2016 Hyper-V Server

[caffrey]

Is it okay now to go with 2016 Hyper-V server into production ?

[FN-GM]

Yep. We have around 75% server 2016 here. It has been pretty uneventful and didn't have any issues from the start.

[caffrey]

Using Datacenter ? Just checked our VLSC and I need to phone for the keys..

[FN-GM]

We use Datacenter for the Hyper-V hosts and Standard for the virtual machines.

[caffrey]

Hrrm it appears I have no KMS keys on this new agreement, oh well phonecall to Microsoft it is

[sted]

Hrrm it appears I have no KMS keys on this new agreement, oh well phonecall to Microsoft it is

ms dont dish out kms keys automatically anymore you have to request them (ive always just sent an email its less hassle than phoning them and has a paper trail)

[FN-GM]

ms dont dish out kms keys automatically anymore you have to request them (ive always just sent an email its less hassle than phoning them and has a paper trail)

 

I second the email suggestion, unless you fancy high blood pressure!

 

[email protected]

[caffrey]

Thanks I didn't know that - I've always just used the 0800 9179016 number, usually get straight through

[LazyD]

FN-GM, did you do in place upgrades of your servers from 2012 to 2016? How many servers do you maintain?

 

I never usually do in place upgrades.

[FN-GM]

@LazyD I never do in place upgrades. We have about 40 servers in our MAT.

[NB9457]

@LazyD I never do in place upgrades. We have about 40 servers in our MAT.

Same here, with running everything virtual, it's much cleaner and easier to start fresh.

 

For things such as shares and whatnot these are all on separate VHDs from the OS, so we can just mount these to new VMs. HyperV has been a blessing.

[LazyD]

FN-GM, so you have roughly 30 of your servers up to 2016 already? That's good going. How have you been migrating them, clean install, then what process?

 

NB9457 - we also keep the data on separate vhd(x) files. However, are you saying when you reinstall an OS on a system vhd, you then just attach the old data vhd and all the shares work?

 

To both of you guys, what about DCs if you don't do in place upgrades? Are you leaving them on Server 2012? Migrating FSMO roles to new Server 2016 PDC then elevating domain functional level and then adding secondary DCs? Are your GUIDs staying the same on your shares that are using domain user and group permissions in their ACLs? So many questions.

[FN-GM]

I think its 29 last time I checked. Clean install then migrate the stuff over.

 

We have upgraded all but 1 DC to Server 2016 (last one is next on the list). We promote a new DC and migrate the roles and demote the old one.

 

For files we use robocopy and copy the lot over and using the appropriate switches to preserve the permissions.

[NB9457]

The permissions have stayed with the VHDs for us, so just share the route folders again. We keep server names/IPs the same so don't have to redo any UNC Paths or GPOs.

 

As for DCs, we have 3, so do them one at a time, demo/promote. Really easy, DCs we can do whilst the network is live. Have DHCP failover setup now too, that was a nice feature they added.

[clockend25]

All seven of our hosts are now running 2016. No issues thus far

[Bruce123]

Is it okay now to go with 2016 Hyper-V server into production ?

 

Out of interest, what are the key benefits over 2012 R2 HyperV? Thanks, Bruce.

[FN-GM]

Out of interest, what are the key benefits over 2012 R2 HyperV? Thanks, Bruce.

 

A few new bits

You can add NICS and RAM without needing to power down the machine.

Linux Secure Boot

New stuff to stop VM's hogging too many resources.

Configure a start order for clusters

[MartinT]

I have my first Server 2016 Standard running Hyper-V and another copy of Server 2016 running as a VM. No issues so far.

 

The big test will be installing Exchange 2016 in the VM and migrating mailboxes from our existing Exchange 2013 running on metal.

 

Any gotchas I should know about?

[FN-GM]

More of an Exchange tip, but when you finish moving mailboxes, leave the old server live for a period of time. The Outlook clients need this server on to automatically configure for the new box.

[MartinT]

Good tip - thanks!

[garethEds]

I'm too scared to upgrade my servers. It's all working on 2012r2. Going to leave it.

 

G

[PotNoodleTech]

I'm hoping to upgrade my hyper-v hosts in the summer hols. Luckily I've got a third (older) host I can use as a testbed with a couple of less important VMs first!

[MartinT]

I'm going to be brave and create two new DCs in my hosts, move the FSMOs, DHCP and DNS stuff over and demote the old DCs in hardware. Probably do that in Half Term.

[garethEds]

Quick upgrade question - we have 2 HyperV servers working as a failover cluster. All vhds are on our SAN.

 

Can I simply move all the vhds onto one server before clean installing one 2016 server? I cannot afford to turn everything off. Then once that server is setup and can see the other, move the vhds over to 2016 and upgrade the second server?

 

Or is that approach too simplistic?

 

Cheers

 

Gareth

[MartinT]

That was going to be my approach, too. I have two hosts on 2012 R2 and one on 2016.