The Windows Admin Center runs in a web browser and manages Windows Server 2022,
Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server
2012, Windows 11, Windows 10, Azure Stack HCI, and more through the Windows
Admin Center gateway that is installed on Windows Server or a domain- joined Windows
10/11 machine, or by using your Azure portal. It is a free product and can be downloaded from the Microsoft Evaluation Center at www.microsoft.com/en- us/evalcenter/ evaluate- windows- admin- center.
It should be noted that the Windows Admin Center complements System Center and should not be used as a replacement. The gateway manages the servers by using Remote PowerShell and WMI over WinRM. The gateway is included with the Windows Admin Center download.
There are a few benefits to using the Windows Admin Center:
Simplifies Server Management It allows you to manage your servers and clusters with current versions of familiar tools such as Server Manager.
Works with Hybrid Solutions It integrates with Azure to help you connect your on- premises servers to cloud services.
Streamlines Hyperconverged Management Windows Admin Center can streamline the management of Azure Stack HCI or Windows Server hyperconverged clusters. It allows you to use simplified workloads to create and manage VMs, Storage Spaces Direct volumes, software-d efined networking, and more.
The Windows Admin Center will operate only on Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge browsers. While the Windows Admin Center runs in a browser, it does not require Internet access to operate.
The Windows Admin Center dashboard shows the performance of a cluster and resource utilization on a server. It can run Remote Desktop, Event Viewer, and File Explorer, as well as handle a variety of administrative tasks, such as:
■ Certificate management
■ Firewall administration
■ Local user and group setups
■ Network setting monitoring
■ Process management
■ Registry edits
■ Roles and features control
■ Storage handling
■ Virtual switch and Hyper- V VM administration
■ Windows services management
■ Windows Update management
As of this writing, the Windows Admin Center cannot manage certain roles, such as
Active Directory, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), Domain Name System (DNS), and Internet Information Services (IIS). The Windows Admin Center also comes with a PowerShell console that allows you to run scripts.
The Windows Admin Center uses role- based access control to restrict features from certain users. Windows Admin Center supports three roles:
Administrator This role allows the user to access most of the Windows Admin Center tools without the need for PowerShell or Remote Desktop access.
Hyper- V Administrators This role allows the user to only adjust Hyper-V VMs and switches.
Readers This role only allows users to see server settings and information, without making any changes.
Deploy a Windows Admin Center Gateway Server
The Windows Admin Center has a number of different installation options that are available. The installation types include:
Local Client On a local Windows 10 client that has connectivity to the managed servers. Operating system includes Windows 10/11.
Gateway Server On a designated gateway server; can access the Windows Admin Center from any client browser that has connectivity to the gateway server. Operating systems include Windows Server Semi- Annual Channel, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019, and Windows Server 2022.
Managed Server On a managed server to remotely manage the server or a cluster in which it’s a member node. Operating systems include Windows Server Semi-A nnual Channel, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019, and Windows Server 2022.
Failover Cluster Windows Admin Center is deployed in a failover cluster to enable high availability of the gateway service. Operating systems include Windows Server Semi- Annual Channel, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019, and Windows Server 2022.
Installing Windows Admin Center on a domain controller is not supported.
There are some Server versions that need additional preparation before they are ready to manage with Windows Admin Center. These include:
■ Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2
■ Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2016
■ Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2012 R2
Some of the prerequisites for preparing to run Windows Admin Center on these server versions include, but are not limited to:
■ Enabling Remote Management
■ Enabling File Server Role
■ Enabling Hyper-V Module for PowerShell
For more information, check out Microsoft’s website at
https://learn.microsoft.com/en- us/windows- server/manage/ windows- admin- center/deploy/prepare- environment
Windows Admin Center settings consist of user-l evel and gateway- level settings. Any changes to a user- level setting will affect only the current user’s profile and changes to a gateway- level setting will affect all users who use that Windows Admin Center gateway. User- level settings include several tabs:
Account Tab You can see the credentials that were used to authenticate to Windows Admin Center.
Personalization Tab You can change your user interface theme.
Language/Region Tab You can change the language and region formats that are displayed.
Suggestions Tab You can review suggestions about Azure services and features.
Advanced Tab Gives Windows Admin Center extension developers more capabilities. General Tab You can set the session to expire after a certain amount of time inactive.
Gateway settings include several tabs:
Extensions Tab Only gateway administrators can see and change the setting in this tab. Any changes made here change the gateway configuration and will affect all users who use that particular gateway. Administrators can install, uninstall, or update gateway extensions.
Access Tab You can configure who is allowed to access the Windows Admin Center gateway. You can also include an identity provider that is used to authenticate users.
Azure Tab You can register the gateway with Azure to enable Azure integration features.
Shared Connections Tab This tab allows you to configure a list of connections that will be shared across all the users of the Windows Admin Center gateway.
WebSocket Validation Tab You can validate their WebSocket connections and customize condition settings.
The Windows Admin Center gateway service has several roles who can access the Windows Admin Center gateway service:
Gateway Users Can connect to the Windows Admin Center gateway service to control the servers through that gateway, but they cannot change the authentication mechanism or the permissions used to access the gateway.
Gateway Administrators Can configure user access and how those users are authenticated by the gateway. Only gateway administrators are able to view and configure the Access settings in Windows Admin Center.
Windows Admin Center CredSSP This is an additional role specific to the management of the Credential Security Support Provider protocol (CredSSP). Administrators are registered with the Windows Admin Center CredSSP endpoint and have permissions to carry out predefined CredSSP operations. This is useful when installing Windows Admin Center in desktop mode, where by default, only the user account that installed Windows Admin Center is given these permissions.