The main prerequisite is to have Azure Local or Windows Server 2025 cluster to play with. You can follow Azure Local and Windows Server deployement guides to create one.
If you made it into this guide, let's add more tips and tricks. All commands will be running from "Management" machine as it's a best practice for managing clusters at scale. Network ATC PowerShell modules needed to be copied from Azure Local (Azure Stack HCI) 21H2 into Windows Server 2022. Thankfully, Network ATC is included in Windows Server 2025.
#First of all - you need to make sure, Network ATC is installed
Add-WindowsFeature -Name NetworkATC
#once NetATC is installed, PowerShell commands are available
Get-Command -Module NetworkATC
#identify avaliable clusters in Domain
#first make sure failover clustering PowerShell module is installed
Add-WindowsFeature -Name RSAT-Clustering-PowerShell
#and now find s2d enabled clusters
$Clusters=Get-Cluster -Domain $env:USERDOMAIN | Where-Object S2DEnabled -eq $True
$Clusters.Name
#Grab Network ATC intents from Cluster(s)
$ClusterName="AXClus02"
Get-NetIntent -ClusterName $ClusterName
From screenshots above you can see, that there are quite some settings that we will go thru.
You can also notice that there are two new NetworkATC commands in Windows Server 2025 - Get-HUDSwitchlessMapping and Update-NetIntentType. Unfortunately both not documented https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/networkatc/update-netintenttype?view=windowsserver2025-ps and https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/networkatc/get-hudswitchlessmapping?view=windowsserver2025-ps
Network Intent can be two types. Cluster and Server - so you can apply it on Server or entire cluster. There is a service, that applies the configuration and you can learn about how it went in the eventlog.
There are also lot's of settings that NetworkATC can configure.
Let's explore it
$ClusterName="AXClus02"
#make sure failover clustering powershell is installed and grab nodes
Install-WindowsFeature -Name RSAT-Clustering-PowerShell
$ClusterNodes=(Get-ClusterNode -Cluster $ClusterName).Name
#Check the status itself
Get-NetIntentStatus -ClusterName $ClusterName
#Check the service on nodes
get-service -ComputerName $ClusterNodes -Name NetworkATC
#check what was configured - Global NetIntent
$NetIntentGlobal=Get-NetIntent -GlobalOverrides -ClusterName $ClusterName
$NetIntentGlobal
#Check Proxy settings
$NetIntentGlobal.ProxyOverride
Invoke-Command -ComputerName $ClusterNodes -ScriptBlock {netsh winhttp show proxy}
#Check Cluster settings
$NetIntentGlobal.ClusterOverride
#check Cluster Network Names
Get-ClusterNetwork -Cluster $ClusterName
#check Live Migration Networks (what networks are excluded)
Get-ClusterResourceType -Cluster $clustername -Name "Virtual Machine" | Get-ClusterParameter -Name MigrationExcludeNetworks | Format-Table @{Label="Name"; Expression={(Get-ClusterNetwork -Cluster $ClusterName | Where-Object ID -eq $_.Value)}}
#check "UseAnyNetworkForMigration" setting
get-vmhost -CimSession $ClusterNodes | Select Name,UseAnyNetworkForMigration
#check LiveMigration performance setting
get-vmhost -CimSession $ClusterNodes | Select-Object Name,VirtualMachineMigrationPerformanceOption
#check number of live migrations
get-vmhost -CimSession $ClusterNodes | Select Name,MaximumVirtualMachineMigrations
#check SMB Bandwidth limit
Get-SmbBandwidthLimit -Category LiveMigration -CimSession $ClusterNodes
#check what was configured - NetIntent
$NetIntent=Get-NetIntent -ClusterName $ClusterName
#Global settings
$NetIntent
#NetAdapters
Get-VMSwitch -CimSession $ClusterNodes | Format-Table Name,ComputerName,@{
Label="NetAdapters"
Expression=
{
$AdapterDescriptions=$_.NetAdapterInterfaceDescriptions
Foreach($AdapterDescription in $AdapterDescriptions){
