Questions[hyper-v-server-2019](server)

In the "old times" it was not recommended to use dynamic expanding disks in hyper-v. This create the issue of using very much disk space on the hyper-v host. (because we need allocate the space for the virtual disks)

I cannot find too much information about what is recommended today for windows server 2019.

What is recommended in 2021? Fixed disk size or dynamic expanding?

Extra information: The virtual server does not handle any big files. Only work with small size files (few kb, but many hundre thousands of them) if there is really no good reason for choosing fixed size, i want to convert all disks to dynamix expanding disks.

Using MMC, I'm attempting to remotely manage the Windows Defender Firewall on our Hyper-V Server 2019 instance (no GUI, CLI only). The NetBIOS name is SERVER1.

The Windows Defender Firewall Remote Management rules are enabled:

Name                  : RemoteFwAdmin-In-TCP
DisplayName           : Windows Defender Firewall Remote Management (RPC)
Description           : Inbound rule for the Windows Defender Firewall to be remotely managed via RPC/TCP.
DisplayGroup          : Windows Defender Firewall Remote Management
Group                 : @FirewallAPI.dll,-30002
Enabled               : True
Profile               : Any
Platform              : {}
Direction             : Inbound
Action                : Allow
EdgeTraversalPolicy   : Block
LooseSourceMapping    : False
LocalOnlyMapping      : False
Owner                 : 
PrimaryStatus         : OK
Status                : The rule was parsed successfully from the store. (65536)
EnforcementStatus     : NotApplicable
PolicyStoreSource     : PersistentStore
PolicyStoreSourceType : Local

Name                  : RemoteFwAdmin-RPCSS-In-TCP
DisplayName           : Windows Defender Firewall Remote Management (RPC-EPMAP)
Description           : Inbound rule for the RPCSS service to allow RPC/TCP traffic for the Windows Defender Firewall.
DisplayGroup          : Windows Defender Firewall Remote Management
Group                 : @FirewallAPI.dll,-30002
Enabled               : True
Profile               : Any
Platform              : {}
Direction             : Inbound
Action                : Allow
EdgeTraversalPolicy   : Block
LooseSourceMapping    : False
LocalOnlyMapping      : False
Owner                 : 
PrimaryStatus         : OK
Status                : The rule was parsed successfully from the store. (65536)
EnforcementStatus     : NotApplicable
PolicyStoreSource     : PersistentStore
PolicyStoreSourceType : Local

However, when I click the Inbound Rules node, MMC crashes:

Not that it helps much, but here's the stack trace info:

FX:{b05566ac-fe9c-4368-be02-7a4cbb7cbe11}
Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
System.NullReferenceException
   at Microsoft.WindowsFirewall.SnapIn.Wrappers.FirewallRules.Reload(String[] ruleIdFilter)
   at Microsoft.WindowsFirewall.SnapIn.ExceptionsListView.Refresh()
   at Microsoft.WindowsFirewall.SnapIn.NativeMethods.EnhancedMmcListView`1.ForceRefresh()
   at Microsoft.WindowsFirewall.SnapIn.NativeMethods.EnhancedMmcListView`1.OnShow()
   at Microsoft.ManagementConsole.View.ProcessNotification(Notification notification)
   at Microsoft.ManagementConsole.ViewMessageClient.ProcessNotification(Notification notification)
   at Microsoft.ManagementConsole.Internal.IMessageClient.ProcessNotification(Notification notification)
   at Microsoft.ManagementConsole.Executive.SnapInNotificationOperation.ProcessNotification()
   at Microsoft.ManagementConsole.Executive.Operation.OnThreadTransfer(SimpleOperationCallback callback)

...and here's the Application event log entry:

As expected, the Security and Maintenance control panel is useless for this.

When I try this from another machine on the network, MMC doesn't crash—but the Inbound/Outbound rule lists stay empty. No relevant event log entries are produced there.

How can I track this down and fix it so I can remotely manage the server's firewall?

--UPDATE--

I just now got the MMC crash on the other machine.

I have freshly installed Microsoft Hyper-V 2019 (Free), in Remote Datacenter (Different country)

but I can't find a way to upload the ISO files to start installing the Operating Systems

So, How to Copy an ISO file from my computer to Remote Hyper-V 2019 Host (Over the internet) ?

I'd like to wire up a VM with LAN access but restrict it from accessing the Internet. I've come across a couple of comments—such as this one—indicating that this can be done via two NICs, but the exact configuration details are a bit hazy.

