Configuring Hyper-V for Pexip Infinity

This section describes the Hyper‑V configuration required before you install the Management Node or install a Conferencing Node.

Supported Hyper-V versions

Version 34 of Pexip Infinity supports Microsoft Hyper-V 2019.

Prerequisites

You must have a suitable Hyper‑V environment already installed.

Synchronizing time

Pexip Infinity uses NTP servers to obtain accurate system time. This is necessary to ensure correct operation, including configuration replication and log timestamps.

All host servers must be synchronized with accurate time before you install the Management Node or Conferencing Nodes on them.

NTP must be enabled on the Management Node VM before you deploy any Conferencing Nodes (this is done during installation of the Management Node).

We strongly recommend that you configure at least three distinct NTP servers or NTP server pools on all your host servers and the Management Node itself. This ensures that log entries from all nodes are properly synchronized.

The VMs hosting the Management Node and Conferencing Nodes use the UTC timezone, and all logs are in UTC. Do not attempt to change the timezone on these systems. Note however that the administrator web interface uses your local time. For more information, see Timezones.

In Hyper-V, all time synchronization is configured using the Active Domain Controller. You must ensure that all VMs and host servers are using the same time. Consult your Hyper-V documentation for information on how to do this in your environment.

Using a static MAC address for the Management Node

We recommend using a static MAC address for the virtual machine hosting your Management Node. This will ensure that the licenses on your Management Node do not become invalid if, for example, the node reboots and comes up on a different physical blade.

Creating an external virtual switch

You must create an external virtual switch on the host server to allow VMs on that host to access external network resources. To do this:

  1. Log in to Hyper-V.
  2. Right-click on the host server and select Virtual Switch Manager....
    The Virtual Switch Manager window opens.
  3. Select External and then Create Virtual Switch.
  4. Enter a Name for the switch.
  5. Either accept the default options, or select the options appropriate for your environment.
  6. Select Apply.

Enabling automatic startup

By default, virtual machines deployed using Hyper-V are configured to restart automatically if they were running when the host server was shut down or powered off. We recommend that you leave this setting as is for the Management Node and all Conferencing Nodes.

Disabling processor compatibility mode

We strongly recommend that you disable processor compatibility mode on all Hyper-V Conferencing Node virtual machines. If processor compatibility mode is enabled, the Conferencing Node may assume it is running on older hardware, and may stop working, with the message CPU instruction set is not supported; system will be placed in maintenance mode.

For more information, see https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn859550.aspx.