites to identify the cause of the problem:

   • New Installation of SCVMM 2008

   • System Center Virtual Machine Manager TechCenter

3. After the Status of the VM is Running, open the shortcut menu for the VM, and then choose Stop.

   This confirms that your Hyper-V hosts are configured correctly.

4. To store the virtual machine in the library, open the shortcut menu for the VM, and then choose Store in library.

   1. On the Select Library Server wizard page, choose one of the library shares.

   2. On the Select Path wizard page, browse to the path for your library share that you plan to use for your team project collection on Team Foundation Server.

   3. When you are finished, confirm that a virtual machine called blank appears in the Library pane in the SCVMM Administrator Console.

      This confirms that the library share is configured correctly.

You can use the following procedure to improve the performance of virtual machine transfers from the SCVMM library share to a host and also when storing a virtual machine to the SCVMM library share. This performance improvement removes encryption that has security implications if the images are transmitted unencrypted over the network.

To improve performance of VM transfers

1. Enable unencrypted file transfers for library servers.

   1. Choose the Library tab in the SCVMM Administrator console. Open the shortcut menu for each library server in the Library Servers tree, and then choose Properties.

   2. Select Allow unencrypted file transfers.

   3. Choose OK to close the dialog box.

2. Enable unencrypted file transfers for host groups.

   1. Choose the Hosts tab in the SCVMM Administrator console. Open the shortcut menu for each host group in the Hosts tree, and then choose Properties.

   2. Select Allow unencrypted file transfers.

   3. Choose OK to close the dialog box.

Configure Lab Management for Team Foundation Server

To enable Team Foundation Server to communicate with the SCVMM server, you must also install the SCVMM Administrator Console on your TfsMachine if this is a different computer from the computer that you are using as your VmmMachine.

To install SCVMM 2012 Console on <TFSMachine>

1. Log on to TfsMachine as domain\tfsadmin.

2. To install Virtual Machine Manager Administrator Console, run setup.exe for Virtual Machine Manager.

3. In VMM setup, choose Install.

4. You can just choose Next in all except the following pages of the wizard:

   1. On the Select features to install page, choose VMM console and then choose Next.

   2. On the license page, you must choose I agree with the terms of this notice and then choose Next.

   3. On the Installation summary page, choose Install.

   4. On the Setup completed successfully page, choose Close.

To install the SCVMM 2008 R2 Administrator Console on <TfsMachine>

1. Logon to TfsMachine as domain\tfsadmin.

2. To install Virtual Machine Manager Administrator Console, run setup.exe for Virtual Machine Manager.

3. Under Setup on the System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 startup wizard page, choose VMM Administrator Console.

4. You can just choose Next in all except the following pages of the wizard:

   1. On the Summary of Settings wizard page, choose Install.

   2. On the Installation wizard page, choose Close.

Configure Lab Management for Team Foundation Server

You must configure Lab Management in Team Foundation Server. This enables access to the virtual machines and templates that you create from Microsoft Test Manager. You can then use these virtual machines or templates to create SCVMM environments and store them in a library share. This requires you to select the SCVMM server to use with Team Foundation Server.

To configure Lab Management for Team Foundation Server

1. On TfsMachine, choose Start, All programs, Microsoft Visual Studio Team Foundation Server, and then choose Team Foundation Server Administration Console.

   Note

   You must log on to TfsMachine as domain\tfsadmin.

2. In the Administration Console, in the Application Tier node, choose Lab Management.

3. Choose Configure.

   The Lab Management Settings dialog box appears.

4. On the Virtual Machine Manager tab, in VMM Server Name, type the name of VmmMachine, the server that is running Virtual Machine Manager and that you will use to manage the virtual machines.

5. Choose Test to determine whether Team Foundation Server can communicate with the SCVMM server.

   1. If Team Foundation Server service account does not have the appropriate permissions on the specified SCVMM, a dialog box prompts you for a user name and password.

   2. Specify the credentials of an existing member of SCVMM Administrators Role. By using this user name and password, the Team Foundation Server service account will be added to the SCVMM Administrator Role.

   If Team Foundation Server cannot contact the SCVMM server, a red x and an error message is displayed. For more information about how to troubleshoot installation issues, see Troubleshooting Lab Management.

6. You can use network isolation in Visual Studio Lab Management to enable multiple copies of a lab environment to run at the same time without causing network conflicts, such as conflicts in computer names and Domain Name System (DNS) registration. For more information about network isolation, see Creating and using a network isolated environment. On the Network Isolation tab, follow these steps:

   1. In IP Block, type the range of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to be assigned to the virtual machines in an environment when an isolated network is created.

      You must type the IP Block using Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) notation. The CIDR notation is constructed from the IP address, the forward slash (/), and the prefix size. For example, 192.168.0.0/24.

      The addresses that you specify are used only for internal routing among virtual machines and are not exposed beyond the boundaries of an environment. Therefore, you can specify any address range that is not used within your public network. In most cases, you can use the default range of 192.168.23.0/24.

