W2012r2 Hyper-V DC Pseudo Script

Installing Domain Controllers on Hyper-V (or other Hypervisor) follows one of two paths; Server Core, or Server with a GUI. Unless you have or plan to have multiple hypervisors with many (more than 6) server guests on them and (most importantly) you are comfortable scripting Powershell, I recommend sticking with the GUI option. You can still use Powershell with the GUI option. The GUI option uses more disk space and RAM.

Each build step is listed in series below and is linked to a reference for more information. Basic administrator steps, for example creating a new virtual machine on Hyper-V, are not listed.

Pseudo Script;

Install server to a 60Gb disk

Set Administrator password to never expire (Relax, it is just for the build)

Rename Administrator account (See, good security practice)

Restart

Disable the Integration Service for guest time synchronization

Disable IPv6

Modify hostname

Adjust for best performance

Page file set custom size = recommend size start and *2 end

Allow Remote Desktop (Security again, add this item to your post-build list)

Set Time source

Set Windows Updates manual

Apply recommended updates only

Restart

Create 40Gb disk for AD and services 

Add AD roles to dedicated disk

Modify DNS service forwarders to relay non-AD resolution to secure DNS provider (Security best practice)

Add DNS records necessary to interoperate with Internet services. Example, Dreamhost

Check for and apply recommended updates only

Validate hypervisor backup is configured for this new resource.

Ok. You should be all set.