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Usage FAQ

These are some common questions you might have about this module or errors that you might encounter. Although most of this document is retained merely for archival reference purposes. If you haven't already done so, you should read the README file. And don't forget the About_PSAutolab file.

  • I get an error trying to update Lability

If you try to run Refresh-Host you might see an error about a certificate mismatch. Between v0.18.0 and v0.19.0 the Lability module changed code signing certificates. If you encounter this problem, run Refresh-Host -SkipPublisherCheck.

  • I get an error about trying to modify TrustedHosts

The module commands must be able to use PowerShell remoting to configure and test the virtual machines within a configuration. Because there is no Kerberos authentication between the local host and the virtual machines, you need to configure TrustedHosts. If TrustedHosts can't be configured, you will likely encounter errors. You should make sure remoting is enabled on the localhost. Run this command.

Test-WSMan

If you get errors, you may need to enable PowerShell remoting.

Enable-PSRemoting

Ensure that you are running an elevated PowerShell session (Run as Administrator). If your TrustedHosts configuration is managed by Group Policy, it is unlikely you will be able to use this module.

  • I get an error about my network connection type being set to Public.

You might see this error message:

Set-WSManQuickConfig : <f:WSManFault xmlns:f="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wbem/wsman/1/wsmanfault" Code="2150859113" Machine="localhost"><f:Message><f:ProviderFault provider="Config provider" path="%systemroot%\system32\WsmSvc.dll"><f:WSManFault xmlns:f="http://schemas.microsoft.com/wbem/wsman/1/wsmanfault" Code="2150859113" Machine="tablet"><f:Message>WinRM firewall exception will not work since one of the network connection types on this machine is set to Public. Change the network connection type to either Domain or Private and try again. </f:Message></f:WSManFault></f:ProviderFault></f:Message></f:WSManFault>
At line:116 char:17
+                 Set-WSManQuickConfig -force
+                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidOperation: (:) [Set-WSManQuickConfig], InvalidOperationException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : WsManError,Microsoft.WSMan.Management.SetWSManQuickConfigCommand

To solve this you can try to modify the connection profile.

# Find connections with a NetworkCategory set to Public
Get-NetConnectionProfile

# For each connection, change to Private or Domain
Set-NetConnectionProfile -InterfaceIndex 3 -NetworkCategory Private
  • Enable-Internet fails on New-NetNat

You might get an error like "The parameter is incorrect."

New-NetNat : The parameter is incorrect.
At C:\Lability\Configurations\POC-StandAlone-Server-GUI\Enable-Internet.ps1:50 char:9
+         New-NetNat -Name $NatName -InternalIPInterfaceAddressPrefix $ ...
+         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo          : InvalidArgument: (MSFT_NetNat:root/StandardCimv2/MSFT_NetNat) [New-NetNat], CimException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : Windows System Error 87,New-NetNat

Currently, Hyper-V only supports a single NAT network, you can read more about this here: https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/virtualization/2016/05/25/windows-nat-winnat-capabilities-and-limitations/.

Likely, if you receive the error above, you already have a NAT network created. For example, Docker for Windows creates a DockerNAT virtual switch and NAT network. You can check if this is the case with the Get-NetNat PowerShell cmdlet. If you get back a NAT network object, then you won't be able to create another one for your lab. The solution is to coordinate a single NAT network so it covers all of your NAT networking needs.

  • That likely means creating a larger NAT subnet that covers the IP ranges of all of your networks.
  • Which also means coordinating IP ranges across apps so they can fall under a single NAT subnet.
  • The NAT subnet cannot overlap with the external network that the host is attached to. If a host is attached to 192.168.0.0/24, you can't use 192.168.0.0/16 as a NAT network.

Refer to this article for help on creating NAT networks: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/virtualization/hyperv_on_windows/user_guide/setup_nat_network

Run this command to list NAT networks, take note of the IP range and subnet

Get-NetNat

If you have an existing that is conflicting, and that no longer need, remove it . Here's an example removing an existing NAT network called DockerNAT

Remove-NetNat DockerNAT

You can then create a NAT network using the corresponding subnet.