(Get-NetAdapter -CimSession $_.ComputerName | Where-Object InterfaceDescription -eq $AdapterDescription).Name
}
}
}
#StorageVLANs
Get-VMNetworkAdapterIsolation -CimSession $ClusterNodes -ManagementOS | Where-Object ParentAdapter -like *vSMB* | Select-Object ComputerName,DefaultIsolationID
#Common Properties
$netintent.NetAdapterCommonProperties
#LinkSpeed
get-netadapter -CimSession $ClusterNodes | Select Name,Linkspeed
#ComponentID
get-netadapter -CimSession $ClusterNodes | Select Name,ComponentID
#AdapterAdvancedProperty
$netintent.AdapterAdvancedParametersOverride
#grab all adapters advanced properties
Get-NetAdapterAdvancedProperty -CimSession $ClusterNodes | Sort-Object Name,DisplayName
#RssConfig
$NetIntent.RssConfigOverride
#grab all adapters RSS config
Get-NetAdapterRss -CimSession $ClusterNodes
#QoS Policy
$NetIntent.QosPolicyOverride
#Priorities and NetDirectPortMatchCondition
Get-NetQosPolicy -CimSession $ClusterNodes | Select PSComputerName,Name,PriorityValue,NetDirectPort
#Bandwidth Percentages
Get-NetAdapterQos -CimSession $ClusterNodes
#SwitchConfig
$netIntent.SwitchConfigOverride
#RSC Settings
Get-VMSwitch -CimSession $ClusterNodes | Select Name,ComputerName,SoftwareRscEnabled
#Vrss settings
Get-VMSwitch -CimSession $ClusterNodes | Select Name,ComputerName,*Vrss*
#IOV
Get-VMSwitch -CimSession $ClusterNodes | Select Name,ComputerName,*Iov*
#embedded teaming/Loadbalancing
Get-VMSwitchTeam -CimSession $ClusterNodes
$ClusterName="AXClus02"
#make sure failover clustering powershell and NetworkATC is installed and grab nodes
Install-WindowsFeature -Name RSAT-Clustering-PowerShell,NetworkATC
$ClusterNodes=(Get-ClusterNode -Cluster $ClusterName).Name
#Check the status itself
Get-NetIntentStatus -ClusterName $ClusterName
#Check the service on nodes
get-service -ComputerName $ClusterNodes -Name NetworkATC
#check event log https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/scripting/samples/creating-get-winevent-queries-with-filterhashtable?view=powershell-7.4
#you can list logs with following command
#get-winevent -ListLog * -ComputerName $ClusterNodes[0]
Invoke-command -ComputerName $ClusterNodes -ScriptBlock {Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{LogName="Microsoft-Windows-Networking-NetworkAtc/Operational"} -MaxEvents 100 }| Select TimeCreated,Level,Message,LogName,PSComputerName | Out-Gridview -Title "NetATC Operational"
Invoke-command -ComputerName $ClusterNodes -ScriptBlock {Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{LogName="Microsoft-Windows-Networking-NetworkAtc/Admin"} -MaxEvents 100 }| Select TimeCreated,Level,Message,LogName,PSComputerName | Out-Gridview -Title "NetATC Admin"
#displaying all settings
$allgoalstates=Get-NetIntentAllGoalStates -ClusterName $ClusterName
$allgoalstates.Values | ConvertTo-Json -Depth 4
#
$ClusterName="AXClus02"
$ComputerName="AXNode3"
#make sure NetworkATC is installed
Install-WindowsFeature -Name NetworkATC
#start trace
Set-NetIntentTracing -ComputerName $ComputerName
#retry
#grab Intent
$IntentName=(Get-NetIntent -ClusterName $ClusterName | Where-Object IsStorageIntentSet).IntentName
#set RetryState for first node
Set-NetIntentRetryState -ClusterName $ClusterName -NodeName $ComputerName -Name $intentname
#start sleep a bit
Start-Sleep 10
#stop trace
Set-NetIntentTracing -ComputerName $ComputerName -StopTracing
#convert to text
Invoke-Command -ComputerName $ComputerName -ScriptBlock {netsh trace convert C:\Windows\NetworkAtcTrace.etl}
#grab text
Invoke-Command -ComputerName $ComputerName -ScriptBlock {Get-Content C:\Windows\NetworkAtcTrace.txt}
#or simply copy item locally
Copy-Item -Path \\$ComputerName\C$\Windows\NetworkAtcTrace.txt -Destination $env:userprofile\Downloads\NetworkATCTrace_"$ComputerName".txt
Let's adjust number of live migrations and Live migration speed as I think this might be the the most often changed value
