Lab Set Up Guide

Last Updated: May 9, 2022

Page 1
Contents
1. Introduction.................................................................................................................. 3

2. Hardware and Software Requirements..........................................................................3

2.1. Hyper-V Host............................................................................................................................................ 3

2.2. Important Notes..................................................................................................................................... 4

3. Introduction to the Lab.................................................................................................. 4

4. Set Up the Lab.............................................................................................................. 5

4.1. Create an External Virtual Switch in Hyper-V..................................................................................5

4.2. Download and Extract the ZIP File......................................................................................................5
4.3. Setup the Lab........................................................................................................................................... 6

5. Cleanup and Re-Installation...........................................................................................6

6. Troubleshooting Tips..................................................................................................... 7

Page 2
Introduction
The labs in this guide are designed to help you plan, test, and validate your deployment and
management of desktops running Windows 10 Enterprise, Windows 11 Enterprise, and
Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise. The labs cover using Microsoft Endpoint Configuration
Manager, Office Customization Tool, OneDrive, Windows Autopilot and more.

This kit features a complete lab environment including evaluation versions of:

 Windows 11 Enterprise
 Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager Version 2111
 Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit for Windows 11
 Microsoft Deployment Toolkit
 Windows Server 2022 Standard Evaluation

Hardware and Software Requirements

1.1. Hyper-V Host
The Windows and Office Deployment Lab Kit is a testing environment based on Windows Server
2022 and Windows 11. It must be imported and created onto a Hyper-V server installed on
Windows Server 2019 or later or Windows 10 or Windows 11.

It is recommended to use a Windows Server OS and should be fully updated. The Hyper-V Host
must preferably meet the following specifications:

 Hyper-V role installed

 Administrative rights on the host
 300 gigabytes of free disk space or more
 High-throughput disk subsystem
 Up to 32 gigabytes of memory
 Preferably a High-end processor for faster processing
 An External virtual switch in Hyper-V connecting to the external adapter of the host
machine for internet connectivity (example: External 2)

Note: The above Memory and Processor requirements are just preferred requirements, however,
you may run the lab with lesser Memory and Processor Speed by running fewer VMs, which
means you do not have to run all the VMs all the time. When you are following a specific Lab,
just run the VMs that are required in that Lab. Another point to note here is that the required

Page 3
hardware will vary based on the scale of the imported and created lab and the physical
resources assigned to each virtual machine.

1.2. Important Notes

(Please read carefully before setting up the lab)

1. This lab consists of evaluation versions of Microsoft products. The Windows 11 client
VMs expire on August 7, 2022. An updated lab kit with refreshed VMs will be published
on or before that date.
2. DO NOT duplicate the Lab in your local environment. This is to avoid conflicts between
the virtual machines.
3. In order to access Internet resources from the corporate network, rather than just the
Internet, there might be a need to adjust the DNS Forwarder from something that is on
the Internet to a DNS Server on the corporate network.

Introduction to the Lab

The Lab contains one self-extracting zip file:

Win11_Lab.zip (~25.0 GB) – It contains the exported Server based virtual machines and virtual
hard disks along with the ServerParent.vhdx, WindowsParent.vhdx all compressed into a single
Microsoft365DeviceLabKit.zpaq file, a Setup.exe for the Server and Client based virtual machines
to be imported and created in Hyper-V, each virtual machine containing the evaluation products
installed and configured to be used in the lab and a zpaq.exe file. The table below lists the
virtual machines, which will be imported and created in Hyper-V:

Server Name Roles & Products

HYD-CLIENT1 Windows 11 Domain Joined
HYD-CLIENT2 Windows 11 Domain Joined
HYD-CLIENT3 Windows 11 Workgroup
HYD-CLIENT4 Windows 11 Workgroup
HYD-CLIENT 5, 6 Bare metal (No Installations)
HYD-CM1 Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager 2111
Windows Deployment Services
Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit for Windows 11 (10.1.22000)
Windows Software Update Services
Microsoft SQL Server 2017
HYD-DC1 Active Directory Domain Controller, DNS, DHCP, Certificate Services
HYD-GW1 Remote Access for Internet Connectivity

Page 4
 HYD-INET1 Simulated Internet
HYD-VPN1 Remote Access for VPN

The table below lists the credentials and access type available in the default implementation:

User Access Type User Name Password

Local Administrator Administrative Administrator P@ssw0rd
Domain Administrator Enterprise Administrator CORP\LabAdmin P@ssw0rd

Set Up the Lab

These steps must be performed on an Internet-Connected Hyper-V Host machine:

1.3. Create an External Virtual Switch in Hyper-V

Before importing and creating the virtual machines in Hyper-V, one external virtual switch needs
to be created in Hyper-V to provide Internet connectivity to the virtual machines.

