How to create VMs via Powershell with specfiic requirements

Question

So I'm looking for a way to automate VM creation and figured I would check out Powershell.
When we create VMs, we have a template folder that has sysprep'd files for the C, D, and P drives that we use.  Some of our hosts are 2012 and some are 2012 R2.  With R2 we create Gen2 machines which use different types of HDD setups inside of
Hyper-V so not sure if there are different commands for that.
When I create a VM by hand, I create the VM normally and choose to attach a HDD later.  I then go get the Template for C and copy it into the folder that gets created automatically by Hyper V.  I then create matching folders in the area that we
store the D and P drives and copy those template files in as well.  I then go back into Hyper-v, modify the settings of the VM and attach/browse to the files to add in the 3 drives.  I also then have to enable VLans and put in the proper VLan number.
Once those things are done, I fire up the VM and use it normally.
So I know I can use the new-vm command to create the VM, but I'm assuming I'd have to create the needed folders and copy over the needed files prior to doing that.  Can I specify all the above information in the new-vw command or do I need to create
the VM and the modify the VM once it's there?
I've not used Powershell to do much with VMs, and definitely not to create them, so I'm just looking to get pointed down the right path before I start one way and then have to start over.
Thanks!!

Answer 1

This sounds like a great project to learn more about some base, PowerShell cmdlets, and the Hyper-V module's cmdlets. I'm pretty certain you can get this accomplished using the following cmdlets:
New-VM: To create the VM.
Get-VM: To get information about your new VM, such as it's location (path), where you will do your copying. Try Get-VM -Name
nameofyourvm | Select-Object * and you'll see some paths.
Copy-Item: Copy your C template from its source, to the destination you get from Get-VM cmdlet above.
New-Item: To create a folder for D and P drives, again using the path from Get-VM.
Copy-Item: Copy your D and P templates.
From here out you may need Set-VM to "modify the settings" of the VM, a drive cmdlet or two to attach the drives, and a network cmdlet or two to get your VLANs setup. To see all the Hyper-V cmdlets, enter Get-Command -Module Hyper-V. Everything
you'll likely need is in there. When you see one you want to read more about, use the Get-Help cmdlet. You can also narrow down the cmdlets returned by Get-Command by doing things like this: Get-Command -Module Hyper-V -Noun '*drive*' -and- Get-Command -Module
Hyper-V -Noun '*network*'.
Start with the first step - creating a new VM with the New-VM cmdlet. It includes the parameter -NoVHD that will allow you to create the VM without attaching a virtual drive. There are a few other parameters you'll likely want to include when you create your
VM. One is -Generation where you indicate 1 or 2. Study the New-VM cmdlet from it's help file (Get-Help New-VM -ShowWindow) and get this part complete. When you're done, you can move on to creating folders, copying files, connecting drives, etc.