Windows Admin Center is a remote management tool for Windows Server running anywhere–physical, virtual, on-premises, in Azure, or in a hosted environment. Microsoft has released a new version of the app suite with updates to platform's accessibility, and resolved issues.

Here are the key changes in Windows Admin Center Preview 1910.2.

Cut, copy, and paste in the Files tool

When you select a folder or file in the Files tool, users have the option to cut or copy the file or folder. After the file or folder is cut or copied, the paste option will become available, and a user can paste the file or folder into a different path.

Service restart

When managing machines using the Services tool, there is now an option to restart a service. There is no longer a need to start and stop a service in order to restart it.

Other major additions

• Cluster quick update – On the cluster dashboard, updates for connected nodes will appear under the “Alerts” section
• File upload – when a large file upload fails, you are now able to retry the file upload
• Virtual machine filters – When viewing a list of VMs with multiple filters applied, the VMs no longer disappear after some time
• Azure Update Management login – Users no longer receive a logon error when they try to setup Azure update management after setting up Azure monitoring
• Active Directory account creation – We’ve fixed an error in Active Directory Domain Services where accounts could be created with passwords that didn’t meet the complexity requirements

In addition to the new features and fixes above, we are continuing to improve usability issues, focusing on making improvements to keyboard navigation and narrator support. We’ve also addressed reported bugs around CredSSP authentication.

Partner extensions

The Windows Admin Center ecosystem continues to expand with the release of new partner extensions and improvements on existing extensions.

Azure Security Center is now generally available

The Azure Security Center extension is no longer in preview and is now generally available! This extension brings hybrid cloud security capabilities to the WAC-managed servers and allows them to be protected by ASC through a one-click setup. Users of this extension will also see security recommendations and alerts in an embedded view in Windows Admin Center.

This integration is part of a larger WAC movement of bringing hybrid Azure services capabilities to on-premises environments. This extends on premise environments into Azure, allowing them to benefit from cutting edge cloud technologies on their on-premises workload, and is an important step as part of a lift and shift motion.

HPE WAC extension is now generally available

The HPE WAC extension combines the functionality of the HPE Server extension and the HPE Azure Stack HCI extension into a single extension for easier management. This extension utilizes HPE’ iLO technology to give users direct visibility into server inventory and diagnostics to manage and monitor HPE server infrastructure. Using this extension, users can:

• See the health of their servers and remediation options (if necessary)
• View the properties of server components (processor, memory, etc.) and BIOS settings
• Surface and highlight cluster health and node inconsistencies

QCT Management Suite update

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 2.0.0, fixes and additions include:

• Bug and typo fixes throughout the tool
• Support for HCI mode on the Overview, Disk, Firmware, and Settings tab
• Additional tooltips
• Addition of dialog panels and drop-down lists in HCI mode
• BMC account settings for Redfish support
• An updated project site URL

Known issues

• Virtual Machines tool performance line charts are styled incorrectly. This will be fixed in the next Release Candidate build.
• Azure Monitor onboarding – If you’re managing a server or a cluster using “manage as” credentials, the onboarding may fail.
• Network – If you have configured an Azure Network Adapter, the value under Microsoft Azure Virtual Network Gateway Address will be formatted as a hyperlink but leads to an invalid address.
• Chrome users may see 403 Forbidden response from WAC after upgrading. The workaround is to close *all* open chrome tabs (make sure there are no chrome.exe processes running). After restarting chrome, everything will function normally. We have an error message that makes this clear, but chrome users with multiple windows admin center tabs open during upgrade will not see the message.
• Performance Monitor has trouble loading certain v2 perf counter instances.
• Performance Monitor can slow down less powerful machines (especially client computers).
• Schedule restart tool in “Updates” restarts immediately

How to download

Registered Insiders may download Windows Admin Center Preview 1910.2 directly from the Windows Server Insider Preview download page. If you have not yet registered as an Insider, see Getting Started with Windows Server on the Windows Insiders for Business portal.

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