Introduction
Virtualization is a powerful tool that enables developers, IT professionals, and enthusiasts to run multiple operating systems on a single machine. Windows 11 comes with a native virtualization platform called Hyper-V, which is free, robust, and easy to set up — if you know where to look.
In this guide, I'll walk you through setting up Hyper-V on Windows 11 in a step-by-step manner. Whether you’re looking to test a Linux distro, experiment with Windows Server, or sandbox a dev environment, this post is for you.
Prerequisites:
Before we dive in, make sure your system meets the following requirements:
✅ Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, or Education
❌ Hyper-V is not available on Windows 11 Home (but there’s a workaround—see the bonus section below)
✅ CPU with virtualization support (Intel VT-x or AMD-V)
✅ At least 8 GB of RAM (16 GB recommended)
The following steps serve as a guide to install Hyper-V on a Windows 11 Computer, where we shall install Hyper-V and configure a NAT Switch.
Step 1: Sign in to the Windows 11 computer with an account that has local Administrator privileges.
Step 2 On the Windows 11 Computer click Start, select Settings and on the Settings page select System.
Step 3: On the System page of settings, scroll down until you locate Optional Features. Select Optional Features.
Step 4: On the Optional Features Page, you can find the More Windows Features option at the top right corner under Related Settings.
Step 5: On the Windows Feature page, select the checkbox next to Hyper-V and click OK as shown below.
Step 6: When the installation completes, on the Windows Features page, click Restart Now.
Step 7: After the computer restarts, sign in again using the same account that has local Administrative privileges.
Step 8 Click Start and search for Hyper-V Manager. Pin Hyper-V Manager to the Taskbar.
Step 9: Open Hyper-V Manager, right click on the local Computer, and select Hyper-V Settings.
Step 10: On the Hyper-V settings dialog box, under Server, select Virtual Machines. Set the location of the Virtual Machine to C:\VirtualMachines
Step 11: Under the Hyper-V settings dialog box, under Server, select Virtual Machine Hard Disks. Set the location of the Virtual Machine Hard Disks to C:\VirtualMachines\VHDs. Click OK to close the Hyper-V Settings dialog box.
Step 12: Open PowerShell with Administrator access and run the following commands to create a NAT Network.
New-VMSwitch -SwitchName “NATSwitch” -SwitchType Internal
New-NetIPAddress -IPAddress 10.10.10.1 -PrefixLength 24 -InterfaceAlias “vEthernet (NATSwitch)”
New-NetNat -Name “NATNetwork” –InternalIPInterfaceAddressPrefix “10.10.10.0/24”
Then close PowerShell.
To continue this series on Active Directory Domain Services, my next post will be on "How to Create Windows Domain Controller Virtual Machine".
Conclusion
Hyper-V turns your Windows 11 machine into a powerful lab for testing, developing, or safely running multiple OSes. While it might not have the most modern UI compared to VirtualBox or VMware Workstation, it’s tightly integrated into Windows and incredibly stable.
Whether you’re building microservices, testing a new OS, or trying containers with Docker (which also uses Hyper-V behind the scenes), mastering Hyper-V is a valuable skill in your toolkit.
Have questions or tips? Drop them in the comments below!
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