I am running Linux in Hyper-V VMs since the launch of the Windows Server 2008 RTM. But in the beginning it was quite complex to get real performance and support for the network drivers.

Recently, with the launch of Windows Server 2008 R2, there are also new Linux Integration Components which also work for Windows Server 2008 RTM.

So, here is the list of steps to install CentOS with the integration components.

1. Download the latest CentOS distribution from https://vault.centos.org/5.0/isos/ (I use the x86_64 version).

2. Create a VM, I suggest:

   • 400MB memory

   • Add a Legacy Network Adapter (connect to network)
   • Add a Network Adapter (connect to network)

3. Mount the CD-ROM and install CentOS (I use the minimal setup)

4. After the installation is done make certain you are up to date

   yum update

5. Install the required components for the Linux Integration Components

   yum install gcc make gnupg kernel-devel

6. Reboot into the latest kernel

7. Download the Linux Integration Components

8. Mount the CD-ROM and copy the contents

   mkdir -p /mnt/cdrom
   mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom
   cp -rp /mnt/cdrom /opt/linux_ic
   umount /mnt/cdrom

9. Build the drivers

   cd /opt/linux_ic ./setup.pl drivers

   If you get the message “No kernel-xen-devel or kernel-source package installed. You must install this package before installing the drivers.” edit the setup.pl file and change the following:

   $kernel = `rpm -q kernel-xen-devel`;
   $kernel = `rpm -q kernel-devel`;

   If everything went OK you can now see a new nic (network interface controller) called seth0 using ifconfig

10. You can now remove the Legacy Network Adapter.