Here's some background on what's driving this effort:

A recent Windows Update (not sure which one) has toppled the mighty QuickBooks. I've been able to set it aright inside a new network-isolated Win10 VM, so as to prevent Windows Updates from shuffling in the door (I'll have to connect it briefly for activation, but oh well). It's presently at a patch level that's lower than the offending update, and I'd like to keep it that way—at least for the near-term future.

But frequent and repeated access via Hyper-V Manager is, well... cumbersome at best. If I were able to RDP into it, that'd also mean I could share local drive resources for manually copying various files back and forth.

For the automated nightly backups I can write a PowerShell script to do something like this:

1. Shut down the VM
2. Mount the VHDX
3. Use RoboCopy to sync a folder
4. Dismount the VHDX
5. Start the VM

The comment sort of hints that the setup is something easy to put together. Well... easy if you know how!

For example:

one in the isolated test and another in the production network

Is he talking VLANs?

Make sure both nics are set to not register in DNS

How does one accomplish this? Does he mean omit the DNS server entries on the NICs' IPv4 property sheets?

Just set a static record on each sides DNS

See above.

Is this what's called a 'DMZ?'

I know a little bit about DNS, but absolutely nothing about VLANs. Not that I'm against studying up on the wonderful topic, but I'm loathe to chase down rabbit holes to learn about something that may ultimately wind up not contributing to what I'm after. That's why I appreciate you fine folks so much—you actually know how to pull this stuff off, and what parts/pieces it takes to do it.

Shucks, I can't even figure out whether he's talking about standing up another VM in addition to my QuickBooks VM.

I've tried my due diligence, searching for solutions, but I'm afraid I'm not familiar enough with the terminology here to even know what to look for. Search results are coming up with how-tos for everything but. I was lucky to find the one that I did.

There's a ton of stuff out there about Copy-VMFile, but that flows the wrong way. I need guest-to-host, not host-to-guest. The search engines don't seem to be smart enough to figure this out from my keywords (e.g. hyper-v get files from isolated vm or hyper-v internal network access no internet). All links point to Rome, not from it. All links think I'm complaining about no Internet access. I'm not. I want to know how to restrict it ON PURPOSE.

I don't have time to wait for these two behemoths to slug it out. I need to keep moving and slip past the clumsy feet of the lumbering giants. This has already set me behind with my critical accounting work.

What steps (like you're coaching a beginner, please) do I need to take in order to build what he's talking about?

To start with, I want to be clear that this is on "Hyper-V Server 2019" (free headless hypervisor) and not "Windows Server 2019" with the Hyper-V role installed.

I've been banging my head against the wall on this one a while and tried just about every tutorial option I can. It's far too much to explain every one of the options I've tried. The short version is that no matter what I do to enable BitLocker in some manner or another I end up with an error about not being able to find a file like what is shown in brief here...

PS C:\Windows\System32\> Enable-BitLocker -MountPoint "C:" -EncryptionMethod XtsAes256 -UsedSpaceOnly -RecoveryKeyPath "E:\" -RecoveryKeyProtector
Add-TpmProtectorInternal : The system cannot find the file specified. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80070002)
At C:\Windows\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\Modules\BitLocker\BitLocker.psm1:2095 char:31

I get the same error message if it's with a password, recovery key, TPM... makes no difference. I get a similar, but not as verbose of an error, when I use Manage-BDE.exe to attempt enabling BitLocker.

I've reformatted a few times. I've tried before and after domain join. Before/After feature add-ons. I've tried clearing the TPM on several occasions. I've tried having Secure Boot enabled/disabled in the BIOS. I've enabled/disabled/destroyed/rebuilt the Windows recovery partition as well as the ReAgent.xml file.

I'm basically out of options and looking for anything I can get for help. What I ultimately want it to do is boot from just the TPM and have the option for recovery password and optionally a recovery key.

Basic System Overview:

• Supermicro X10SRW-F
• E5-2690 v3
• 2 x 248GB Enterprise Samsung SSDs in Mirror (RAID 1) in BIOS (via Intel VROC)
• TPM 2.0
• UEFI Boot only (not dual or Legacy boot)
• Hyper-V Server 2019
• Roles: Hyper-V Role
• Features:
  • .NET 4.7
  • BitLocker
  • RSAT for BitLocker and Hyper-V
  • Standard for everything else (nothing above stock)
• Add-On: Installed Application Features on Demand to get Explorer, Powershell_ISE and a few other tools.

Many thanks in advance for your help.