1. Launch the Hyper-V Console and under Actions, click Virtual Switch Manager.
2. With the New virtual network switch selected, select External and click Create Virtual
Switch.
3. Enter the name, example External 2 and under External network: selected, select the
network adapter providing Internet access to the Hyper-V Host and click Apply.
4. If prompted, click Yes on the Apply Networking Changes message box.
5. Click OK and close the Hyper-V Console.

1.4. Download and Extract the ZIP File

Download the Win11 Lab.zip on the Hyper-V Host and extract the contents of the ZIP file to a
separate folder.

Note: The name given to this separate folder should not include spaces as this may cause the
lab provisioning process to fail.

Page 5
1.5. Setup the Lab
Once the ZIP file has been extracted, the virtual machines then need to be imported and created
into the Hyper-V Console using the provisioning Wizard in the lab.

1. Right-click Setup.exe and click Run as administrator.

2. Click Yes on the UAC prompt (if required).
3. The Wizard will launch. On the Welcome screen, click Next.
4. On the License screen, review the EULA and click Next to launch the lab provisioning
process.
5. The wizard will start checking for the external virtual switch created in Section 3.1. Once
detected, on the Ready screen, click Next.
6. The wizard will then extract contents from the .zpaq file, create the CorpNet and Internet
virtual switches and import and create the Server and Client based virtual machines.
Note: Allow up to 15 minutes for the wizard to extract the .zpaq file. Full provisioning of
the lab will take up to 30 minutes. (Performance will vary based on hardware.) The fully
extracted lab will appear like this in the destination folder:

IMPORTANT: During the provisioning process, you can safely ignore any “Warnings” listed in
the wizard during the provisioning process.

7. Once the provisioning process is complete, click the Hyper-V Manager link in the
Wizard to launch the Hyper-V Console and click Next to close the wizard.

Note: Ensure that all the required services are running in the Server based virtual machines as
per the Table in Section 2 above (This table lists the virtual machines, which will be imported and
created in Hyper-V). If in case, they are stopped, start the services in those Server based virtual
machines. Also, reboot the Server based virtual machines if they have a pending restart status.

Cleanup and Re-Installation

After the demonstration, clean up the environment by removing the virtual machines and virtual
switches from the Hyper-V Console and delete the extracted folder. Note: Re-installing the lab
from the extracted folder without following the clean-up steps below may cause the
provisioning process to fail.

These steps must be performed on an Internet-Connected Hyper-V Host.

1. Launch the Hyper-V Console, select all the imported and created virtual machines and
click Turn Off.

Page 6
 2. On the Turn Off Machine box, click Turn Off.
3. Once all the virtual machines are in turned off state, keeping them selected, click Delete.
Note: Before deleting the virtual machines, delete the Checkpoints from the virtual
machines.
4. On the Delete Selected Virtual Machines box, click Delete.
5. Click Virtual Switch Manager.
6. Select HYD-CorpNet and HYD-InterNet virtual switches and click Remove. Click Apply.
7. Select the external virtual switch, example External 2 and click Remove. Click Apply.
8. If prompted, click Yes on the Apply Networking Changes message box.
9. Click OK and then close the Hyper-V Console.
10. Permanently delete the manually created folder, for example in the D drive on the
Hyper-V Host, where the ZIP file was extracted to. Click Yes on the Delete Folder box.

Troubleshooting Tips
1. Do not forget to unzip the Lab Kit files before running the setup application.
2. Do not use spaces in the manually created folder’s name. This is the folder where the zip
file is extracted. Spaces can cause the import and creation of the virtual machines to fail.
3. The easiest way to address lab installation issues is to simply reinstall. To reinstall the lab,
you must remove the virtual machines and virtual switches from the Hyper-V Console
and delete the extracted folder. See Section 4.
4. Do not reinstall a lab from a previously extracted lab folder as this may cause the
provisioning process to fail.
5. If one of the VMs does not immediately connect to the network, log into each VM and
wait 5-10 minutes before remediating. If a VM is still not connecting, restart. If
connectivity is still an issue, try adding the External 2 virtual switch to the VM. In Hyper-
V, select the VM and right-click to go to Settings. Select Add Hardware > Network
Adapter > Add and select “External 2”.

Page 7