Attaching an iSCI LUN to Windows Server 2016 - Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations On-Premise at Home - 03

Regardless of the NAS device you may be using, the following steps can attach iSCI storage to your server for VM storage.  These are the steps I took:

Attach an iSCI LUN to Windows Server 2016

1. Log into the Hyper-V server
2. Open the iSCI Initiator program
3. Type in the static IP address of your NAS

4. Click "Quick Connect"

5. Click "Done."  The virtual disk name should appear "Connected."
6. Click the "Volumes and Devices" tab
7. Click "Auto Configure" button.  This should add your volume to the list

8. Start > Run  compmgmt.msc
9. Click on Storage > Disk Management.  The new disk (LUN) should appear offline.
10. Right click and choose "Online"

11. Right click and choose "Initialize Disk"

12. Choose to create a GPT (GUID Partition Table) for the disk.

13. Right click the unallocated area and choose "New Simple Volume..."

14. Format the volume as NTFS, 64K, give it a label, and quick format.

Change Default Hyper-V VM Folders

15. Open Hyper-V Manager
16. Click on your server
17. Click "Hyper-V Settings"
18. Change the "Virtual Hard Disks" setting to a subfolder of your new drive.

19. Change the "Virtual Machines" folder to your new drive.

We are now ready to create virtual machines!!

(Optional) Download AIDA64 or IOmeter and run a disk test.

Reference: How to use iSCSI Targets on a Windows Server

Windows and Hyper-V Installation - Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations On-Premise at Home - 01

Previous Post: Setting up Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations- on-premise...at home!

Setting up the Server

The server arrived, it is time to get rolling!  I first jumped into the BIOS.  It is easier and better to configure things before the operating system is installed.  First, I set up four SAS 300GB 10k drives in a RAID 5.  RAID 6 has better redundancy yet I do not have the hard drives to support it.  I enabled virtualization technology and execution prevention in the BIOS.  HP servers come with Integrated Lights Out (ILO) so I configured the IP address and admin user.

Installing Windows Server 2016-  I first downloaded Datacenter edition using my MSDN subscription- Automatic Virtual Machine Activation” (AVMA) should automatically activate the virtual machines it hosts.  I created a bootable USB drive using the free Rufus tool.  The installation was straightforward.  Once Windows Server 2016 was installed, I went straight to windows updates, which had to run several times until all of the cumulative updates installed correctly.  Then I renamed the computer and I made note of the MAC address so I could set up a static DHCP entry in my router.

Installing Hyper-V

1. Open Server Manager
2. Click Local Server
3. Click Manage > Add Roles and Features
4. Next
5. Role-Based
6. Select the current server
7. Check mark "Hyper-V," click ok when it asks to add the management tools
8. Next
9. Next
10. Finish
11. Reboot

Stay tuned for iSCSI setup then Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations, Enterprise Edition on-premise installation....

Performance Tweaks for AX2012 Demo VM

Open the VM Profile Manager within the VM, and change the default profile to "AX2012Minimum."

Look at VM profile to see what order it starts and stops things.  Take note and disable anything you do not plan on using.

Enable SQL Trace flags T4136 and T4199.

Disable SharePoint Search and Timer, and/or the services themselves (especially if you are not planning on using Enterprise Portal.

AX 2012 Demo VM on Parallels (OSx)

So I've got this iMac in my office with 24 GB of RAM so naturally, what am I doing with all that?  Well, I have hobbies and test my Linux scripts, firewalls, and even some CTF challenges within there.  Dynamics expert by day, and Linux enthusiast by night!  Anyways there always seems to be a reason to have a playground with AX demo data to use and reference.  This time, I wanted to set up AX 2012 CU13.  Here were my steps for setting this up on my iMac...yes, run an Microsoft ERP system on an Apple product.  Blow your mind!

After downloading the files from Microsoft, convert the files to a format that Parallels can import.  We use prl_convert executable within the Parallels application in OSx.  You will need to change directory into the application's directory and provide the path to the vhd file.
/Applications/Parallels\ Desktop.app/Contents/MacOS/prl_convert /Volumes/My\ Book/AX2012R3A\ 2/Virtual\ Hard\ Disks/AX2012R3A_OS.vhd

Do the same for the second hard drive file from Microsoft.


Create a new VM in Parallels: Name it whatever you like, no limit on resources, 2 vCPUs, 12196 MB memory (ideally 16GB), do not optimize for games, do not share file paths, do not share applications, do not share printers.  In other words, turn off the features which could take extra processing power.

Networking
Network 1 should be the default adapter

Network 2 (add one!) should be a Host-Only network

Hard Disks
Point to the hard disk files you converted earlier:

Make sure boot order starts with Hard Disk 1 then boot the system!

Configure the VM

Set a static IP address and DNS server on the adapter which has a 10.* IP address.

Add the following IP addresses as IP addresses on the other adapter:

• 10.20.12.110
• 10.20.12.111
• 10.20.12.112
• 10.20.12.113
• 10.20.12.114
• 10.20.12.120
• 10.20.12.121

Then run iisreset or reboot the VM.

Edit hosts file, as needed.

Notes

It is no longer necessary to run C:\setnetworkip.bat
As reference, you can see how the VM would be set up in VirtualBox - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klV6qh211EI

Create a VM network in Parallels with a Linux VM Firewall

Parallels Desktop has been a solid virtualization option for my iMac.  It enables easy sharing of folders and other advanced options I felt would be useful, i.e. seamless Windows programs.  For my latest adventure I wanted to test out some Linux firewall configurations without messing around with my physical environment.  So, I did the following to create a network where the linux firewall can serve both as a gateway and DHCP server.

Create the virtual network

1. Open up Parallels Desktop Preferences
2. Go to Network tab
3. First take note of the IP address of the Shared network (for configuring your linux firewall)
4. Then click the plus to create a new "Host-Only" network
5. Uncheck "Connect Mac to this network"
6. Uncheck "Enable IPv4 DHCP"
7. Uncheck "Enable IPv6 DHCP"

FYI: The IP addresses shown will not be used because the linux firewall will respond to DHCP requests.

Configure the linux firewall

Set up two network interfaces on the VM before installing your favorite linux firewall, i.e. pfSense, Untangle, CentOS, or Sophos UTM.

1. Open the configuration for your new VM
2. Go to Hardware tab
3. Configure Network 1 to have a source of "Default Adapter."  That network will have a connection regardless of whether your iMac connects via wireless or wired.
4. Create a new network interface
5. Select the "Host-Only #2" network we created in the prior section
   Make a note of the MAC address for this network for when you configure your firewall
6. Now boot and install your linux firewall