Windows 10: Windows 10 release health now available in Microsoft 365 admin center

Brink · Mar 25, 2021

Today we begin the rollout of Windows release health to the Microsoft 365 admin center. Windows and Microsoft 365 IT admins now have easy, integrated access to essential information about monthly quality and feature updates, the latest features and enhancements for IT, servicing milestones, and lifecycle updates. The Windows release health experience on the admin center also offers insights into known issues, workarounds, and resolutions related to Windows updates. This will be a phased rollout and we expect this information experience to be available to all applicable customers by the end of April.

As we announced at Microsoft Ignite 2021, our goal is inform you about known issues and give you the information you need to roll out Windows feature updates and monthly quality updates effectively and without end user disruption. We also want to ensure that you have early awareness of policy changes, new resources, deprecations, and advisories.

In order to access Windows release health in the admin center, you will need an applicable Microsoft 365[1] or Windows[2] licensing subscription, and to have the role of Service support admin for your tenant.

Note: If you are not currently a Service support admin for your tenant, a Global Administrator or User Administrator will need to assign you this role. For detailed guidance, please see Assign admin roles for Microsoft 365 admin center.

To find Windows release health in the Microsoft 365 admin center, visit https://admin.microsoft.com, log in, and scroll down to Health in the navigation menu. Windows release health will be listed underneath the existing Service health menu option.

In addition, you can also see Windows-related notifications in the Message center and customize your notification preferences just as you would for any other product or service in the Microsoft 365 admin center. If you do not automatically see these messages once Windows release health appears in your Health menu, select Message center and then Preferences. Once in the Preferences pane, select Microsoft Windows in the Custom View tab.

You can also opt in to receive a weekly digest via email for Windows-related updates posted to the Message center by selecting the Email tab in Preferences. Select the box for Microsoft Windows and the box for Send me a weekly digest about services I select. You can enter up to two additional email addresses to receive those notifications. For more information about how to use the Message center, see Manage messages in Message center.

What does Windows release health in the admin center provide?

For IT admins managing complex Windows environments, the public Windows release health hub and known issues pages (example) provide an authoritative place to check for known issues, safeguard holds, servicing announcements, and important reminders.

At this point, you might be asking: Will the Windows release health content published on the Microsoft 365 admin center be different? The answer is yes. Because the admin center is specifically designed for IT admins, you will find greater technical detail about known issues, earlier reminders about important milestones like end of service, and more resources to help you plan for and deploy Windows updates. Our goal is to help you diagnose issues in your environment fast, provide steps to mitigate them quickly, and provide a root cause analysis for better support.

For further guidance on how to navigate Windows release health on Microsoft 365 admin center, see How to check Windows release health.
If you are not familiar with the Microsoft 365 admin center, and its ability to make it easier for you to manage applications, services, data, devices, and users across your Microsoft 365 services, see About Microsoft 365 admin center.

[1] Requires Microsoft 365 Enterprise E3/A3/F3 or Microsoft 365 Enterprise E5/A5
[2] Requires Windows 10 Enterprise E3/A3 or Windows 10 Enterprise E5/A5
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Source: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/...r/ba-p/2235908

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Tenforo · Mar 25, 2021

Windows Admin Center version 2007 now generally available

Windows Admin Center version 2007 is generally available today. In this release, we have made Windows Admin Center compatible with the new Azure Stack HCI, which required substantial updates to the cluster deployment experience and various tools across the product. Note that this release is pronounced as “twenty oh-seven” in regard to this year and month, and not in reference to the year 2007.

Download Windows Admin Center version 2007

Windows Admin Center version 2007 new features and updates

Windows Admin Center supports the new Azure Stack HCI

Today we announced the release of a new version of Azure Stack HCI for on-premises hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) clusters. This version is a subscription-based Azure service that combines the price-performance of our HCI solution with native Azure hybrid capabilities, all while letting enterprises leverage existing skills.

To find out more about the new Azure Stack HCI, check out the Azure Stack HCI page.

What’s new in Windows Admin Center

Cluster deployment

Windows Admin Center now provides a graphical cluster deployment workflow. The cluster deployment workflow allows users to deploy multiple cluster types based on the operating system that runs on their choice of servers.

