Hyper-V Tools for R2

After searching the internet for hours it seemed clear that setting up a dedicated network in Hyper-V was something that should be possible. I’d read dozens of posts on how dedicated networking was a new feature for Hyper-V R2. So why couldn’t I figure out how to do it?

I eventually found my way to this blog post from John Howard. The article clearly explained the new networking option and included a picture of what the screen should look like. So… why didn’t my screen look like that? Well, if you scroll down and read the comment posted by John on March 25, 2010, you’ll find out.

“That checkbox only exists on the v2 UI present in Windows 7 and/or Windows Server 2008 R2. The v1 (Vista) UI operating against R2 is not supported - you should be using the v2 UI instead.”

Seriously? The Windows Vista Hyper-V client has not been updated to support Hyper-V R2. And based on John’s comment, I’m going to guess that it never will be. Why doesn’t the download page for the Vista Hyper-V tools explicitly state that they are NOT compatible with Hyper-V R2? Where’s the bright red print? WTF! If the guy who wrote that KB article was standing in front of me I’d kick him square in the nuts! Thanks Microsoft. Thanks for wasting hours of my life.

Here’s another article that John wrote, specifically on using the Vista client for R2.

For most people this probably isn’t an issue. Just manage Hyper-V from the Windows Server 2008 R2 box. But when your corporate network runs Vista and the first Windows Server 2008 R2 box you deployed is Windows Server 2008 R2 Core running Hyper-V… where exactly does that leave you? Screwed, that’s where it leaves you.