$ClusterName="AXClus02"
#Adjusting Global Overrides
#to adjust LM settings you need to apply global override
$override=New-NetIntentGlobalClusterOverrides
$override
$override.MaximumSMBMigrationBandwidthInGbps=20
$override.MaximumVirtualMachineMigrations=4
Set-NetIntent -GlobalClusterOverrides $override -ClusterName $ClusterName
#check net intent
Get-NetIntent -GlobalOverrides -ClusterName $ClusterName
#adjusting storage intent
$IntentName=(Get-NetIntent -ClusterName $ClusterName | Where-Object IsStorageIntentSet).IntentName
#adjust Storage VLANs
Set-NetIntent -Name $IntentName -ClusterName $ClusterName -StorageVlans 713,714
#adjust AdapterAdvanced property - MTU Size
$override=New-NetIntentAdapterPropertyOverrides
$override.JumboPacket=9014
Set-NetIntent -Name $IntentName -ClusterName $ClusterName -AdapterPropertyOverrides $override
#wait intent to finish applying
Write-Output "waiting for intent"
do {
Write-Host "." -NoNewline
Start-Sleep 5
$status=Get-NetIntentStatus -ClusterName $ClusterName
} while ($status.ConfigurationStatus -contains "Provisioning" -or $status.ConfigurationStatus -contains "Retrying")
#check settings
get-netintent -ClusterName $ClusterName
(get-netintent -ClusterName $ClusterName).AdapterAdvancedParametersOverride
#check log
Invoke-command -ComputerName $ClusterNodes -ScriptBlock {Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{LogName="Microsoft-Windows-Networking-NetworkAtc/Admin"} -MaxEvents 100 }| Select TimeCreated,Level,Message,LogName,PSComputerName | Out-Gridview -Title "NetATC Admin"
$ClusterName="AXClus02"
$IntentName=(Get-NetIntent -ClusterName $ClusterName | Where-Object IsStorageIntentSet).IntentName
$override=New-NetIntentAdapterPropertyOverrides
#unfortunately you cannot "remove" the value. You need to set new (if you did find how, PR please!)
$override.JumboPacket=1514
Set-NetIntent -Name $IntentName -ClusterName $ClusterName -AdapterPropertyOverrides $override
Set-NetIntent -Name $IntentName -ClusterName $ClusterName -StorageVlans 711,712
#wait intent to finish applying
Write-Output "waiting for intent"
do {
Write-Host "." -NoNewline
Start-Sleep 5
$status=Get-NetIntentStatus -ClusterName $ClusterName
} while ($status.ConfigurationStatus -contains "Provisioning" -or $status.ConfigurationStatus -contains "Retrying")
#check settings
get-netintent -ClusterName $ClusterName
(get-netintent -ClusterName $ClusterName).AdapterAdvancedParametersOverride
#as you can see, the value sticks and was not removed. To remove it, let's remove and introduce intent back
$intent=Get-NetIntent -ClusterName $ClusterName
$intent
Remove-NetIntent -Name $intent.IntentName -ClusterName $ClusterName
#remove global override - does not work (should - as it's per docs)
$override=New-NetIntentGlobalClusterOverrides
Remove-NetIntent -ClusterName $ClusterName -GlobalOverrides $override
#add intents back
Add-NetIntent -ClusterName $ClusterName -Name $Intent.IntentName -AdapterName $Intent.NetAdapterNamesAsList -Compute -Management -Storage -PutGlobal $true
#check log
Invoke-command -ComputerName $ClusterNodes -ScriptBlock {Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{LogName="Microsoft-Windows-Networking-NetworkAtc/Admin"} -MaxEvents 100 }| Select TimeCreated,Level,Message,LogName,PSComputerName | Out-Gridview -Title "NetATC Admin"
$ClusterName="AXClus02"
#make sure failover clustering powershell and NetworkATC is installed and grab nodes
Install-WindowsFeature -Name RSAT-Clustering-PowerShell,NetworkATC
$ClusterNodes=(Get-ClusterNode -Cluster $ClusterName).Name
#grab Intent
$IntentName=(Get-NetIntent -ClusterName $ClusterName | Where-Object IsStorageIntentSet).IntentName
#set RetryState for first node
Set-NetIntentRetryState -ClusterName $ClusterName -NodeName $ClusterNodes[0] -Name $intentname