New location and UI

To launch the workflow, from the All Connections page, click on “+Add” and select “Create new” on the server clusters tile.

Users can create hyperconverged clusters running Azure Stack HCI, or classic failover clusters running Windows Server.

The cluster deployment workflow is included in Windows Admin Center without needing to install an extension.

For the first time ever, use Windows Admin Center to deploy a cluster that’s stretched across two sites.

Workflow details

You can bring in your workgroup servers and get them domain-joined as part of the cluster deployment workflow.

Windows Admin Center detects the cluster type that is deployed and installs the necessary roles and features.

We support multiple network topologies to cater to different customer scenarios.

Windows Admin Center is working to provide an integrated firmware/driver update experience as part of deployment workflow.

If you’re having difficulties with any of these new features, please consult the cluster deployment section of the known issues page of our documentation.

User experience

New look

Windows Admin Center has some new color! We hope you like our new icons and the design changes we have made to make Windows Admin Center look more modern. Windows Admin Center has historically been tied to Windows Server, but now it has become its own independent product. While the license terms have been updated, this shouldn’t affect your usage of Windows Admin Center in any way.

Feedback

You can now let us know how we are doing from inside Windows Admin Center. Occasionally, you may receive a pop-up asking how likely you are to recommend Windows Admin Center to a coworker. Please provide your feedback as it will help us improve your experience.

Bug fixes and accessibility improvements

Schedule restarts in the Updates tool: We have fixed the bug where users could not schedule restarts in the Updates tool.

Connecting to Hyper-V servers: In the previous release, there was a bug that prevented connection to Hyper-V servers. That has been fixed.

Accessibility fixes: We have been working hard to improve accessibility within the product. If you have any questions or concerns, please email us at L: [email protected]

Core tools

Active Directory

This release includes a new version, version 0.85.0, of the Active Directory tool based on all the feedback we received from User Voice! Some of the changes from the preview version include:

Search with more descriptive queries using PowerShell Expression Language syntax

filter by object type or run range-based queries

search for users with a password count over a certain threshold

More connected experience

Ability to unlock users

Go to Settings > Extensions to install it now.

Containers

The Windows Admin Center containers extension has recently been updated. This extension is available through the Windows Admin Center Insiders feed (https://aka.ms/wac-insiders-feed).

To read more about the extension and its features, read the blog post.

Virtual Machines

Users are now able to click on a virtual machine and perform a full clone. You can run sysprep on the virtual machine beforehand or let us run it for you. Windows Admin Center brings in an optimized VM clone experience that significantly reduces user effort, time, and engagement needed for the process. This feature is in preview so please give us feedback.

Software Defined Networking (SDN) monitoring

The SDN monitoring extension now includes Data Path Diagnostics. This feature automates packet captures to diagnose networking data path issues in SDN scenarios. After you choose your SDN scenario and provide basic parameters, Windows Admin Center identifies the involved SDN components and their location in the cluster, sets the right packet filters, and captures network traffic on all the relevant machines. Afterwards, we present the captured logs in a single view that is easy to follow and manipulate through Windows Admin Center. This view allows you to download the logs for additional post-processing using your tool of choice.

Partner ecosystem

Windows Admin Center continues to promote an extensible ecosystem and we’re thrilled to collaborate with our external partners. Several of our partners have released updates for their extensions in the past few months that include bug fixes and improvements targeted at Windows Admin Center version 2007.

Lenovo XClarity Integrator version 2.1.11

The Lenovo XClarity Integrator for Windows Admin Center provides IT administrators a smooth and seamless management experience across Windows Server hyper-converged and physical infrastructure. In this release, improvements include:

New user role-based access control

Firmware update

Cluster-aware firmware update for clusters

Firmware update for Azure HCI clusters with the best recipe for ThinkAgile MX certified nodes, involving both firmware and Windows drivers

Support compliance policy-based firmware update

Disk Manager for ThinkAgile MX HCI cluster

Graphic front/rear view of the Lenovo ThinkAgile MX certified Azure HCI cluster node servers

Display of overall storage pool, drive, and server information

Operations on servers, including turning on or turning off the location LED

Operations on drives, including turning on or turning off the location LED, replacing a drive in a storage pool, adding a drive to a storage pool, and removing a drive from a server

