Create a Virtual Internal VS with NAT Network in Hyper-V

Step-by-Step Instructions

This guide walks you through creating a Hyper-V Internal Virtual Switch with NAT support for use in labs or test environments — useful for setting up isolated virtual networks.

🔧 1. Open PowerShell as Administrator

All commands below require elevated privileges.

🌐 2. Create a New Virtual Switch (Internal)

• This creates an Internal Hyper-V virtual switch named LabSwitch.

• The internal switch allows communication between host and virtual machines but not to the internet directly.

🔍 3. Get the Interface Index of the New Adapter

• Find the newly created LabSwitch interface.

• Note the InterfaceIndex assigned to it (e.g., 49).

• This value will be used in the next step.

📡 4. Assign a Static IP Address to LabSwitch

• Replace 49 with the actual InterfaceIndex from step 3.

• You can use any private IP subnet (e.g., 192.168.100.1/24, 172.16.0.1/24, etc.).

🌐 5. Create a NAT Network

• This enables NAT for the subnet attached to the virtual switch.

• You can name the NAT (NatSwitch) anything you like.

• Make sure the AddressPrefix matches the range you used in the previous step.

🧹 Optional: Remove Network Components

❌ Remove the Virtual Switch

❌ Remove NAT Object(s)

🧠 Tips

• Attach virtual machines to the LabSwitch virtual adapter to place them on the internal NAT network.

• VMs will use 10.0.0.1 as their gateway for internet access via NAT.

• Use DHCP manually or statically assign IPs in the same subnet (10.0.0.x/24).