Following last year"s release of Windows Admin Center version 1910, Microsoft today released a new preview build of Windows Admin Center for Windows Insiders. The new preview comes with version number 1910.2, so it"s not a major update, but it still includes a handful of improvements.
The release includes some new menu shortcuts in the Services and Files tools, in addition to a few other additions:
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.
There are also a few updates on partner extensions for Windows Admin Center, such as the general availability of Azure Security Center. Here are the exntension updates for this release:
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
Of course, as with any preview release, there are also a few known issues to be aware of. Some of these have persisted for a while, such as Chrome users getting a 403 error after upgrading.
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
The latest preview version can be downloaded from the Windows Server Insider page. You can also download the latest Windows Server preview build from there, though there hasn"t been a new release since January"s build 19551.