Dell EMC OpenManage Integration version 1.1.0

The Dell EMC OpenManage Integration for Microsoft Admin Center extension enables IT administrators to manage Dell EMC PowerEdge servers as hosts, Microsoft Failover Clusters created with PowerEdge servers, and Azure Stack Hyper-Converged Infrastructure created with Dell EMC Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct Ready Nodes, AX Nodes. In this release, improvements include:

Added support for Dell EMC Online Catalogs

Ability to perform Server update including selective component updates

Cluster update—Premium licenses required for respective hardware, such as Dell EMC PowerEdge Server and Azure Stack HCI clusters based on AX nodes or Storage Spaces Direct Ready Nodes from Dell EMC

To locate physical disks or to identify failed physical disks, provision to blink and unblink the physical disks Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) is provided

Support for newer platforms based on AX nodes—Dell EMC Solutions for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI nodes: AX-640, AX-6515, and AX-740xd

Ability to monitor health and inventory of Accelerators (GPU) with latest iDRAC9 based PowerEdge Servers.

User interface enhancements for Intel Persistent memory Health monitoring and Inventory.

Correlation between Storage Controllers and Physical Disks to view the associated disks.

Ability to refresh the health, inventory, and iDRAC information of the managed target nodes to ensure that displayed inventory information is the latest.

Usability enhancement by downloading DSU and IC automatically required for components update.

QCT Management Suite version 2.1.0

The QCT Management Suite is designed to help users manage and monitor their Windows Server hyper-converged infrastructure and QCT system configuration information on a single dashboard. With the upgrade to version 2.1.0, fixes and additions include:

Add Switch function.

Network Adapter and Switch Port mapping.

PFC enable check of Switch.

Switch Port Status check.

Switch Environment Information includes Switch Model, Software Version, Serial Number, Device Name, Fan Status, Power Supply Unit Status.

Support list:

QuantaMesh T3048-LY8

QuantaMesh T4048-IX8D (Preview)

Add Physical/Virtual Network Adapter information and mapping function.

Keep an eye on your extension manager for new partner extensions coming soon!

Download today

We hope you enjoy this latest update of Windows Admin Center, the various new functionality in preview, and all the extensions now available. Learn more and download today!

As always, thanks for your ongoing support, adoption and feedback.

We are already working hard on our next release and are excited to bring you a lot more features.

Ask Microsoft Anything

While this is not a feature, the Windows Admin Center team hosted our first public Ask Microsoft Anything (AMA). You can view the AMA here. To stay informed about future events like this, follow us on Twitter at @servermgmt.

<3,

Windows Admin Center Team
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Source: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/...e/ba-p/1536215

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Linda.y · Mar 25, 2021

Health & Performance Report Not Available on 2 user accounts except the administrator's account in the laptop has Health Report

We appreciate your time responding back to us. At this point, we would suggest that you access the built-in Administrator account to and check if you would be able to perform a Health Check from it. Here are the steps on how to enable the built-in Administrator
Account:

Right-click on the Start button.

Select Command Prompt (Admin).

Type the net user administrator /active:yes and hit
Enter.

After completing these steps, you should see a message that you've done the command completed successfully. Sign out from your current user profile and you'll see the Administrator account as one of the choices.

Let us know if you would be able to perform a system health check on your account and we'll assist you with the next steps needed.

Once you're successful with performing a health check on the Administrator account, we would suggest that you disable it from your personal user profile by following these steps:

Right-click on the Start button.

Select Command Prompt (Admin).

Type the net user administrator /active:no and hit Enter.

Let us know how it goes and we'll assist you further.
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Thanks Jaune . I performed the first 3 steps in my built-in administrator account & did get the Health Report back for this account. However I did not perform the second set of 3steps as I do not understand it & have fear that it would remove the newly
emerged Health Report. I tried perform the first 3 steps on my second administrator account which did bring the Health Report, on finding later that Health Report is no longer available on my built-in admin. account

Despite this, this is the best advice so far as all other answers like performing a clean boot, starting in a safe mode did not work for me at all.

