Windows 10: Windows Admin Center version 2007 now generally available

Brink · Jul 23, 2020

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 âtwenty oh-sevenâ 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.

Whatâs 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 â+Addâ and select âCreate newâ 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 thatâs 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 youâre 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 shouldnât 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 [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 weâre 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 updateâPremium 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 nodesâDell 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
Click to expand...

Source: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/...e/ba-p/1536215

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) View on Twitter
Click to expand...

:)

Tenforo · Aug 3, 2020

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
Click to expand...

Source: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/...e/ba-p/1536215

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) View on Twitter
Click to expand...

Brink · Aug 3, 2020

Windows Admin Center 1809 and SDK now generally available

The momentum continues

It’s been an exciting debut year for Windows Admin Center, the next-generation graphical management for Windows Server. Our team is committed to helping you manage your Windows Server infrastructure and instances, wherever they run, more easily and more efficiently. This includes delivering a platform and core set of experiences that improve day-to-day Windows Server administration, as well as lighting up new functionality and scenarios to help your organization unlock the full power of the Microsoft cloud.

In April, we announced Windows Admin Center and general availability of version 1804, and shared the user and business value provided by our reimagined management experience.

In May, we announced our SDK preview along with three launch partners to showcase the emerging value of the Windows Admin Center ecosystem.

In June, at the Windows Server Summit event, we declared Windows Admin Center as the fastest growing Windows Server management toolset ever, exceeding 1,000,000 total managed nodes in just over 2 months after GA.

In June, July and August, we continued with regular preview releases, each showcasing new and improved functionality through our Insiders program: Windows Admin Center Preview versions 1806, 1807, and 1808.

Today, we are very excited to present the latest generally available release of Windows Admin Center in support of Windows Server 2019. We are also pleased to announce that the SDK is now generally available.

Install or update today!

As a platform, version 1809 of Windows Admin Center is generally available, and contains all the features and improvements of the previous monthly preview releases. As the number of capabilities grows, please note that some extensions and features are still clearly marked as “preview” to help differentiate newer functionality and allow for flexibility of ecosystem growth.

Download: Go to ms/WindowsAdminCenter to download Windows Admin Center 1809 and browse updated documentation on a variety of relevant topics.

For customers currently using version 1804 of Windows Admin Center, upgrade to version 1809 within 30 days to remain supported under Microsoft’s Modern Lifecycle Policy.

What’s new?

There are too many additions to list them all, so here’s a summary of some key new and improved features added to Windows Admin Center since 1804…

Core functionality

Windows Admin Center continues to provide you with increasing value for single server or single cluster troubleshooting, configuration and maintenance tasks. Almost all of these were added as a direct result of aggregated user feedback:

View Script: See and copy the underlying PowerShell scripts for actions in supported modules, with syntax coloring.

Scheduled Tasks: View, edit, enable/disable, start/stop, and create scheduled tasks.

File Shares: View, edit, and create file shares and permissions in the Files tool and Storage tool.

Installed Apps (Windows Server): View and remove Win32 applications which are installed.

Apps and Features (Windows 10): View and remove Store and Win32 apps which are installed. Enable/disable Windows features.

Hyper-V: Improvements include multi-VM bulk actions, VM and host settings including nested virtualization and hypervisor scheduler configuration, integrated VM Connect web console, and more!

Failover Cluster: Added support for Cluster-Aware Updating, add/remove cluster node, validate cluster and an all-new cluster validation report UI. Hyper-V host settings on a cluster now allows you to make changes across all cluster nodes at once!

Tags: Editing and filtering improvements to better group and organize large connection lists.

Gateway settings: Improved categorization and updates to improve clarity.

Notifications: Improved notification system provides a more organized experience.

Windows Server 2008 R2: Supported as a connection target, with limited functionality.

Hybrid

Windows Admin Center continues to empower you with new and improved ways to optionally leverage Azure services from your on-premises environment:

Discover, deploy, and use Azure services: Enjoy streamlined setup right from Windows Admin Center, where it automatically provisions required Azure resources, installs necessary agents, and initializes the service behind-the-scenes. Windows Admin Center currently integrates with:

Azure Site Recovery: Protect business-critical workloads running on Hyper-V virtual machines from disaster.

Azure Backup: Protect your servers from accidental-deletion of data, corruptions and even ransomware-attacks.

