Microsoft released Windows Admin Center very recently. Apparently, this was in preview form called “Project Honolulu” for a bit, but it seems that that slipped under my radar. It’s disappointing that it did, because this solves practically of my issues with running Hyper-V server.
While you can use “Server Manager” in the RSAT tools to do a lot of remote admin tasks for Hyper-V server (and Server Core), there are still gaps that aren’t covered. Or, there are parts that you still need to load up an MMC console, powershell, or some other tool.
Windows Admin Center, in it’s current form, covers a most of my needs for administration on Server and Server Core systems. I’ll still need to load Server Manager for some tasks, but not as frequently.
First, let’s start with install. This runs on your local machine. It runs a small webapp in your browser to manage your various servers and systems (Did I mention, it handles Windows 10 as well?). Nothing extra needs to be installed on your target systems, which is nice.
Once it is installed, it loads up your browser, and you are able to start either manually adding, or importing your systems.
Here are some highlights:
This is the main overview page. It’ll show you specs and current utilization of CPU/RAM/Network, as well as giving some minor commands like rebooting.
For Hyper-V Server and Server core systems, this next screen is a huge help. Finally, you have the ability to directly manage drivers and installed devices, without having to go through a third party tool. I know that PNPUTIL and others do give some control, but this is much easier to manage.
Want to quick check on firewall config, and tweak your rules? You can do that here:
Need to run a Powershell command, but don’t want to open up a separate powershell instance? That’s covered too! And, if you’re a more visual person, there’s an RDP client in there as well.
This next one is another perk for Hyper-V/Server Core users. Gotta run some Windows Updates? Pull up the Windows Update page, and select your needed patches.
Beyond those highlights, there’s some VM management stuff, and very basic storage management.
There are still some things that require RSAT tools (DHCP/AD/IIS/Storage Spaces), but this is definitely a much needed tool to have in one’s toolkit.
You can download it here.