Hyper-V VM Creator

Create Ubuntu 24.04 VMs on Windows Hyper-V from cloud images with cloud-init. Returns a Docker-ready VM with SSH access.

When to Use

• "create hyper-v vm"
• "spin up vm on hyper-v"
• "new hyper-v ubuntu vm"
• Any time you need a fresh Linux VM on a Windows Hyper-V host

This is a base skill. It creates the VM. Other skills (soc-deploy-thehive, soc-deploy-misp) deploy applications onto it.

User Inputs

Prerequisites Check

# SSH to Hyper-V host
ssh hyperv-host "echo OK" 2>/dev/null || echo "FAIL: Cannot SSH to Hyper-V host"

# qemu-img on Windows
ssh hyperv-host 'where "C:\Program Files\qemu\qemu-img.exe"' 2>/dev/null || echo "FAIL: qemu-img not installed (choco install qemu -y)"

# genisoimage on Linux (for building cloud-init ISO)
which genisoimage || echo "FAIL: genisoimage not installed (apt install genisoimage)"

Execution Flow

Step 1: Build cloud-init ISO (on Linux)

# Password via env var (recommended, avoids shell history/process list exposure)
VM_PASSWORD="\x3Cpassword>" bash scripts/build-cidata-iso.sh \x3Cvm-name> [ssh-public-key]

# Or via stdin
echo "\x3Cpassword>" | bash scripts/build-cidata-iso.sh \x3Cvm-name> [ssh-public-key]

# Creates /tmp/\x3Cvm-name>-cidata.iso

The ISO contains three files:

• user-data: deploy user, Docker, Compose v2, SSH password auth
• meta-data: instance-id and hostname
• network-config: hv_netvsc DHCP match (CRITICAL for Hyper-V networking)

Step 2: Transfer files to Hyper-V host

# Cloud image (if not already cached)
wget -q https://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/releases/24.04/release/ubuntu-24.04-server-cloudimg-amd64.img -O /tmp/ubuntu-24.04-cloud.img
scp /tmp/ubuntu-24.04-cloud.img hyperv-host:C:/Users/youruser/Downloads/

# Cloud-init ISO
scp /tmp/\x3Cvm-name>-cidata.iso hyperv-host:C:/Users/youruser/Downloads/

Step 3: Create VM (elevated PowerShell on Hyper-V host)

# Copy script to host
scp scripts/create-vm.ps1 hyperv-host:C:/Users/youruser/Downloads/

# Execute (needs elevation)
ssh hyperv-host "powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File C:\\Users\\youruser\\Downloads\\create-vm.ps1 \
  -VMName \x3Cvm-name> \
  -CloudInitISO C:\\Users\\youruser\\Downloads\\\x3Cvm-name>-cidata.iso \
  -DiskSizeGB \x3Cdisk> -MemoryGB \x3Cram> -CPUCount \x3Ccores>"

Step 4: Wait for boot and find IP

sleep 90  # Cloud-init needs ~90 seconds

# Hyper-V VMs have MACs starting with 00-15-5d
arp -a | grep "00-15-5d"

# Get VM MAC to match
ssh hyperv-host "powershell (Get-VMNetworkAdapter -VMName '\x3Cvm-name>').MacAddress"
# PowerShell shows: 00155D38010A
# ARP shows:        00-15-5d-38-01-0a

Step 5: Verify SSH and Docker

ssh deploy@\x3Cip> "docker --version && docker compose version && echo 'VM READY'"

Return Values

Report to caller:

VM Created: \x3Cvm-name>
IP: \x3Cip>
SSH: deploy@\x3Cip> (password: \x3Cpassword>)
Docker: installed
Docker Compose v2: installed

Teardown

To destroy a VM completely:

ssh hyperv-host "powershell -Command \"Stop-VM -Name '\x3Cvm-name>' -Force -TurnOff; Remove-VM -Name '\x3Cvm-name>' -Force; Remove-Item 'C:\\ProgramData\\Microsoft\\Windows\\Virtual Hard Disks\\\x3Cvm-name>.vhdx' -Force\""

Or use scripts/destroy-vm.ps1:

scp scripts/destroy-vm.ps1 hyperv-host:C:/Users/youruser/Downloads/
ssh hyperv-host "powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File C:\\Users\\youruser\\Downloads\\destroy-vm.ps1 -VMName \x3Cvm-name>"

Critical Gotchas

See references/gotchas.md for full details. Top blockers:

1. Sparse VHDX: fsutil sparse setflag \x3Cpath> 0 BEFORE Resize-VHD or error 0xC03A001A
2. Network config: Must include match: driver: hv_netvsc or VM gets no IP
3. Permissions: icacls /grant "NT VIRTUAL MACHINE\Virtual Machines:(F)" or Start-VM fails
4. Secure Boot Off: Ubuntu cloud images aren't signed for Hyper-V
5. Cloud-init runs once: No redo. Delete VM + VHDX and start over
6. Don't batch PowerShell: Run Hyper-V commands one at a time
7. All commands need elevated PowerShell
8. Docker Compose v2: Install via curl in runcmd, NOT apt
9. IP discovery: Use ARP scan, not Get-VMNetworkAdapter (needs linux-tools-virtual)