1. NOTE: This process is similar to the Create a virtual machine article. However, some steps may differ slightly.  You should be familiar with the process of creating virtual machines before starting these steps.
   
2. When selecting a guest VM or template name, only use alpha-numeric characters with an "-", limited to 15 characters.
   

Installation Steps

1. Upload your installation media and drivers ISO files to a Hive Fabric storage pool. From the Hive Fabric Visualizer, with the target storage pool selected, select Upload Disks from the Actions menu.
   
2. From the Navigation toolbar, click on the + (Add menu) and select Virtual Machine,
   
1. Virtual Machine Resources
   
1. Enter the resources desired, CPU and Memory.
   
2. Select Windows 11 for the OS.
   
3. Select the appropriate Profile for the new VM.
   
1. Profile is optional for a VM.
   
2. To assign the VM to a user or group, a profile must be selected.
4. Select the desired Display Driver. Please note that this driver only controls the console display within the Hive Fabric administration interface.
   
5. Uncheck option to inject Hive Agent, this is not required at this stage. (This option be enabled later if required)
   
6. Select the Inject Computer Name option, either enabled or disabled.
   
1. This setting will rename the VM after a Refresh VM action.
   
2. When importing VM disks for use in Hive Fabric (i.e. migration from another platform), leave this option disabled as renaming some computers may adversely impact their operations. For example, allowing a domain controller or database server to be renamed may render the VM inoperative.
   
7. Select the appropriate Data Protection schedule, if desired. If DP is not enabled, this options is disabled (Optional).
8. Select the Host Affinity rule for this VM (Optional).
   
9. Add any Description desired (Optional).
   
10. Select Next.
2. Disk Configuration - Disk
1. Select New Disk for the Disk Type to begin adding the Windows 11 OS disk.
1. Additional disks may be added, following the same steps.
   
2. Enter a unique name for the disk.
   
1. Naming disks with the VM name, followed by an underscore and label is recommended (i.e. HiveIOVM_os).
   
3. Enter a disk size (64GB is the minimum requirement from Microsoft for Windows 11).
   
4. Select the appropriate disk driver from the Driver drop-down menu.
   
5. Select the Disk Order number.
   
3. Disk Configuration - CD-ROM
   
1. Select +Add in Disk Configuration to add the ISO media for the Windows 11 installation.
   
2. Select CD-ROM in Disk Type.
   
3. Select the Storage Pool where the ISO file is located.
   
4. Select the ISO image from the list.
   
5. Disk Order should be automatically selected.
   
1. Disk order may need to be changed to 1 if the VM doesn't automatically boot to the install media.
   
4. Disk Configuration - Driver ISO
1. Select +Add in Disk Configuration to add the Driver ISO.
   
1. If an updated Driver ISO has been uploaded to a Storage Pool, follow the instructions above for Disk Configuration - CD-ROM to add the updated Driver ISO.
2. Disk order should be automatically selected.
   
5. Networking
1. Select +Add to add a network.
   
2. Select the Network.
   
3. Enter an optional VLAN ID to override the configured network VLAN.
   
4. Select the appropriate driver for the network, typically VirtIO.
5. Save.
   
3. Operating System installation - Steps may vary for the OS installation, HiveIO provides the following based upon organizational experience.
1. Once the guest VM is created it will appear in the Virtual Machines container - select the VM and Open Console from the Actions menu.
2. Hit space bar to boot to the CD/DVD installer  - Note if you miss the "Press any key" boot up option, the console may have entered the UEFI interactive Shell. Select Reset from the Action menu and click into the console of the VM to wait for the "Press any key" option.
3. Follow the steps to start the Windows installation.
   
1. Select the desired language options, then Next.
   
2. Select the appropriate keyboard settings, then Next.
   
3. When prompted in "Select setup option", select Install Windows 11, agree to deletion of files, then Next.
   
1. You may select "Previous Version of Setup" to use the former interface for installing Windows.
   
4. If prompted for a product key, most often users should select "I don't have a product key".
   
5. Select the correct Windows 11 version to install from Select Image, then Next.
   
6. Select Agree to the Applicable notices and license terms, then Next.
7. At the “Select location to Install Windows” screen
   
1. Select option to “Load driver” - 
   
2. Browse and open the virtio-win-x.x.xxx CD Drive.
   
3. Load the drivers from the following location on the CD, selecting Install for each individually.
   
1. \NetKVM\w11\amd64 Network drivers 
2. \Balloon\w11\amd64    balloon driver
3. \vioserial\w11\amd64            Virtio Serial driver
4. \qemupciserial\w11\amd64 Multi function driver
5. \viostor\Virtio\amd64                  Storage driver
   
4. Once loaded, Select the driver and click the install button, repeat from step I, and install all drivers listed above. Steps i-v
5. Select Disk 0, then next the virtual disk, Disk 0 with Unallocated space should now be available for selection. (If not please repeat step g.I above and ensure the correct viostor driver is selected for your operating system)
8. Install OS - wait for system to install  - may take some time.
   
4. After OS installation, there will be several prompts for finalizing Regional settings.
   
1. Select the correct country or region, then Yes.
2. Set keyboard options, alternatively setup a second keyboard layout or Skip.
   
5. Completing the Windows 11 installation?
   
1. Enter or skip entering a device name, then Next.
2. Select – Set up for work or school - Sign-in Options (Do not enter Microsoft account) 
3. Sign-in options - scroll down and select “Domain join instead”.
4. Enter name and account information.
   
1. Keep in mind that this will become the new local administrator account on the machine.
   
2. Enter and confirm password.
   
3. Answer security questions.
   
5. For VDI we would suggest to switch off/disable any advanced features unless you have a specific requirement.
   
6. Wait while Windows updates install.
   

Finishing the build

1. First login to complete the setup.
   
1. Enable RDP connections. 
2. Disable Bitlocker – open PowerShell as administrator. 
1. Disable-BitLocker -MountPoint c:
2. Confirm the disk is fully decrypted.  (0% Encrypted)
1. manage-bde -status
   
3. Disable power saving features
   
1. Disable hibernation, powercfg.exe /h off
   
2. Set Windows Power Plan to High
   
4. Disable Windows page file (Stateless pools)
2. Backup the guest VM disk files -
   
1. Prior to any further updates or customization we recommend you Logout and Shutdown the guest VM and take a backup of the VM Disk file.
   
1. Shutdown the virtual machine.
   
2. Select the Storage Pool where the virtual machine is located and select the Convert Image option from the Actions menu.
   
3. Select the disk file name, and destination Storage Pool and destination filename.  Output format should be Qcow2.
2. Once completed this can be then be copied and used to create additional VMs/Templates if required or used as a restore point.
   
3. For templates used in VDI pools additional OS optimizations are recommended to disable unwanted features and services not suitable for virtual machines (Windows Search, Xbox and related). Please see the following article for Microsoft guidance on VDI optimizations.
         https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/remote/remote-desktop-services/remote-desktop-services-vdi-optimize-configuration