Write-Verbose 'Creating virtual machine $Name' Write-Warning 'Failed to convert $ISOPath to $VHDPath' #call the convert script splatting the parameter hashtable $Should = 'VM $Name from $ISOPath to $VHDPath' #define a variable with information to be displayed in WhatIf messages

Write-Verbose ($convertParams | Out-String) #define a hashtable of parameters and values for the Convert-WindowsImage Throw 'The extension for VHDPath is invalid. #parse the format from the VHDPath parameter value $VHDPath = 'F:VHDWin2012DatacenterEvalCore.vhdx', HelpMessage = 'Enter the name of the new virtual machine')] But that is beyond what I want to demonstrate in this article.įirst, let me show you my script. You could even generate or modify the XML files on the fly. With a little planning you could create a system for cranking out new virtual machines based on a variety of unattend.xml files.

I’m not going to go into the details of the script except to explain that it will extract a server version from the ISO file, create a VHD or VHDX file based on the installation media and insert an unattend.xml file.

The script was written by Microsoft and is designed to create a bootable VHD or VHDX file from an ISO installation image. My script relies on a PowerShell script which you can freely download from Microsoft called Convert-WindowsImage.ps1. This is a great reason to use a Hyper-V virtual machine. Or you might download an evaluation installation ISO of a new operating system so that you can test it out, such as Windows Server 2012. Most of Microsoft’s installation media can be downloaded as ISO images from MSDN or TechNet. My script will create a new Hyper-V virtual machine based on an ISO file for a Windows Server.

One of his demonstrations used a tool I had forgotten about and sparked an idea for a PowerShell script. Today I have another article that continues my fascination with Hyper-V, PowerShell and spinning up new virtual machines with minimal intervention.ĭuring a recent conference, fellow PowerShell MVP Aleksandar Nikolic did a presentation on creating a Hyper-V test lab.

Vhd to iso converter software