Jaune, will you please help me further to fix the "add new user account" problem. None of the admin account will respond to my click on add account. I want to remove the second admin account where no Health report is available, hopefully to have the issue
fixed when I add it back on. Is there a maximum no. of user accounts in the laptop? I want to see that I can add to replace user account removed due to problematic performance

Brink · Mar 25, 2021

Introducing new Microsoft 365 security center and compliance center

In the past few years, we have been heavily investing in the security and compliance areas to help organizations safeguard their digital estate and achieve compliance. According to recent customer research, we heard that while security and compliance are both top of mind areas in data protection, most organizations have different teams working in these two spaces. To empower your security and compliance professionals to work more efficiently in dedicated platforms, we are excited to announce the availability of Microsoft 365 security center (security.microsoft.com) and Microsoft 365 compliance center (compliance.microsoft.com).

The new specialized workspaces enable your security and compliance teams to have centralized management across your Microsoft 365 services, bringing together Office 365, Windows 10, and Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS), with several Azure capabilities.

In both specialized centers, you can easily find actionable insights, alerts, and scores to help you understand your security and compliance risks and leverage artificial intelligence to strengthen your security and compliance posture. You can find more details about each center in the following paragraphs.

Microsoft 365 security center

The new Microsoft 365 security center provides security administrators and other risk management professionals with a centralized hub and specialized workspace that enables them to manage and take full advantage of Microsoft 365 intelligent security solutions for identity and access management, threat protection, information protection, and security management. With it they’ll gain the visibility, control, and guidance necessary to understand and act on the threats that their organization is facing today, have faced in the past, and may face in the future.

This new workspace is organized around the products that make up Microsoft Threat Protection by rendering them in a completely new way, one that’s focused on the entities that our customers must secure across their entire digital estate. We have consolidated the experience across Microsoft 365 products and designed around the concepts of Identity, Endpoints, User Data, Cloud App and Infrastructure, and not the underlying products that help secure them. This enables end-to-end security insights and management and paves the way for a comprehensive Microsoft 365 security solution.

In addition, the Microsoft 365 security center enables organizations to reduce security risks by providing them with the tools necessary to assess their current and historical security postures and to determine the appropriate set of actions to take to mitigate future risks. These tools consist of rich dashboards, reports, and interactive experiences like Microsoft Secure Score, each of which are designed to provide security administrators with the visibility, controls, and guidance they need to drive maximum security posture improvements. Microsoft 365 security center also provides experiences for security operators (SecOps) through the integration of incident response capabilities such as a centralized alerts view and hunting capabilities which can be used to perform ad-hoc investigations.

Microsoft 365 compliance center

The new Microsoft 365 compliance center is a specialized workspace for your compliance, privacy, and risk management professionals. In the new center, you can assess your compliance risks through Compliance Manager, protect and govern your data with sensitivity and retention labels, respond to regulatory requests like Data Subject Requests, and access to more other compliance and privacy solutions.

The new experience helps you reduce compliance risks and protect your digital estate more easily and effectively with three new insights:

With the Compliance Manager integration, Microsoft 365 compliance center provides you with visibility into your compliance posture against key regulations and standards like the GDPR, ISO 27001, NIST 800-53, and more on the homepage. You can then perform risk assessments and follow step-by-step guidance to enhance your compliance and privacy controls.

Additionally, to help you label data more accurately, the new Microsoft 365 Label Analytics preview can enable you to analyze and validate how sensitivity and retention labels are being used beyond your Office 365 workloads.

We also brought in the Microsoft Cloud App Security (MCAS) insights into Microsoft 365 compliance center to help you identify compliance risks across applications, discover shadow IT, and monitor employees’ non-compliant behaviors.

We will be gradually rolling out the new experience from the end of January, and the rollout will be completed worldwide by the end of March. Once this new experience is rolled out, you can access it by visiting security.microsoft.com or compliance.microsoft.com or from the Microsoft 365 admin center.

You can learn more about the new Microsoft 365 security center and Microsoft 365 compliance center in our technical supporting document.
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Source: Introducing the new Microsoft 365 security center and Microsoft 365 compliance center - Microsoft Tech Community - 326959

Windows 10: Windows 10 release health now available in Microsoft 365 admin center

Windows 10 release health now available in Microsoft 365 admin center

Windows 10 release health now available in Microsoft 365 admin center

Windows 10 release health now available in Microsoft 365 admin center

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