Hello, Windows Admin Center!; 2 minutes to read +4; In this article. Applies to: Windows Admin Center, Windows Admin Center Preview. Windows Admin Center is a locally deployed, browser-based app for managing servers, clusters, hyper-converged infrastructure, and Windows 10 PCs. The Windows Admin Center isn’t supposed to replace all the Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) that most system administrators will be familiar with but it does cover a lot of the basics. The /console switch was for connecting to the console session. This functionality is no longer considered useful, and has been removed. For backwards compatibility, the /admin switch behaves like the /console switch when connecting to a Windows 2003 or Windows 2003 R2 server.

Building a slide deck, pitch, or presentation? Here are the big takeaways:

• Microsoft has formally released Project Honolulu under a new name: the Windows Admin Center.
• The WAC is web based and designed to roll all the day-to-day tools for administering Windows servers and workstations into one console. It's also free to download and use.

Microsoft has announced the general release of the Windows Admin Center (WAC), a browser-based IT administration console designed to manage Windows servers and workstations.

Microsoft said that Project Honolulu, as it was known in testing, was downloaded more than 50,000 times, which it said confirms the ongoing excitement surrounding the WAC.

For Windows administrators tired of dealing with opening multiple consoles and management apps to administer networks, the WAC is probably the exact product they're looking for—and it's completely free.

What the Windows Admin Center can do

To be clear upfront, the WAC is not designed to completely replace the Microsoft Management Console or the Remote Server Administration Tools: Both have features that aren't included in the WAC. You'll still have to use those other tools to manage things like DHCP, Active Directory, DNS, and IIS.

Day-to-day management operations seem to be the bread and butter of the WAC, which incorporates a bunch of tools into one interface using either Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome (other browsers aren't compatible).

SEE: Windows 10 power tips: Secret shortcuts to your favorite settings (Tech Pro Research)

The WAC can manage Windows servers (Server 2012 and up) and workstations as well as Windows VMs located in hypervisors and the cloud. It has a long list of built-in tools for managing machines, including:

• Certificate management
• Device management
• Event log
• File browser
• Firewall management
• Local users and groups management
• Network settings and devices management
• PowerShell
• Process Manager
• Registry Editor
• Remote Desktop
• Roles and features management
• Services management
• Storage management
• Update management
• Hyper-V virtual switch management

There isn't a lot left out from the WAC when it comes to performing typical admin tasks and maintenance, which is great news for helpdesk employees and IT administrators, and potentially bad news for third-party MSP software platforms.

Advantages to using Windows Admin Center

The WAC has a lot going for it, but a couple features stand out: ease of remote access and an SDK.

When I was in IT, which was admittedly quite a few years ago, I remember having to attempt to connect to computers at one client site while at another and it was always hit or miss. The WAC, at least on paper, seems to make remote administration simple: All it needs is to have the WAC gateway installed on a computer that has been published to DNS and it can be accessed from anywhere.

The second standout feature is the (not yet released) Windows Admin Center SDK. Microsoft plans to release the WAC SDK for public testing soon and promises it will let developers build their own tools to extend WAC features. Microsoft is also going to support the public release of extensions, allowing developers to publish their tools for others.

If all of those features in one lightweight, web-based console sounds worth your while you can download the WAC now and test it out.

Microsoft Weekly Newsletter

Be your company's Microsoft insider with the help of these Windows and Office tutorials and our experts' analyses of Microsoft's enterprise products. Delivered Mondays and Wednesdays

Sign up today Sign up today

Also see

• 20 quick Windows tips for power users (free PDF) (TechRepublic)
• Microsoft delivers more fixes for Windows 10 'Redstone 4' plus new Server 2019 test builds (ZDNet)
• Windows Server 2016: The smart person's guide (TechRepublic)
• Top 25 passwords overused within enterprises: 'Password1,' 'welcome,' 'Welcome1' (ZDNet)
• How to use Server Manager to baseline your Windows hardware (TechRepublic)

-->

Applies to: Windows Admin Center, Windows Admin Center Preview

Windows Admin Center (formerly codenamed Project Honolulu) is an evolution of Windows Server in-box management tools; it's a single pane of glass that consolidates all aspects of local and remote server management. As a locally deployed, browser-based management experience, an Internet connection and Azure aren't required. Windows Admin Center gives you full control of all aspects of your deployment, including private networks that aren't Internet-connected.

Introduction

Quick start

You can get Windows Admin Center up and running in your environment in minutes:

Contents at a glance

Understand	Plan User access options
Deploy	Configure
Use	Connect to Azure
Support	Extend

Release history

Learn about our latest released features:

• Version 1909 introduces the Azure VM specific connection type and unifies the connection types for traditional failover clusters and HCI clusters.
• Version 1908 added visual updates, Packetmon, FlowLog Audit, Azure Monitor onboarding for clusters, and support for WinRM over HTTPS (port 5986.)
• Version 1907 added Azure cost estimate links and made improvements to import/export and tagging of virtual machines.
• Version 1906 added import/export VMs, switch Azure accounts, add connections from Azure, connectivity settings experiment, performance improvements, and performance profiling tool.
• Version 1904.1 is the most recent GA release - a maintenance update to improve stability of gateway plugins.
• Version 1904 was a GA release that introduced the Azure Hybrid Services tool, and brought features that were previously in preview to the GA channel.
• Version 1903 added email notifications from Azure Monitor, the ability to add Server or PC connections from Active Directory, and new tools to manage Active Directory, DHCP, and DNS.
• Version 1902 added a shared connection list & improvements to software defined network (SDN) management, including new SDN tools to manage ACLs, gateway connections, and logical networks.
• Version 1812 added dark theme (in preview), power configuration settings, BMC info, and PowerShell support to manage extensions and connections.
• Version 1809.5 was a GA cumulative update that included various quality and functional improvements, bug fixes throughout the platform, and a few new features in the hyper-converged infrastructure management solution.
• Version 1809 was a GA release that brought features that were previously in preview to the GA channel.
• Version 1808 added Installed Apps tool, lots of under the hood improvements, and major updates to the preview SDK.
• Version 1807 added a streamlined Azure connect experience, improvements to VM inventory page, file sharing functionality, Azure update management integration, and more.
• Version 1806 added show PowerShell script, SDN management, 2008 R2 connections, SDN, scheduled tasks, and many other improvements.
• Version 1804.25 - a maintenance update to support users installing Windows Admin Center in completely offline environments.
• Version 1804 - Project Honolulu becomes Windows Admin Center and adds security features and role-based access control. Our first GA release.
• Version 1803 added support for Azure AD access control, detailed logging, resizable content, and a bunch of tool improvements.
• Version 1802 added support for accessibility, localization, high-availability deployments, tagging, Hyper-V host settings, and gateway authentication.
• Version 1712 added more virtual machine features and performance improvements throughout the tools.
• Version 1711 added highly anticipated tools (Remote Desktop and PowerShell) along with other improvements.
• Version 1709 launched as our first public preview release.

Windows Admin Center Gateway

Stay updated