Azure Update Management: Manage operating system updates across all the servers in your environment.

Azure AD authentication: Bolster the security of your Windows Admin Center gateway with features like conditional access policies and multi-factor authentication.

Azure Network Adapter: Connect an on-premises Windows Server 2016/2019 instance to an Azure virtual network via simplified configuration of point-to-site VPN.

Manage Azure IaaS VMs running Windows Server: Granular troubleshooting or configuration using Windows Admin Center, wherever you run Windows Server instances.

Hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI)

Windows Admin Center continues to be the best way to manage and monitor hyper-converged infrastructure, including Storage Spaces Direct and SDN, powered by Windows Server 2016 or Windows Server 2019. With this update, most HCI functionality is now generally available.

Clustering and Hyper-V: All the new features listed above, including multi-VM bulk actions, add/remove node, and cluster-aware updating, apply to HCI clusters too. For Windows Server 2019 HCI clusters, the VMs list loads as much as 5X faster, and VM detail pages include performance history (hour/day/week/etc.).

Storage Spaces Direct: Create, open, resize, or delete Storage Spaces volumes with just a few clicks. With this update, you can see pool reserve capacity and read/write cache statistics for Windows Server 2019 clusters.

Software-Defined Networking: All-new tools and capabilities to manage and monitor virtual networks, subnets, connect virtual machines to virtual networks, and monitor SDN infrastructure.

General: The HCI Dashboard and pages are more colorful, more consistent, load faster, and reflow better to different window sizes.

Windows Server 2019 platform

Windows Admin Center lights up several platform features which are new or improved in Windows Server 2019. In addition to several already mentioned in the sections above (Azure Network Adapter, Storage Spaces Direct, Software-Defined Networking), the following platform features rely exclusively on Windows Admin Center for graphical management:

Storage Migration Service: Migrate servers and their data without reconfiguring applications or users. It’s fast, consistent, and scalable while taking care of the enormous complexity and subtle environmental problems inherent to server migrations, all with an intuitive graphical workflow.

Storage Replica: Set up and configure disaster protection easily via replication of volumes using Windows Admin Center.

System Insights: Manage native predictive analytics capabilities in Windows Admin Center. Use rich visualizations and a simple management interface to understand future resource consumption across storage, compute, and networking.

Extensibility and ecosystem

Windows Admin Center is an extensible platform, and partner extensions continue to contribute towards greater customer value:

Extension Manager: Users can now get notified of available extension updates, update in just one-click, and use extensions from multiple extension feeds simultaneously.

SDK: Now generally available after several months of validation by multiple partners building compelling extensions. Recent improvements include a CLI to help you get started quickly and easily, updated samples which leverage the latest features, new and improved documentation topics, and a new PowerPoint design toolkit to enable quick and consistent design mock-ups.

Partners: The Windows Admin Center ecosystem continues to grow with more partners developing and releasing extensions for monitoring and managing servers, clusters, hyper-converged infrastructure and storage devices. DataON is releasing an all-new extension for HCI management, Fujitsu’s preview extension is now generally available, Squared Up provides unique monitoring capabilities based on SCOM, and Pure Storage is releasing an extension for FlashArray management. The following new partners are currently developing extensions and will be demoing their progress in their respective expo hall stations at Ignite: Cisco, HPE, Lenovo, NEC, QCT, and Riverbed.

Ignite presence and sessions

If you are registered to attend Ignite next week, we invite you to come visit our Windows Admin Center station in the expo hall. Here’s a list of all the related breakout sessions which will cover various Windows Admin Center topics described above:

Main Windows Admin Center session

Windows Server management reimagined with Windows Admin Center

Windows Server sessions showcasing Windows Admin Center

Windows Server 2019: What’s new and what’s next

Windows Server 2019 deep dive

The Perfect Match: Windows Admin Center & Server Core

Windows Server 2019 platform feature sessions using Windows Admin Center

Windows Server 2019 System Insights: Simplified ML for the intelligent edge

Establishing hybrid connectivity with Windows Server 2019 and Microsoft Azure

Retire your old file servers with Storage Migration Service in Windows Server 2019

Hyper-converged Infrastructure sessions showcasing Windows Admin Center

From Hyper-V to hyper-converged infrastructure with Windows Admin Center

Be an IT hero with Storage Spaces Direct in Windows Server 2019

Modernize your datacenter with Software-Defined Networking (SDN) in Windows Server 2019

See you at Ignite!
Click to expand...

