Install the virtio driver

Introduction to the Alibaba Cloud virtio driver

The Alibaba Cloud virtio driver is developed based on the community virtio driver to better adapt to the Alibaba Cloud platform. All Alibaba Cloud public images are preinstalled with the virtio driver. However, other Windows images usually do not contain the Alibaba Cloud virtio driver. Therefore, you must manually install the virtio driver when you create a custom Windows image. If you use the community virtio driver, the driver may not work as expected after installation. We recommend that you use the Alibaba Cloud virtio driver.

The Alibaba Cloud virtio driver contains the following components:

Release notes of Alibaba Cloud virtio driver versions:

Procedure

The virtio driver is updated from time to time. In this example, Alibaba Cloud virtio driver 58101 is installed on a 64-bit Windows Server 2016 operating system.

1. On the virtual machine from which you create the image, download the virtio driver installation package for your operating system and decompress the package. For more information, see the download URLs of Alibaba Cloud virtio driver versions.

2. Install the virtio driver.

   GUI-based installation

   Important

   The GUI-based installation of the virtio driver updates the network adapter driver, which causes a network interruption of approximately 10 seconds and may affect your business. Assess the risks and make preparations in advance.

   1. Go to the download path and double-click AliyunVirtio_58101_WIN2016_x64.exe.

   2. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.

   3. After the installation is complete, restart the system for the configuration to take effect.

      On the page that indicates the AliyunVirtio installation is complete, select Yes, restart the computer now (Y) and click Finish (F).

      Note

      If the You must install the SHA-2 patch for Windows 7/Windows Server 2008 R2! message appears during installation on Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2, the SHA-2 signing patch is missing from the system. To prevent startup failures after the image is imported, we recommend that you install the signing patch in advance. For more information, see Windows Server 2008 R2 boot failure: Unverified driver signature.

   CLI-based installation

   1. In Windows PowerShell, run the following command to switch to the directory to which the package is downloaded, such as C:\test.

      cd C:\test

   2. Run the following command to install the virtio driver.

      ./AliyunVirtio_58101_WIN2016_x64.exe /SILENT /FORCE /NORESTART

      Note

      • /SILENT: specifies the silent mode.

      • /FORCE: forcibly overwrites the existing virtio driver, if one is installed.

      • /NORESTART: suppresses the automatic restart.

3. Verify that the virtio driver is installed.

   1. In Windows PowerShell, run the following command to query the virtio driver version.

      (Get-Item C:\Windows\System32\drivers\viostor.sys).VersionInfo.ProductVersion

      If a driver version similar to the following output is returned, the virtio driver is installed.

      PS C:\test> (Get-Item C:\Windows\System32\drivers\viostor.sys).VersionInfo.ProductVersion
      100.6.101.58101

   2. Run the following command to obtain the registry configuration of the viostor service.

      Get-ItemProperty  -Path "HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\viostor"

      Note

      The viostor service is usually associated with the virtio driver in virtualized environments. If the command returns information, the viostor service entry exists in the registry, which indicates that the virtio driver is installed.

      If information similar to the following output is returned, the virtio driver is installed.

      PS C:\test> Get-ItemProperty  -Path "HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\viostor"
      
      ImagePath    : System32\drivers\viostor.sys
      Type         : 1
      Start        : 0
      ErrorControl : 1
      Group        : SCSI miniport
      Tag          : 33
      Owners       : (oem4.inf)
      PSPath       : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\viostor
      PSParentPath : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services
      PSChildName  : viostor
      PSDrive      : HKLM
      PSProvider   : Microsoft.PowerShell.Core\Registry

   After the preceding verification, the virtio driver is installed and the image can be imported to the Alibaba Cloud platform.