Hyper-V Manager Access Denied

Imagine this scenario:

You have a Hyper-V Server 2012 host (which means no GUI tools on the host itself) and no domain controllers online or available (which means no domain authentication). How exactly do you manage the host (and the VMs on it) from a remote Windows 8 computer?

The first step is to run Hyper-V manager with a local account whose name and password match an administrative account on the host itself. Once you do that, however, you’re likely to be able to connect to the host and manage the Hyper-V settings and Virtual Switches. In the list of Virtual Machines, though, you’ll probably see an error:

Access denied. Unable to establish communication between <Hyper-V Server> and <Hyper-V Manager Client>.

It’s not very clear, but it’s not the Hyper-V host denying access exactly, it’s a DCOM service that can’t authenticate remotely.

Here’s the fix:

Run %windir%System32dcomcnfg.exe as administrator.

Expand “Component Services” and “Computers”

Right-click “My Computer” and choose Properties.

Select the “COM Security” tab.

Under “Access Permissions” click “Edit Limits”

Select “ANONYMOUS LOGON” and check “Allow” for “Remote Access”

Select “ALL APPLICATION PACKAGES” and check “Allow” for “Remote Access”

Click “OK” all the way out, and open Hyper-V Manager again.

This time, you should see your VMs.

Shane Skriletz, PEI