How to Fix Hyper-V Virtual Switch Not Working [3 Ways]

Why my Hyper-V virtual switch not working

In Hyper-V, you can download, install, and run certain programs independently, however, many users experience that the Hyper-V VM has no Internet. Every once in a while, you may find that Hyper-V rejects your request and gives you an error message stating that there was an error applying the virtual switch properties changes.

The error message shown above occurs when you create an external virtual switch. Unlike a Hyper-V internal or private virtual switch, an external virtual switch is bound to a physical network adapter.  The reason of virtual switch in Hyper-V not working is that it is this binding that allows the virtual machine connected to the virtual switch to communicate with the outside world.

Hyper-V Virtual Switch Manager will allow you to create as many virtual switches as you need, but one virtual switch can be supported per physical network adapter. When you try to create an external virtual switch and connect the virtual switch to an Ethernet adapter that is already being used by another virtual switch, it may cause the error message shown above to appear. So the rule is that there can only be one virtual switch per physical Ethernet adapter.

How to fix Hyper-V virtual switch not working (3 Ways)

When running Hyper-V, you may be upset by network problems. Here are 3 ways to fix the issue of Hyper-V virtual switch not working.

Tips: These solutions are usable in all versions of Windows alike. Make sure that you save your configurations in a separate backup folder before proceeding.

Way 1. Use PowerShell to create an external switch

If you are familiar with commands, you can try PowerShell to create an external switch.

1. Click Start Menu and enter PowerShell, right-click on it and then click Run as administrator.

2. To create a new external virtual switch, please type the following command.

-name: how network adapters appear in Hyper-V Manager.
-NetAdapterName: the name of the command.
-AllowManagementOS is $true for the host and VM to both have Internet.

3. Navigate to Virtual Switch Manager in Hyper-V Manager and check if an external switch appears in the list.

Way 2. Reinstall Hyper-V role

If the previous method does not work, you can move all of your virtual machines to another server and then reinstall Hyper-V role. Then go to recreate the virtual switch.

After creating a Virtual Machine with Hyper-V, restart your computer and see if the problem is resolved.

Way 3. Use ‘netcfg’ to reset network connection

you can run the netcfg -d command which is a command utility used to manage network configurations.

Before you start, it’s recommended that you back up your Hyper-V server, as this one method is risky.

1. Click on Start Menu and enter PowerShell, right-click on it and then click Run as administrator.

2. To restart all network adapters and remove MUX objects, type the following command.

3. Once you have executed the netcfg -d command, you will have to reboot your Hyper-V server. In my case, you can see that Windows has disabled my virtual Ethernet adapter (the one used by the Hyper-V virtual switch), but reenabled normal network adapter.

4. Open the Virtual Switch Manager, there is no virtual switch. Now you can create new virtual switches, and Hyper-V will simply create a brand-new virtual network adapter to use with the virtual switch.

In most cases, it’s not recommended to use the netcfg -d utility since it may work really well, or cause that things go badly. The previous 2 methods are safer. Meanwhile, the important thing is that you should backup Hyper-V to reduce the risk.

Protect your Hyper-V VMs with free and easy solution

Besides backing up networking and virtual switch configurations, it’s necessary to backup Hyper-V virtual machines. Here, I will use a free Hyper-V backup software, AOMEI Cyber Backup, to provides comprehensive protection for Hyper-V VM data. It protects business from security threats and recover critical data and information based on easy steps.

AOMEI Cyber Backup automates the backup process of VMs, monitors the status and sends email notifications if there's an error.

All-around data protection: Offers flexible backup strategies to create full backup of entire VM and incremental backup to keep tracking the changed data.
Perpetual Free: No time limit for AOMEI Cyber Backup Free Edition.
Easy-to-use: With its simple intuitive, backup and recovery process can be completed in centralized console, do not need any complicated configuration.
Auto VM backup: Schedule Hyper-V backup for each virtual machine and run the task automatically.
Backup multiple VM simultaneously: Set Hyper-V backups for multiple VMs on a single host simultaneously.
Restore from Any Point: Restore VM from any backup point directly, eliminating the need to restore a full backup plus each subsequent backup point.

Please hit the button below to download and use AOMEI Cyber Backup for free:

*You can choose to install this VM backup software on either Windows or Linux system.

Always protect Hyper-V virtual machines for free:

1. Click Backup Task >> Create New Task to start protecting multiple Hyper-V virtual machines.

2. In the opened wizard, select VMs for backup and configure Target and Schedule.

✦ On Device Name page, select virtual machines on the host.

✦ On Target page, select backup destination as local or network. You are able to backup VM to different places according to 3-2-1 backup rule.

✦ On Schedule page, select full / incremental backup and specify the backup frequency by date / week / month.

✦ Click Start Backup.

3. Restore: You can easily recover a virtual machine completely by clicking on Restore to original location.

✍ While the Free Edition covers most of the VM backup needs, you can also upgrade to Premium Edition to enjoy:
✦ Batch VM backup & restore: batch backup and restore large numbers of VMs managed by vCenter Server or on standalone ESXi hosts.
✦ Backup Cleanup: Configure retention policy to auto delete the old backup files and save storage space.
✦ Restore to new location: Easily make a clone of a virtual machine in the same or another datastore/host, without reinstalling or configuring a new VM.

Summary

This article describes 3 ways to fix the issue of Hyper-V virtual switch not working. Among these methods, it’s risky to use netcfg -d command, once there is something wrong, you will need to reinstall everything. It’s more secure to create an internal switch and reinstalling Hyper-V feature.

By the way, remember to backup your networking configuration and virtual machines before making big changes.