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Remote access

Manage Hyper-V VMs

Manage a Hyper-V host’s virtual machines and checkpoints directly in octoja.

On a Hyper-V host, you can inspect virtual machines live, change their power state, and manage checkpoints without leaving octoja.

Prerequisites

This feature must first be enabled for your instance. An administrator enables Hyper-V management under Settings → Beta features. Hyper-V monitoring checks do not require this enablement.

  • The Hyper-V role or feature is enabled on the Windows host. The Hyper-V service vmms must be present.
  • The octoja agent is installed directly on the host and is online.
  • Your group grants the Run Maintenance device action for the host so you can read host, VM, and checkpoint data.
  • To make changes, your group also grants Hyper-V management. An administrator assigns these actions under Administration → Groups → Device Access → Allowed actions.
  • VM details and all checkpoint functions require the Hyper-V PowerShell module on the host. The VM list and power actions work without this module.

Find the host and virtual machines

  1. Open Devices and select the Windows host.
  2. Open the Virtual Machines tab. It appears when the feature is enabled for your instance and inventory has detected the Hyper-V role or the vmms service. If the tab is missing, check both prerequisites; a direct link does not bypass enablement.
  3. The Host configuration section shows information including memory, default paths, storage volumes, and virtual switches. Below it, octoja refreshes the VM list automatically.
  4. Expand a VM to inspect virtual hard disks, network adapters, integration services, and notes. If the guest is enrolled as an octoja device and is matched unambiguously, its linked name opens that device's page.

Host and VM configuration comes from the last reported inventory: this includes default paths, volumes including Cluster Shared Volumes, virtual switches with physical adapters, and VM disks and VLAN settings. Changes appear after another inventory collection, not with every live query.

The view queries runtime state, CPU usage, assigned memory, uptime and IP addresses every 30 seconds. A VM found only in stored inventory shows Unknown. Expanding a row also queries integration-service health live: Enabled describes configuration and does not mean Active or healthy.

Change the power state

The available actions depend on the VM's current state:

StateAvailable actions
RunningShut down, Restart, Save, Pause, Reset, Turn off; shut down and restart appear only when the guest supports a clean shutdown
PausedResume, Save, Turn off
Saved or OffStart
Transitional, critical, or unknown stateNo power action

Select the required action in the VM row and confirm the dialog. Start and Resume run immediately; every other action asks for confirmation.

Warning: Prefer Shut down or Restart where possible. Turn off powers off the VM without notifying the guest, like pulling the plug. Reset also restarts it without a clean shutdown. Either action can lose unsaved data.

Manage checkpoints

  1. Select Checkpoints in the VM row.
  2. To create one, select New checkpoint, enter a Name, and confirm with New checkpoint. A production checkpoint can take several minutes on a busy guest.
  3. To return to an existing checkpoint, select Apply beside it and confirm the dialog.
  4. To remove one, select Delete. If it has descendants, you can select Also delete all checkpoints below this one. Hyper-V then merges disks in the background, so disk space is not freed immediately.

Warning: Apply discards every change made since the selected checkpoint. The VM will not be running afterwards and must be started again.

Existing checkpoints cannot be renamed in this version of octoja; you set the name when creating one. If checkpoints are disabled for a VM, the action is unavailable. While Hyper-V is creating, applying, or deleting a checkpoint, merging disks, backing up, or migrating the VM, further operations are temporarily unavailable.

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