Q. How can I add virtual machines (VMs) to the Hyper-V console?

A. If you have a VM that's not showing in the Hyper-V management console, you can manipulate the content of the Virtual Machines folder and add a shortcut to the configuration XML file of the VM you want to add. The folder is located at C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Hyper-V\Virtual Machines, but is hidden by default. Here's what the folder looks like from a command line:

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Hyper-V\Virtual Machines>dir
Volume in drive C has no label.
Volume Serial Number is 94B9-23FE

Directory of C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Hyper-V\Virtual Machines

01/07/2009 07:00 AM <DIR> .
01/07/2009 07:00 AM <DIR> ..
01/07/2009 06:56 AM <SYMLINK> 1022FAC1-A301-4F2B-923E-40ECA4B03306.xml
[C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1\savdalts01\Virtual Machines\1022FAC1-A301-4F2B-923E-4
0ECA4B03306.xml]
01/07/2009 06:51 AM <SYMLINK> 4A6A2395-4BD4-4154-B21D-5CAC390E5209.xml
[C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1\savdalvstvrt\Virtual Machines\4A6A2395-4BD4-4154-B21D
-5CAC390E5209.xml]
03/21/2008 08:57 AM <SYMLINK> 6577728C-4F1D-4D4A-91E5-008C8A5C0E6E.xml
[D:\Virtuals\savdalcore01\Virtual Machines\6577728C-4F1D-4D4A-91E5-008C8A5C0E6E.
xml]
07/17/2008 10:43 AM <SYMLINK> 7089B760-E9FD-41AA-8119-95C7A68B06A7.xml
[D:\Virtuals\savdalxpvrt\Virtual Machines\7089B760-E9FD-41AA-8119-95C7A68B06A7.x
ml]
01/04/2009 05:00 PM <SYMLINK> 80ACEAD6-4314-4E2E-9C75-F0BCEE1F0848.xml
[D:\Virtuals\savdaldc01\Virtual Machines\80ACEAD6-4314-4E2E-9C75-F0BCEE1F0848.xm
l]
5 File(s) 0 bytes
2 Dir(s) 103,899,435,008 bytes free 

To create a link, use the Mklink command line utility. For example, the following command creates a link to the VM with the globally unique identifier 80ACEAD6-4314-4E2E-9C75-F0BCEE1F0848.

mklink 80ACEAD6-4314-4E2E-9C75-F0BCEE1F0848.xml "C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1\savdalts01
\Virtual Machines\1022FAC1-A301-4F2B-923E-40ECA4B03306.xml"

UPDATED: You'll also need to ensure the service account for the VM has the necessary permissions. To do so, run the following command.

icacls 80ACEAD6-4314-4E2E-9C75-F0BCEE1F0848.xml /grant "NT VIRTUAL MACHINE\80ACEAD6-4314-4E2E-9C75-F0BCEE1F0848":(F) /L

Note that you use /L because you're updating a symbolic link. If you had snapshots for the VM, you need to add a link in the Snapshots folder using the GUID for the snapshots, found in guid.xml. Repeat the process above for mklink and icacls but using the snapshot GUID instead of the VM GUID, and create them in Hyper-V\Snapshots instead of Hyper-V\Virtual Machines.

You can now stop and start the Virtual Machine Management Service for the VM with commands "net stop vmms" and "net start vmms" respectively.

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