Open-shell-menu: Get Classic Start working on Hyper-V Server

[FaberfoX]

Right now, I'm running Cairo Desktop and Explorer++ on a Hyper-V Server 2016. Classic start installs, runs (according to task manager) but is nowhere to be found. Would it be posible to make it work?

[Ibuprophen]

The software doesn't require an executable launch from the individual.

After it installs, just select the start button (or press the windows key on the keyboard) and you should see it.

~Ibuprophen

[FaberfoX]

Hyper-V Server is like a Windows Server Core install, there's no start menu, no explorer.exe, no control panel, not even a desktop. Hyper-V is a free product, designed to compete with ESXi from vmware, and you are supposed to manage it via Powershell or remotely using RSAT or the newly launched Windows Admin Center. Having a functional desktop/start menu on it would be great for quick tasks. I tried pressing the windows key, nothing happens. Settings don't launch either.
You can download and install it from here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/evaluate-hyper-v-server-2016

[Ibuprophen]

Is the Classic Start even compatible with Hyper-V if it doesn't even have a start menu to replace?

Any thoughts @coddec and @XenHat?

For Classic Start to work for the Hyper-V, i would think that it would require a completely separate installer with the remaining software, files, etc... implemented for it to even work with it.

Hyper-V wasn't a Microsoft Certification i had ever held because I've never directly worked with it before.

~Ibuprophen

[XenHat]

I haven't tried to use Classic Start on Windows Server. We have higher priority issues to fix (such as branding) but I do not see a major reason why we can't make this work.

@ibuprophen1

Is the Classic Start even compatible with Hyper-V if it doesn't even have a start menu to replace?

It works on Windows 8, as far as I know.

[FaberfoX]

I've been using Classic Shell on quite a few Server 2012 and 2012 R2 with no issues for years. Just tried the latest 4.4.109 on a full install of Windows Server 2016 with the latest patches and it works with no issues as I expected. Will try it on a Server core install (ie, without the desktop) and report back what I find.

@XenHat , as I said, Hyper-V Server is a separate, free product from microsoft, it's a windows server that's been extremely gutted, leaving just the bare minimum to work as VM host, but the plumbing is there, lots of windows apps just work. As an example of the gutting, it has Task Manager, but the link on it from the Performance tab to open Resource Monitor fails, as resmon.exe is not present.

This guy built a package of apps to make it resemble an usable desktop, it's quite ugly but functional, Classic Start would improve on it a lot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rnqN0NJ3bA

[FaberfoX]

Ok, I installed a Server 2016 Core (without the desktop) and it's the same, installs, starts but win-key doesn't trigger it. Are there any logs I could collect that can help you? Also, quick question: Is there a way to trigger the start menu to show from a cmd prompt, powershell or passing the exe a parameter?

[XenHat]

Not that I am aware of. I didn't write most of that code, this is a handed-down project and I will need some time to learn how it works inside.

EDIT: I have a hunch that Classic Start listens for a winKey hook that doesn't exist on windows server. We might be able to fix this by adding the keybind ourselves. I'll look into it when I have some time, unless someone else can implement this. @ibuprophen1 ?

[ge0rdi]

Classic Start is designed to load/inject into explorer.exe. If there is no explorer running, then obviously does nothing.

In order to support desktop-less systems we will have to load ClassicStartMenuDLL.dll into some other process (ClassicStartMenu.exe I guess) and somehow intercept Win Key globally.
It may be possible, but I don't think it is easily doable in current state.

[Ibuprophen]

@ge0rdi, @XenHat & @coddec, I looked into this a bit and I'm running into many questions regarding the Hyper-V and explorer.exe.

From what I had found, by design, the Hyper-V doesn't have the explorer.exe because it lacks the "GUI" and that would result in Hyper-V not requiring the explorer.exe.

As a concensus of my findings, it looks like those individuals with Hyper-V have been using a small variety of different ways to handle this in a Virtual GUI way.

With there being no local graphical management tool for the Hyper-V, and there's no real easy way to get one up and running but, it's not impossible either.

I've found that there's some GUI style for these management options to include (but, not limited to) the following sample choices:

1) Remotely manage through another Windows 2008 R2 server with the Hyper-V Manager MMC.

2) Remotely manage through another Windows workstation with the Hyper-V Manager MMC.

3) Remotely manage through System Center Virtual Machine Manager.

etc... etc... etc...

My final thoughts here...

The Hyper-V not equipped with a GUI that results in the lack of requirement for it to even run the explorer.exe.

Without the explorer.exe currently the Classic Start will not work unless the Classic Start software is redone somehow somehow in a Virtual GUI way.

I did my best to explain the above via text.... 🤔

~Ibuprophen

[Nodens-]

Hyper-V is not a Windows OS by the traditional definition of the terms. It's a hypervisor. It's purpose is to load virtualized OS on top of it. It doesn't have explorer.exe and a gazillion other dependencies required for a classic start menu.
You should close this issue as won't fix as classic shell was never meant to run on a hypervisor and it's not possible to do so without some weird frankenbuild that copies and registers binaries and components from normal windows versions (which also entails copyrights issues).

[FaberfoX]

@Nodens- as I posted above, it's not just a hypervisor, it's a lot more like a server core install, and being free and with a decent, non restrictive license, a great starting point to build on.
Cairo desktop (https://github.com/cairoshell/cairoshell) works, as do most windows applications I installed on it. There's a great basic, local management gui in corefig (https://github.com/ejsiron/Corefig), so if a small stub on which to hook Classic Start was developed it would be great.