Windows Server 2012 Virtualization: Notes from the Field

Windows Server 2012 Virtualization:
Notes from the Field
Didier Van Hoye, Architect
http://workinghardinit.wordpress.com
Kurt Roggen, Technical Consultant
http://trycatch.be/blogs/roggenk

Agenda
• WS 2012 Hyper-V & Failover Clustering
• VM Priorities
• Maintenance Mode
• Failover & Failback
• Anti Affinity
• Live Migration
• Cluster Aware Updating (CAU)
• SC 2012 SP1 Virtual Machine Manager
• Cluster Management - Availability Sets
• Fabric Patching
• Maintenance Mode
• Service Templates

WS 2012 Failover Clustering
Optimize & automate placement logic
Virtual Machine Priority
Starting the most important VMs first
Ensure the most important VMs are
running
 Preemption to shut down low priority
VMs to free up resources for higher
priority VMs to start
Ideal for infrastructure servers (DCs)
or tiered architecture (back-end,
middle-tier, customer-facing)
Enhanced Failover Placement
Each VM placed based on node with best
available memory resources
Memory requirements evaluated on a per
VM basis
 Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA)
aware
High
Medium
Low

Priorities for Roles or Virtual Machine
Values: High, Medium, Low
 Default Priority: Medium
 Lowest Priority: No Auto Start
Starting Roles in Priority order
 Per Node
Placing Roles/VMs in Priority order
 Cold start
 Handling node crash
Moving Roles/VMs in Priority order
 Queuing
 Node Drain
High
Medium
Low
No Auto Start

Virtual Machine Priorities
 Default Priority: Medium
 Default “Move Behavior”: Quick migration for Low & below
 Defined by cluster parameter “MoveTypeThreshold”
which defaults to 2000 (Medium or Higher Priority)

VM Priorities & Live Migration
 Set all VMs to Live Migrate (instead of Quick Migrate)
 Not only VM with Medium/High Priorities
 VM Priority Values
 3000 = High
 2000 = Medium
 1000 = Low
 0 = Do not start automatically
 Using PowerShell
 Get-ClusterResourceType "Virtual Machine" |
Set-ClusterParameter MoveTypeThreshold 1000

Windows Server 2012 Virtualization: Notes from the Field

Enhanced Failover Placement
• Enhanced memory aware placement of VMs
• Check for most available Memory
• Failover is determined by Preferred Owners & Possible Owners
• Failback of VM now uses Live Migration instead of Quick Migration
• Live Migration respects Preferred Owners & Possible Owners
• Default Failback action: No Failback

Anti Affinity ClassNames
• Property of ClusterResourceGroup
• Identify ClusterGroups that should not be hosted on the same
node (where possible)
• Impacts VM Placement and Live Migrations
• Configurable using PowerShell only
• Configurable using SC2012 SP1 VMM using “Availibility Sets”
• Serves as basis for “Availibility Sets” in SC2012 SP1 VMM
More information:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa369651(v=vs.85).aspx

Cluster Node Maintenance Mode
Drain all VMs off a node
Supports all cluster roles
Role-specific features
 Live migration or quick migration for VMs
 Uses VM Priority
 Moves other roles

Cluster Node Maintenance Mode
Workflow – In Depth
Cluster Node Maintenance Mode - Automated Node Drain
Workload sorted based on Priority
VMs queued for live migration (using MaxLiveMigrations)
Enhanced memory aware placement of VMs
VMs’ live migrated concurrently along with built-in retry logic
Node is PAUSED
Automated Node Drain completed
Cluster Placement Policies
(Preferred & Possible Owners, AntiAffinity)

Cluster Aware Updating (CAU)
 Update orchestration across all nodes in a cluster
 CAU ships in box with Windows Server 2012
 Not reinventing Windows Updates & patching
 Previews, applies and reports on updates for a cluster
 Two modes: Self-updating & Remote-updating
 Self-updating: Workload reduction through increased automation, Updating itself is resilient
 Remote-updating scenarios where closer administrator attention is preferred or warranted
 Extensible
 Integrate with your patching tools with plug-ins (API)
 Two inbox plug-ins: Windows Update & hotfix plug-in
 Per-node pre-update and post-update scripts

