Windows Admin Center

Windows Admin Center (code named Project Honolulu) was released by Microsoft on September 14, 2017 as an evolution of the Windows Server graphical user interface (GUI). Officially launched in public preview under the code name Project Honolulu, at the Microsoft Ignite 2017 conference in Orlando, Florida, Windows Admin Center offers "flexible, locally-deployed, browser-based management platform and tools." The idea behind the project was to simplify management of servers by placing a majority of the frequently referenced tools system administrators use in one place. On April 12, 2018 the project left preview and was named Windows Admin Center.

Windows Admin Center
Web based graphical interface to manage Windows Server infrastructure offered by Microsoft.
Developer(s)Microsoft
Initial releaseApril 12, 2018 (2018-04-12)
Stable release
2103 / March 2, 2021 (2021-03-02)[1]
Operating systemWindows Server 2016 or later, Windows 10 or later
Platformx64
TypeSystems management
LicenseFreeware
Websitedocs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/manage/windows-admin-center/overview

Features

A list of features that are offered from this web based administration tool are as follows, and expected to grow with the ability for plugins and 3rd party extensions:

There are a few features like Storage Replica which do not have any alternative GUI at the moment.

In addition, Windows Admin Center also offers Hyper Converged Cluster Management.

At present, Microsoft only supports Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome browsers. Internet Explorer and Firefox are not supported.

Server compatibility

This tool is designed to manage Windows Server 2012 and later. Windows Admin Center also supports managing Windows 10 with fewer tools. To be able to manage Windows Server 2012 or 2012 R2, the Windows Management Framework (WMF) version 5 or higher must be installed.

Client compatibility

Windows Admin Center can be installed on a Windows 10, Windows Server 2016 or later operating systems. Installing Windows Admin Center requires a ~64MB Microsoft Installer Package (MSI). Walking through the installation it will ask for a port to serve the website on, as well as the ability to generate a self-signed SSL cert or use an SSL cert from your Certificate Authority, for example. In terms of configuration options that is all that is required to install. Once installed, you can access Windows Admin Center over the web you will need to add servers in order to manage them.[2]

Simplified management

Windows Admin Center was brought into existence because "IT admins have repeatedly told us that PowerShell is necessary but not sufficient, and that Windows Server ease-of-use is still largely dependent on GUI Tools for core scenarios and new capabilities."[3] Windows Admin Center builds off of the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) that was first introduced in Windows 2000. It takes some of the most commonly accessed management utilities, such as the Event Viewer, Roles and Features, Hyper-V management, Windows Firewall, and the Registry editor and combines them into a centrally accessible, web based friendly, intuitive interface that makes accessing these items simplified and straightforward.[4]

Footnotes
  1. Not to be confused another Settings page that pertains Windows Admin Center itself. This Settings page configures the target computer.

References
  1. "Windows Admin Center version 2103 is now generally available!". 2 March 2021.
  2. "Microsoft Honolulu project". Archy.net. 2017-09-28. Retrieved 2017-10-08.
  3. "Microsoft Brings Back the GUI with 'Project Honolulu' for Windows Server Management -- Redmondmag.com". Redmondmag. Retrieved 2017-10-08.
  4. "Microsoft unveils Project Honolulu, a new GUI for server administration". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2017-10-08.
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