📝 Automating Hyper-V Checkpoints with PowerShell

If you’re a Hyper-V user, you know how important it is to take snapshots of your virtual machines before making changes or updates. With PowerShell, you can automate this process to save time and ensure consistency. In this article, we’ll show you how to use PowerShell to pause a Hyper-V virtual machine, take a checkpoint, and then start the virtual machine.

🔧 Prerequisites

Before we get started, make sure you have the following:

• A Hyper-V host machine running Windows Server 2012 or later
• Hyper-V PowerShell module installed
• Administrator privileges on the Hyper-V host machine

📜 The PowerShell Script

Here’s the PowerShell script that we’ll be using:

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# Specify the name of the virtual machine
$vmName = "VM1"

# Pause the virtual machine
Get-VM -Name $vmName | Suspend-VM

# Take a checkpoint of the virtual machine
Get-VM -Name $vmName | Checkpoint-VM -SnapshotName "Checkpoint $(Get-Date -Format 'yyyyMMdd_HHmmss')"

# Start the virtual machine
Get-VM -Name $vmName | Start-VM

This script specifies the name of the virtual machine that you want to pause, checkpoint, and start. It uses the Get-VM cmdlet to retrieve the virtual machine object and passes it to the Suspend-VM cmdlet to pause the virtual machine. Then, it uses the Checkpoint-VM cmdlet to take a checkpoint of the virtual machine, and includes a unique name that includes the current date and time. Finally, it uses the Start-VM cmdlet to start the virtual machine.

💻 Executing the Script

To execute the script, you need to save it as a .ps1 file, for example, myscript.ps1. Then, open a PowerShell console and navigate to the directory where you saved the script. You can execute the script by typing .\myscript.ps1 and pressing Enter.

🚨 Note About Execution Policy

By default, PowerShell is configured to prevent the execution of scripts that are not signed. If you try to execute the script and receive an error message indicating that the script is not digitally signed, you can either change the execution policy by running the following command in an elevated PowerShell console:

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Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned

Or, you can run the script with the -ExecutionPolicy parameter to temporarily bypass the execution policy:

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PowerShell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File myscript.ps1

👍 Conclusion

Automating the process of pausing a Hyper-V virtual machine, taking a checkpoint, and then starting the virtual machine can save time and ensure consistency. With PowerShell, you can easily create a script that performs these actions and then execute the script whenever you need to take a snapshot of your virtual machine. Happy checkpointing! 🚀