Where Does CAU Fit In?
Windows Update Services

Plug-ins & Supported Update Types
CAU ships with two plug-ins
1. Windows Update
1. Installs GDRs* => From Windows Update
Or WSUS
2. Hotfix Plug-in
1. Installs QFEs** from a SMB 3.0 file share
2. 3rd party updates such as BIOS & Firmware Updates from a
SMB 3.0 File Share

Cluster Aware Updating Process
1. Scans, downloads and installs applicable
updates on each node
 Windows Update or Hotfix plugin or both
2. Restarts node as necessary
3. One node at a time
4. Repeats for all cluster nodes
5. Customize pre- & post-update behavior
with PS scripts
6. Easy manual or scheduled launch
 Via GUI
 PowerShell
 Works for both physical or virtualized clusters
Jenny Starts
Updating Run
Node 64
Resume Node &
Failback VMs
.
.
.
Node 1
Windows
Server failover
cluster
. . .
Windows Update,
WSUS, QFE, …
Pause Node &
Drain VMs
CAU

Remote-Updating Mode
 CAU Update Coordinator process
remotely connects to the cluster
 User-initiated Updating Run,
allowing real time monitoring
 Rich progress updates
 Minimal Server Core (no .Net or
PS dependency) on nodes
CAU Update
Coordinator
Failover Cluster
Node 1 Node 2
Node 3 Node 4

Node 1
Failover Cluster
Self-Updating Mode
 Leverages a CAU cluster role that is
resilient to planned and unplanned
failures
 Requires no real-time user attention
 Installs updates on a custom schedule
 CAU Update Coordinator process runs
on a clustered node
Update Coordinator
Node 2
Node 3
Node 4

 Strict ACL Checking (Optional)
Kerberos Mutual Authentication
(Required)
 Data integrity checking (Required)
 SMB Signing or SMB Encryption
 Privacy with SMB Encryption
(Optional)
 SMB Encryption is new in Windows Server 2012
Hotfixes Folder
Structure & Security
CAU Hotfix Root Folder
CAUHotfix_All
<Node Name 1>
Extension Rules
<MSU>
<MSI>
<MSP>
Folder Rules
<MySwUpdateType>
Hotfix Config File
MySwUpdateType
Special software updates
.
.
.
Hotfixes applicable to all nodes
Hotfixes applicable just to <Node Name 1>
Hotfixes applicable just to <Node Name N>
<Node Name N>
MySwUpdateType
MySwUpdateType

“Hotfix” Support Internals
 Rich/extensible Hotfix installation
 Microsoft QFEs, or third-party driver updates,
or even Firmware/BIOS updates…
 Select hotfix behavior at start.
Two key inputs:
1. Root Folder: on an SMB File Share
2. Configuration xml file: defines the Rules
System32WindowsPowerShellv1.0ModulesClusterAwareUpdatingDefaultHotfixConfig.xml
 Configuration Rules are the key to
flexibility
 Easy to specify new Rules
 hotfix installer name, install options, reboot behavior,
return values etc.

NTFS permissions CAU File Share
 First you’ll need to do your home
work as described in the TechNet
article
 But that doesn’t quite cover it
 Adjust NTFS Permissions on the
CAU Share
 Give cluster node computer accounts (or an
AD group containing them, which makes for
easier administration) Read/Execute
permission to the location
 If Not =>they can’t run the DUPs.

NTFS permissions Log File
 DUPs allows logging with /L switch
 Locally (per node) or to central share
 Must use another share than the CAU Share:
 Need to give the computer accounts (or an AD
group containing them, which makes for easier
administration) write permission to the location
 You’re not allowed to do that for other then
specific accounts as described on TechNet
 The log can grow quite large if used a lot
 Keep an eye on it
 For clarities sake use different log per cluster or
folder type

Cluster Management
Using SCVMM 2012 SP1

VMM 2012 SP1: Cluster Management
• Supports “Possible/Preferred Owner”
• Supports of “Availability Sets” (Anti-Affinity)
• Supports VM Priority
• Supports CSV2
• Supports 64 cluster nodes, 4000 VM’s/cluster, 1024 VMs/node