New-NetNat -Name DockerAndLabilityNAT -InternalIPInterfaceAddressPrefix "192.168.3.0/24"

Docker for Windows network settings can be updated from the windows tray icon. Lab network changes require modifying the module's source code. If you are running Docker for Windows and the PSAutoLab module, please post an issue on GitHub.

  • How can I change a virtual machine's timezone?

First, find your desired timezone using one of these techniques:

# Filter all timezones, take the Id property from the desired timezone:
[System.TimeZoneInfo]::GetSystemTimeZones()
[System.TimeZoneInfo]::GetSystemTimeZones().Where({$_.Id -like '*Eastern*'})

# Get your current timezone:
(Get-TimeZone).Id

Next, open the lab's VMConfigurationData.psd1 in your script editor and change Lability_timeZone per Node.

 @{
    NodeName                = 'Win10Ent'
    IPAddress               = '192.168.3.101'
    Role                    = @('RSAT','RDP')
    Lability_ProcessorCount = 2
    Lability_MinimumMemory  = 2GB
    Lability_Media          = 'WIN10_x64_Enterprise_EN_Eval'
    Lability_BootOrder      = 20
    Lability_timeZone       = 'Central Standard Time' #[System.TimeZoneInfo]::GetSystemTimeZones()
    Lability_Resource       = @()
}

Or, when you run Setup-Lab or Unattend-Lab you can use the UseLocalTimeZone parameter to set the time zone for all lab members to use the same time zone as the local host.

  • How can I avoid issues when changing VM names?

Use Wipe-Lab before changing names (i.e NodeName or EnvironmentPrefix), otherwise Wipe-Lab won't work and you'll have to manually cleanup previously created VMs.

  • How can I manually clean up a lab?

Normally, when you run Wipe-Lab that should handle everything for you. But if there is a problem you can take these manual steps.

  • Open the Hyper-V manager and manually shutdown or turn off the virtual machines in your lab configuration.
  • In the Hyper-V manager, manually select each virtual machine and delete it.
  • Open Windows Explorer or a PowerShell prompt and change to the configuration directory.
  • Manually delete any MOF files.
  • Change to C:\Autolab\VMVirtualDisks (or the drive where you have Autolab configured).
  • Manually delete any files that are named with virtual machines from your configuration.

Authoring a Custom Configuration

The expectation is that one of the included configurations will meet your needs or has been specified by a Pluralsight author.However, are free to modify or create your own configuration. This process assumes you have experience with writing Desired State Configuration (DSC) scripts, including the use of configuration data files (*.psd1) and Pester. Because configurations might be updated in future versions of the PSAutoLab module, you are encouraged to create a new configuration and not edit existing files.

Find a configuration that is close to your needs and copy it to a new folder under Autolab\Configurations. Technically, you can put the configuration folder anywhere but it is easier if all of your configurations are in one location.

Once the files have been copied, use your script editor to modify the files. Don't forget to update the Pester test. You should keep the same file names.

Specify a Different Operating System

First, find the node information in the VMConfigurationData.psd1 file.

@{
    NodeName           = 'S1'
    IPAddress          = '192.168.3.50'
    #Role = 'DomainJoin' # example of multiple roles @('DomainJoin', 'Web')
    Role               = @('DomainJoin', 'Web')
    Lability_BootOrder = 20
    Lability_timeZone  = 'US Mountain Standard Time' #[System.TimeZoneInfo]::GetSystemTimeZones()
    Lability_Media     = '2019_x64_Standard_EN_Core_Eval'
}

You will need to change the Lability_Media section. At a PowerShell prompt, run Get-LabMedia. Copy the appropriate ID and replace the Lability_Media value. The first time you build the configuration with new media, the corresponding ISO file will be downloaded.

I'm getting an error when my VM is booting for the first time

You might see this error message.

Full error: *Windows could not parse or process the unattend answer file [C:\Windows\system32\sysprep\unattend.xml] for pass [specialize]. The answer file is invalid.*

Make sure that the configuration changes you've made are valid. Specifically, this error is known to be caused by an invalid NodeName. NodeName on Windows must match the rules for a Windows Computer Name, notably a 15 character maximum. See details here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/909264

I'm Still Stuck

For all other questions, comments or problems, please post an Issue in this repository.