Source: Windows Admin Center 1809 and SDK now generally available! - Windows Server Blog

Tip Windows Admin Center - Centrally manage all your Windows 10 PCs

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) View on Twiiter
Click to expand...

Brink · Aug 3, 2020

Windows Admin Center 1809 and SDK now generally available

The momentum continues

It’s been an exciting debut year for Windows Admin Center, the next-generation graphical management for Windows Server. Our team is committed to helping you manage your Windows Server infrastructure and instances, wherever they run, more easily and more efficiently. This includes delivering a platform and core set of experiences that improve day-to-day Windows Server administration, as well as lighting up new functionality and scenarios to help your organization unlock the full power of the Microsoft cloud.

In April, we announced Windows Admin Center and general availability of version 1804, and shared the user and business value provided by our reimagined management experience.

In May, we announced our SDK preview along with three launch partners to showcase the emerging value of the Windows Admin Center ecosystem.

In June, at the Windows Server Summit event, we declared Windows Admin Center as the fastest growing Windows Server management toolset ever, exceeding 1,000,000 total managed nodes in just over 2 months after GA.

In June, July and August, we continued with regular preview releases, each showcasing new and improved functionality through our Insiders program: Windows Admin Center Preview versions 1806, 1807, and 1808.

Today, we are very excited to present the latest generally available release of Windows Admin Center in support of Windows Server 2019. We are also pleased to announce that the SDK is now generally available.

Install or update today!

As a platform, version 1809 of Windows Admin Center is generally available, and contains all the features and improvements of the previous monthly preview releases. As the number of capabilities grows, please note that some extensions and features are still clearly marked as “preview” to help differentiate newer functionality and allow for flexibility of ecosystem growth.

Download: Go to ms/WindowsAdminCenter to download Windows Admin Center 1809 and browse updated documentation on a variety of relevant topics.

For customers currently using version 1804 of Windows Admin Center, upgrade to version 1809 within 30 days to remain supported under Microsoft’s Modern Lifecycle Policy.

What’s new?

There are too many additions to list them all, so here’s a summary of some key new and improved features added to Windows Admin Center since 1804…

Core functionality

Windows Admin Center continues to provide you with increasing value for single server or single cluster troubleshooting, configuration and maintenance tasks. Almost all of these were added as a direct result of aggregated user feedback:

View Script: See and copy the underlying PowerShell scripts for actions in supported modules, with syntax coloring.

Scheduled Tasks: View, edit, enable/disable, start/stop, and create scheduled tasks.

File Shares: View, edit, and create file shares and permissions in the Files tool and Storage tool.

Installed Apps (Windows Server): View and remove Win32 applications which are installed.

Apps and Features (Windows 10): View and remove Store and Win32 apps which are installed. Enable/disable Windows features.

Hyper-V: Improvements include multi-VM bulk actions, VM and host settings including nested virtualization and hypervisor scheduler configuration, integrated VM Connect web console, and more!

Failover Cluster: Added support for Cluster-Aware Updating, add/remove cluster node, validate cluster and an all-new cluster validation report UI. Hyper-V host settings on a cluster now allows you to make changes across all cluster nodes at once!

Tags: Editing and filtering improvements to better group and organize large connection lists.

Gateway settings: Improved categorization and updates to improve clarity.

Notifications: Improved notification system provides a more organized experience.

Windows Server 2008 R2: Supported as a connection target, with limited functionality.

Hybrid

Windows Admin Center continues to empower you with new and improved ways to optionally leverage Azure services from your on-premises environment:

Discover, deploy, and use Azure services: Enjoy streamlined setup right from Windows Admin Center, where it automatically provisions required Azure resources, installs necessary agents, and initializes the service behind-the-scenes. Windows Admin Center currently integrates with:

Azure Site Recovery: Protect business-critical workloads running on Hyper-V virtual machines from disaster.

Azure Backup: Protect your servers from accidental-deletion of data, corruptions and even ransomware-attacks.

Azure Update Management: Manage operating system updates across all the servers in your environment.

Azure AD authentication: Bolster the security of your Windows Admin Center gateway with features like conditional access policies and multi-factor authentication.