Possible Owners & Preferred Owners

VMM 2012 SP1 support for
Anti-Affinity = VMM ‘Availability Sets’
Availability Set = configurable anti-affinity
rules for VMs
Ensures VMs are placed on different
hosts for better availability
VMM Placement algorithm offers
suggestions based on availability sets
Works across:
 Standalone (non-clustered) Hyper-V hosts*
 Hyper-V clusters*
 Xen Server hosts
 VMware hosts

Availability Sets & VMM Services
VMM Services can leverage ‘Availability Sets’
 Availability sets – configured at the machine tier level
 Ensures that VM instances of a machine tier are placed on different hosts.
SSUs can request availability sets for their VMs
 Simple checkbox experience
 Available from the VMM Service Template Designer

Fabric Patching
Using SCVMM 2012 SP1

Update Management
Feature of VMM 2012
Keeps Windows Fabric Servers up-to-date
• Limited to VMM managed infrastructure servers (HV, LIB, WSUS, WDS)
Enable
Feature
Manage
Baselines
Scan
Servers
Remediate
Servers
Manage
Exemptions

Remediating Hyper-V Cluster
Orchestrated workflow
 Put a node in maintenance mode
 Evacuates the node using Live Migration
 User can override this to save state the VMs on the node
 Install missing updates based on baselines assigned
 Take the node out of maintenance mode
 Go to next node and repeat
Supports WS2008, WS2008 R2, WS2012 Hyper-V clusters
Automatable using PowerShell

VMM Services &
Service Templates

Scale out & health policy Scale out & health policy Scale out & health policy
Service template (Multi-tier applications)
IIS
HW profile OS profile App profile
Application server
SQL
Web tier Application tier Data tier
Standardize Application Deployment
using Service Templates
Compute Storage Network
Web (IIS)
Web Deploy
App (Server App-V) Data (SQL)
DAC Packs
Custom Scripts

Create Service Template with
Service Designer
Use the ribbon for contextual actions
within the Service Template Designer.
Use the designer canvas to build your
service template from Virtual Machine
Templates, Logical Networks and
Load Balancers.
Set service-related properties such as
cost center, description, release version.

Preview pane shows view of your
service deployment.
Settings allow you to set
deployment specific variables.
Ribbon bar for deploy activity or
to check deployment ratings.
Deploy Service Through
Deployment Preview

Why Use Services?
Standardized deployments (in dynamic way – multiple environments)
Manage multi-tier applications across multiple servers as a single
unit
Scale out based on demand
Composibility of OS and Applications, allows users to manage fewer
OS images
Automation using # GCEs (Generic Command Execution ~ scripts)

Generic Command Execution (GCE)
Execute custom scripts within
Service instance VMs
 Can specify run as account, script
restart behavior, logging
properties
 Script parameters can leverage
configurable service settings
Multiple entry points available
 Application level
 Pre/post install, pre/post uninstall,
pre/post service, save/restore state
 Application Profile level
 Pre/post install, Pre/post uninstall
 Pre/post install supports multiple,
ordered scripts (SP1)

SC 2012 SP1 VMM: Services
Service Deployment
 Support for Service deployment to untrusted domains and workgroups
 Support for Service deployment to disconnected VMs
Application Host
 “Web Application Host” for deploying MS Web Deploy packages to existing web
servers (virtual, physical, farm, clustered)
SQL Server 2012
 Complete installation of prepared SQL 2012 instances
Linux Guest support
 Supporting Linux Operating Systems for unattended deployment

In-VM/Guest Agent SP1 Changes
Requires .NET 4.0
 Agent installation will take care of this (can sysprep as well)
 For Server Core, requires Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 or above
Deployed via ISO
 All service instance VMs have a guest agent installed
Decoupled from VMM server
 Supports Service deployment to untrusted domains and workgroups
 Supports Service deployment to disconnected VMs

Service Template Explorer
An add-in for your VMM Console, that allows you to discover,
download and import pre-configured service templates directly to
your VMM infrastructure
Service Templates available (soon)
 Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 / Windows Server 2012
 ADDS Domain Controller
 DNS, DHCP
 Web Server (IIS)
 File Server
* THIS IS BETA AT THE MOMENT AND MIGHT CHANGE TILL RTM

Service Template Explorer Experience

Windows Server 2012 Virtualization: Notes from the Field

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Windows Server 2012 Virtualization: Notes from the Field