In this recipe, we will create a standard virtual machine that will later be used as a template. If you are seeking for detailed steps required to deploy shielded VMs, see the previous chapter.
Creating a VM is straightforward. You can create a new virtual machine using an existing virtual hard disk, or you can create a machine with a blank virtual hard disk and then install the OS using ISO media hosted in the VMM library or PXE resources.
VMM 2016 supports two VM generations. A newer one (Generation 2) was introduced in Windows Server 2012 R2 and it's now mainly used to provide the following benefits:
- Larger boot-volume-supported size
- Faster PXE boot using a synthetic network adapter
- Boot from SCSI controller (VHDX/DVD)
- Secure Boot
- UEFI firmware support