How to Manage Virtual Machines in Nutanix
Find out how to manage virtual machines in a Nutanix cluster, and how to create and migrate a virtual machine.
Requirements
- a Nutanix cluster in your OVHcloud account
- access to the OVHcloud Control Panel
- You must be connected to Prism Central on the cluster
Overview of Virtual Machine Management in Prism Central
The Nutanix system uses the same interfaces to manage storage and virtualization and it can be installed with multiple hypervisors (Hyper-V, VMware ESXi, AHV). AHV comes with Nutanix without the need to purchase additional licenses for the hypervisor.
The OVHcloud solution is delivered with the AHV hypervisor.
AHV enables:
- Using virtual machines on Windows and Linux.
- Migrating virtual machines from one node to another in a cluster.
- Micro-segmentation and network security between virtual machines using Flow software.
The Move tool makes it easy to migrate existing virtual machines in other environments (ESXi, Hyper-V & AWS) to Nutanix and its AHV hypervisor.
Instructions
The following instructions show the creation of a virtual machine in Windows Server 2022 and the migration of a virtual machine.
Creating a Virtual Machine for a Windows 2022 Operating System
Installing a virtual machine on Windows Server 2022 requires a particular setup because Microsoft does not provide the driver for the AHV hypervisor disk controller.
Creating a Windows Server 2022 VM
In the left-hand menu of Prism Central, expand Compute & Storage and click VMs.
Click the Create VM button.
Type a name in Name, choose the options in VM Properties, and click Next.
Adding a system disk
Click the Attach Disk button.
Enter 60 in the Capacity field and click Save to create a 60 GB disk.
Adding Windows Server 2022 Installation ISO Image
The image must be imported before it can be used in a new virtual machine.
Click Attach Disk.
Change the Type settings to CD-ROM, Operation to Clone from Image, Image to WS2022EN.ISO.
Click Save.
Adding an ISO image containing AHV-specific drivers
This image contains the disk controller driver and should also be imported. It is available on the Nutanix website if you have a Nutanix customer account.
Click Attach Disk.
Change the Type settings to CD-ROM, Operation to Clone from Image, Image to Nutanix-VirtIO-1.1.7.iso.
Click Save.
Network configuration
Click Attach Subnet.
Leave the default fields and click Save.
Click Next.
Select your timezone and click Next.
Click Create VM.
The newly created virtual machine will then appear in the dashboard.
Windows Server 2022 setup
Select the virtual machine on which you want to install Windows Server 2022, by ticking the box to the left of the VM.
Powering on the virtual machine
Click the Actions menu then Power ON.
Launching the console
Click the Actions menu then Launch Console.
Starting the installation
Choose your local settings and click Next.
Click Install now.
Select Windows Server 2022 Standard (Desktop Experience) and click Next.
Review the Microsoft software license terms and conditions, accept them, and click Next.
Click Custom: Install Microsoft Server Operating System only (advanced).
Click on Load driver.
Click Browse.
Select the correct folder e:\Windows Server 2022\amd64 and click OK.
Select these drivers:
Nutanix VirtIO Balloon DriverNutanix VirtIO Ethernet AdapterNutanix VirtIO SCSI pass-through controllerQEMU FWCfg Device
Click Next.
The 60 GB disk will appear, click Next.
Enter and confirm the password in both fields and click Finish.
Windows Server 2022 and WS2022 specific drivers for the AHV hypervisor have been installed.
Installing NGT (Nutanix Guest Tools)
NGT are tools that enable better interaction with Nutanix, particularly in terms of backups and snapshots.
Start the virtual machine console, right-click a CDROM drive, and click Eject.
Go back to Prism Central and select the virtual machine.
On the Actions menu, click Install NGT.
Click Confirm & Enter Password.
Click Skip and Mount.
Return to the virtual machine console and right-click the CDROM drive containing the NGT.
Click Install Nutanix Guest Tools.
Review the terms and conditions, accept them, then click Install.
The installation will then begin.
Once the installation is complete, close the installation wizard using the Close button.
The installation of a virtual machine on Windows is then complete.
Migrating a virtual machine
Migrating a virtual machine involves moving a hot VM from one node to another in a cluster.
If you have several clusters and the appropriate licenses, you can also migrate a VM from one cluster to another.
This guide only shows you how to migrate a VM within the same cluster.
In Prism Central VM Management, click WS2022N.
Check which node the VM is currently running on. It is displayed next to Host.
Click the More button, then Migrate.
Choose a destination node.
The name of the new node will appear next to Host if the migration is complete.
Go further
Browse all the Nutanix guides.
Browse the rest of the OVHcloud US documentation for guides on our other products and services.
Learn more about Nutanix on OVHcloud on the OVHcloud US website.