   2. In DNS Suffix, type the suffix of the domain name to be assigned to the environment when an isolated network is created.

      Team Foundation Server uses the suffix that you entered when it registers a unique external name with DNS for each virtual machine in a network-isolated environment. The DNS alias record makes it possible for machines and other objects outside the isolated network to communicate with machines inside the isolated network. Because Team Foundation Server goes into the DNS zone to register the alias record, the service account under which Team Foundation runs must have permissions to add or delete alias records in the specified DNS zone.

      If your Team Foundation Server deployment has more than one application tier and each application tier runs under a different service account, then each application-tier service account must have permission to edit the DNS alias records created by the other application tiers.

      Choose Test to determine whether Team Foundation Server can use the suffix.

      If the suffix is valid, a green check mark appears. Choose OK.

      If the suffix is not valid, a red x and an error message appear. You must fix the error before you can continue.

7. If your deployment of Team Foundation Server has more than one application-tier machine, repeat the following steps on each of the other application-tier machines:

   1. In the Team Foundation Administration Console, choose the Application Tier node, choose Lab Management, and then choose Reconfigure.

      The Lab Management Settings dialog box appears.

   2. Choose the Virtual Machine Manager tab, and then choose Test to determine whether the application tier can communicate with SCVMM.

      If the Team Foundation Server service account does not have the correct permissions on the specified SCVMM, a dialog box is displayed prompting you for a user name and password. Type the credentials of an existing member of SCVMM Administrators role. When you type this user name and password and choose OK, the Team Foundation Server service account of this application tier will be added to the SCVMM Administrator role.

Configure Lab Management for Each Team Project Collection

You must configure the host group and library share from SCVMM that you want to use with each team project collection. For example, you might decide to allocate one host group to each team project collection to evenly divide the virtual machine resources.

To use the workflow capability from a Team Foundation Build build definition to deploy your application, or run tests by using a test controller on your SCVMM environments, you must add a domain user account that will be used by test agents and build agents.

To configure Lab Management for each team project collection

1. To select the library share to use to store virtual machines, templates, and SCVMM environments, choose Team Project Collections under Application Tier.

   Important

   You must configure a library share for each team project collection that you want to configure for Lab Management.

2. In the right-side pane, choose the appropriate team project collection from the list of project collections.

3. Choose the Lab Management tab, and then choose Configure Library Shares.

   The Lab Management Settings dialog box appears.

4. On the Library Shares tab, choose Add and Verify.

   The Select Library Shares dialog box appears.

5. In the Select Library Shares dialog box, choose one or more SCVMM library shares that this team project collection will use, and then choose Add.

   The verify process now confirms that Team Foundation Server can connect to the library share. If the verification fails, then a log is generated. You can view the log to identify the problems and then fix them. When they are fixed, you can choose Verify to confirm that Team Foundation Server can connect to the library share.

6. To add the library share to each team project in the team project collection, select the Auto Provision check box for the library share.

   Note

   If you select to auto-provision the library share, Team Foundation Server automatically adds the library share to all the team projects in this team project collection. For team projects that have not yet been created, the library share is added when the New Team Project wizard creates the project. For team projects that have already been created in this team project collection, the library share is added when these settings are saved. If you clear Auto Provision the library share will no longer be added to new team projects that you add to your team project collection.

7. To select the host group to use for a team project collection, choose Host Groups.

   Important

   You must select the host group for each team project collection that you want to configure for Lab Management.

8. On the Host Groups tab, choose Add and Verify.

9. In the Select Host Groups dialog box, choose one or more SCVMM host groups that this team project collection will use, and then choose Add.

10. To add the host group to each team project in the team project collection, choose the Auto Provision check box for the host group.

    Note

    If you select to auto-provision the host group, Team Foundation Server automatically adds the host group to all the team projects in this team project collection. For team projects that have not yet been created, the host group is added when the New Team Project wizard creates the project. For team projects that have already been created in this team project collection, the host group is added when these settings are saved. If you clear Auto Provision, the host group will no longer be added to new team projects that you add to your team project collection.

Install a Test Controller

You can use Lab Management to deploy an application to your SCVMM environment and also to run tests on that environment. This requires a test controller. For more information about how to run tests using test settings and environments, see Setting Up Test Machines to Run Tests or Collect Data.

To install the test controller

1. Install the test controller on ControllerMachine or on a different machine. For information about how to install and configure a test controller, see Installing and Configuring Test Agents and Test Controllers.

   Note

   You must register the test controller with the team project collection that you are using for Lab Management.

2. Specify the user account to use for communication between the test agents and build agents and between the test controllers and Team Foundation Server.

   Warning

   The service account that you specify must be a domain account. For security reasons, this account must have limited privileges. The account that you use must not have any administrative permission or be the account that is used by any trusted service. This includes the build controller and test controller.

   We recommend that you create two accounts to use for this service account. For more information about how to switch between these two accounts and how existing environments are updated with the service account, see How to: Configure the Lab Service Account.

   You must configure the user account for each team project collection that you want to configure for Lab Management.

See Also

Concepts

Configure and administer Lab Management