Azure Network Adapter: Connect an on-premises Windows Server 2016/2019 instance to an Azure virtual network via simplified configuration of point-to-site VPN.

Manage Azure IaaS VMs running Windows Server: Granular troubleshooting or configuration using Windows Admin Center, wherever you run Windows Server instances.

Hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI)

Windows Admin Center continues to be the best way to manage and monitor hyper-converged infrastructure, including Storage Spaces Direct and SDN, powered by Windows Server 2016 or Windows Server 2019. With this update, most HCI functionality is now generally available.

Clustering and Hyper-V: All the new features listed above, including multi-VM bulk actions, add/remove node, and cluster-aware updating, apply to HCI clusters too. For Windows Server 2019 HCI clusters, the VMs list loads as much as 5X faster, and VM detail pages include performance history (hour/day/week/etc.).

Storage Spaces Direct: Create, open, resize, or delete Storage Spaces volumes with just a few clicks. With this update, you can see pool reserve capacity and read/write cache statistics for Windows Server 2019 clusters.

Software-Defined Networking: All-new tools and capabilities to manage and monitor virtual networks, subnets, connect virtual machines to virtual networks, and monitor SDN infrastructure.

General: The HCI Dashboard and pages are more colorful, more consistent, load faster, and reflow better to different window sizes.

Windows Server 2019 platform

Windows Admin Center lights up several platform features which are new or improved in Windows Server 2019. In addition to several already mentioned in the sections above (Azure Network Adapter, Storage Spaces Direct, Software-Defined Networking), the following platform features rely exclusively on Windows Admin Center for graphical management:

Storage Migration Service: Migrate servers and their data without reconfiguring applications or users. It’s fast, consistent, and scalable while taking care of the enormous complexity and subtle environmental problems inherent to server migrations, all with an intuitive graphical workflow.

Storage Replica: Set up and configure disaster protection easily via replication of volumes using Windows Admin Center.

System Insights: Manage native predictive analytics capabilities in Windows Admin Center. Use rich visualizations and a simple management interface to understand future resource consumption across storage, compute, and networking.

Extensibility and ecosystem

Windows Admin Center is an extensible platform, and partner extensions continue to contribute towards greater customer value:

Extension Manager: Users can now get notified of available extension updates, update in just one-click, and use extensions from multiple extension feeds simultaneously.

SDK: Now generally available after several months of validation by multiple partners building compelling extensions. Recent improvements include a CLI to help you get started quickly and easily, updated samples which leverage the latest features, new and improved documentation topics, and a new PowerPoint design toolkit to enable quick and consistent design mock-ups.

Partners: The Windows Admin Center ecosystem continues to grow with more partners developing and releasing extensions for monitoring and managing servers, clusters, hyper-converged infrastructure and storage devices. DataON is releasing an all-new extension for HCI management, Fujitsu’s preview extension is now generally available, Squared Up provides unique monitoring capabilities based on SCOM, and Pure Storage is releasing an extension for FlashArray management. The following new partners are currently developing extensions and will be demoing their progress in their respective expo hall stations at Ignite: Cisco, HPE, Lenovo, NEC, QCT, and Riverbed.

Ignite presence and sessions

If you are registered to attend Ignite next week, we invite you to come visit our Windows Admin Center station in the expo hall. Here’s a list of all the related breakout sessions which will cover various Windows Admin Center topics described above:

Main Windows Admin Center session

Windows Server management reimagined with Windows Admin Center

Windows Server sessions showcasing Windows Admin Center

Windows Server 2019: What’s new and what’s next

Windows Server 2019 deep dive

The Perfect Match: Windows Admin Center & Server Core

Windows Server 2019 platform feature sessions using Windows Admin Center

Windows Server 2019 System Insights: Simplified ML for the intelligent edge

Establishing hybrid connectivity with Windows Server 2019 and Microsoft Azure

Retire your old file servers with Storage Migration Service in Windows Server 2019

Hyper-converged Infrastructure sessions showcasing Windows Admin Center

From Hyper-V to hyper-converged infrastructure with Windows Admin Center

Be an IT hero with Storage Spaces Direct in Windows Server 2019

Modernize your datacenter with Software-Defined Networking (SDN) in Windows Server 2019

See you at Ignite!
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Source: Windows Admin Center 1809 and SDK now generally available! - Windows Server Blog

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