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        Hyper-V and HP Proliant Support Pack (PSP)

Section(s): Installation & Deployment
Published on Jul 29, 2008.
Last Modified on Sep 03, 2008.
Last Modified by Robert Larson.
Rated 4 out of 5 based on 1 votes.

When you install Hyper-V on an HP server you need to do it in a certain order to prevent getting stuck.

Installing the Hyper-V role on a HP Proliant server that is currently configured with the Proliant Support Pack (PSP) ie. the Smartstart software, you will end up with the server stuck on reboot in stage three at 54%. This is a known issue with the HP teaming driver and getting out of that situation is detailed at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/950792/en-us.

If you do not want to get in the situation, install everything in this order

Windows Server 2008 (Full or Core).
Intall the Hyper-V RTM upgrade.
Install the Hyper-V role.
Install the HP PSP for Windows 2008.

You can actually reverse steps 2 & 3 with no issues.

Note: The latest release of the HP ProLiant Support Pack (PSP) 8.10A reportedly resolves the issue and the work around should no longer be needed if you are using that version.

About Robert Larson

Robert Larson is the co-author of the Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 Resource Kit, and the Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V Resource kit, both published by Microsoft Press. Robert has over 20 years experience in the engineering and IT field. Currently an architect with Microsoft Consulting Services, Robert focuses on helping customers design and deploy optimized data center and server infrastructures using physical and virtual approaches. Robert has been working with various virtualization technologies for over 4 years and is a regular speaker at Microsoft TechEd conferences in the US and Europe on the Microsoft virtualization stack. Robert has also written whitepapers and delivered webcasts on virtualization technologies. You can visit Robert's blog