Setting VM fixed IP on Hyper-V

[gaelcolas]

Hi,
I added support for setting fixed IP address, subnet mask, Gateway, DNS server on the VM as per this article:
http://www.ravichaganti.com/blog/set-or-inject-guest-network-configuration-from-hyper-v-host-windows-server-2012/

It's also what the Hyper-V driver for Test-Kitchen leverages (https://github.com/gaelcolas/kitchen-hyperv/blob/master/support/hyperv.ps1).

This works on Windows 10 Build 14931 using a NAT switch.
I reused @mwrock's hyperv-2016.json templates, adding the settings likeso:

"builders": [
    {
      "type": "hyperv-iso",
      "guest_additions_mode": "disable",
      "iso_url": "{{ user `iso_url` }}",
      "iso_checksum": "{{ user `iso_checksum` }}",
      "iso_checksum_type": "md5",
      "ram_size_mb": 1024,
      "communicator": "winrm",
      "winrm_username": "Administrator",
      "winrm_password": "vagrant",
      "winrm_timeout": "12h",
      "shutdown_command": "C:/Windows/Panther/Unattend/packer_shutdown.bat",
      "shutdown_timeout": "15m",
      "switch_name": "NAT",
      "ip_address": "10.111.111.123",
      "subnet_mask": "255.255.255.0",
      "gateway": "10.111.111.1",
      "dns_server": "8.8.8.8",
      "floppy_files": [
        "answer_files/2016/Autounattend.xml",
        "scripts/winrm.ps1"
      ]
    }

Feedback welcome! (this is my first go at it)

[taliesins]

Why not set a static ip via unattended.xml file calling a powershell file? Or call it as part of the provisioning phase if windows updates are not required.

Surely setting a NAT up in hyperv switch with dhcp is preferable? I personally run pfsense in a vm for all my routing needs. Nice easy gui.

https://4sysops.com/archives/native-nat-in-windows-10-hyper-v-using-a-nat-virtual-switch/

[gaelcolas]

While this is an option I use in other scenarios, I prefer not having to rely on yet another component, for different reasons:

• why making it even more complex that it needs to be? 4 entries in the JSON seems easier to maintain than another VM and its configuration when managing different environments
• I want this to be easier to try out for WinOps people, pfSense or other *nix flavor is yet another (mental) barrier (whether or not there's a nice GUI)
• I have limited resource when running on my laptop (dev or demos), I'd rather not have another VM/dependency
• I like the idea of Packer being somewhat consistent with Test-Kitchen (that is the HyperV builder with Kitchen-HyperV). While Test-Kitchen is great for provisioning development workflow, Packer is perfect for the next step, deployment / imaging (that sometimes end up being the source of another development cycle...).
• I'd rather not 'pollute' the unattend.xml file with something that is not needed when using other builder.

I'm sure there would be other reasons in the wild, but those are why I went through the effort of adding this little convenience to your work.
Hope that makes sense?

[jcejohnson]

I've been meaning to test this with Linux guests but I've got deadlines looming. I didn't want you to think I was ignoring you :-)