Ubuntu on Hyper-V

July 25, 2011 - [2 mins read]

Getting Ubuntu to run on Hyper-V was a bit of an issue for Windows Server 2008, here are some things to look for. In the boot menu, add vga16fb.modeset=0 to the boot options by hitting F6 to disable framebuffer mode that is really slow under Hyper-V.

Do normal install, don’t worry about the red “can’t find network issue”.

Enable the Hyper-V modules:

echo "hv_vmbus" >> /etc/initramfs-tools/modules
echo "hv_storvsc" >> /etc/initramfs-tools/modules
echo "hv_blkvsc" >> /etc/initramfs-tools/modules
echo "hv_netvsc" >> /etc/initramfs-tools/modules
update-initramfs –u

Disable Framebuffer (otherwise the text screen scrolls by like a 9600 modem)

echo "blacklist vga16fb" >> /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-framebuffer.conf

Add networking config to /etc/network/interfaces:

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet loopback
Static:
Auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
address [insert your IP address]
netmask [insert your netmask]
Gateway [insert your gateway address]

If you see something about /dev/sdaX not begin writable during the apt-get upgrade process, do this:

NB!!!! Make sure that power management is set to Maximum performance, otherwise you get a 18560 “triple fault” error.

Update: This is not entirely Hyper-V’s fault, its the way the grub update goes. Do this:

apt-get update
apt-get install -u grub

Then edit /etc/default/grub:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="ide0=noprobe ide1=noprobe hda=noprobe hdb=noprobe"
GRUB_DISABLE_LINUX_UUID=true

And run:

update-grub

Change fstab from UUID to /dev/sdaX.

REBOOT!!! The upgrade your system again.

apt-get upgrade

Read here for more info: