#WindowsAdminCenter – Installing Windows Server version 20H2 Core Build 10.0.19042 #Winserv #HybridIT #Azure

Windows Admin Center Hyper-V Host

Simplify server management

Manage all your server environments with familiar yet modernized tools, such as the reimagined Server Manager and streamlined MMC tools, from a single, browser-based, graphical user interface. Admins can manage Windows Server instances anywhere: on-premises, in Azure, or in any cloud.

Operate hybrid seamlessly

Extend on-premises deployments of Windows Server to the cloud by using the Azure hybrid services found in Windows Admin Center. Use Azure for:

• Backup and disaster recovery
• Additional capacity for compute, file servers and storage
• Centralized management for monitoring, threat protection and update management

You can download Windows Admin Center here

In the following steps we will install Windows Server Core 20H2 version Build 10.0.19042 via Windows Admin Center on my Hyper-V Host called Starship01.mvplab.cloud.
I have Windows Admin Center already running for my MVPLAB with a Windows Server 2019 Hypervisor host. From here I will install a New Windows Server Core 20H2 Machine.

Click in the Left toolbar on Virtual Machines 
and then on Add New

Deployment settings for the New Virtual Machine.

Here we set the following settings :

• Virtual Machine Name
• Generation VM ( gen 2 is recommended )
• The path of the VM settings and Disk
• Virtual Processors
• a mark for nested virtualization ( for the Hyper-V feature )
• Memory
• Network / Virtual Switch
• Storage

 

When you Add Storage you can select also the new ISO file for Installation.

I changed the Size of the Operating Disk from 127GB to 50GB
And I selected the path to the Windows Server Core 20H2 ISO.
Then Click on Create.

Windows Admin Center will create the Virtual Machine really fast.

Now the Window Virtual Machine Dark20H2 is created by Windows Admin Center on the Hyper-V Host, we can do the Windows Server Core 20H2 Installation by starting the Virtual Machine.

Before you Start running the VM, have a look at the settings

If you want you can set more Security features here.
You can set Encryption and Security Policy.

Start the Virtual Machine here for Installation of Windows Server Core 20H2
( The ISO is connected )

Installation of Windows Server Core 20H2 version Build 10.0.19042

The virtual Machine is running and now we can connect it via Windows Admin Center to do the installation of Windows Server.

Click on Connect

Use your Windows Admin Center account and mark
for the certificate. Then Click on Connect

Here we see the Console for the Windows Server Installation.

Install Now.

The Windows Server Core 20H2 is Installed.

Of course you can now configure the Machine via SConfig.exe, I only gave the Server name and a static IP address with DNS.

Via Windows Admin Center ( Manage) you can add the Machine to the domain.

Add the Server to the domain with your account and Click on Join

Server will Restart, Click on Yes

Dark20H2 Joined the Domain MVPLAB.CLOUD Successfully

 Adding the Windows Server Core 20H2 to Windows Admin Center

Add Dark20H2.mvplab.cloud to Windows Admin Center.

Of course I want to manage the server with Windows Admin Center and use all the tools I need to securely manage this Server.

Windows Server Core 20H2 in Windows Admin Center.

First thing what I do in my MVPLAB is Windows Updates.

December Updates for Windows Server Core 20H2

Updates Installed Successfully 🙂

Azure Hybrid Services

Azure Hybrid Services

You can extend on-premises deployments of Windows Server to the cloud by using Azure hybrid services. These cloud services provide an array of useful functions, both for extending on-premises into Azure, and for centrally managing from Azure. Think of :

• Azure Backup Services
• Azure Monitoring Services
• Disaster Recovery
• Azure File Sync Services
• Azure Security Center / Azure Defender Services

Here you find more information about Azure Hybrid Services

Conclusion

Windows Admin Center is a must have when you have to manage Windows Server Core versions, you don’t have to worry about all the Commands of Windows Server Core. With Windows Admin Center it becomes easy to do the complete installation of the server and this include also all features of Windows Server Core 202H2 Build 10.0.19042. It becomes really powerful when you use it in a Hybrid way by connecting to Microsoft Azure Cloud Services. Earlier I wrote a blogpost about Windows Admin Center and Azure Security Center

I Hope this is useful for you, and start your journey with Windows Admin Center & Windows Server Core versions 😉

JOIN the Windows Admin Center Community Group on LinkedIn

Deploying Azure Stack HCI Cluster with Windows Admin Center #WAC #AzureStackHCI #WindowsAdminCenter #Hyperv #AKS

Azure Stack HCI is a Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCI) cluster solution that hosts virtualized Windows and Linux workloads and their storage in a hybrid on-premises environment. Azure hybrid services enhance the cluster with capabilities such as cloud-based monitoring, Site Recovery, and VM backups, as well as a central view of all of your Azure Stack HCI deployments in the Azure portal. You can manage the cluster with your existing tools including Windows Admin Center, System Center, and PowerShell.

Azure Stack HCI, version 20H2 is a new operating system now in Public Preview and available for download. It’s intended for on-premises clusters running virtualized workloads, with hybrid-cloud connections built-in. As such, Azure Stack HCI is delivered as an Azure service and billed on an Azure subscription. Azure Stack HCI also now includes the ability to host the Azure Kubernetes Service; for details, see Azure Kubernetes Service on Azure Stack HCI.

Get Started with Azure Stack HCI and Windows Admin Center

Windows Admin Center is a locally deployed, browser-based app for managing Azure Stack HCI. The simplest way to install Windows Admin Center is on a local management PC (desktop mode), although you can also install it on a server (service mode).

If you install Windows Admin Center on a server, tasks that require CredSSP, such as cluster creation and installing updates and extensions, require using an account that’s a member of the Gateway Administrators group on the Windows Admin Center server. For more information, see the first two sections of Configure User Access Control and Permissions.

Before you begin, you have to know that Azure Stack HCI is still in Preview and not for Production usage ready. But I’m installing it in my MVPLAB for testing purpose only and learn all the New Features.

What’s New in Azure Stack HCI

Clusters running Azure Stack HCI, version 20H2 have the following new features as compared to Windows Server 2019-based solutions:

• New capabilities in Windows Admin Center: With the ability to create and update hyper-converged clusters via an intuitive UI, Azure Stack HCI is easier than ever to use.
• Stretched clusters for automatic failover: Multi-site clustering with Storage Replica replication and automatic VM failover provides native disaster recovery and business continuity to clusters that use Storage Spaces Direct.
• Affinity and anti-affinity rules: These can be used similarly to how Azure uses Availability Zones to keep VMs and storage together or apart in clusters with multiple fault domains, such as stretched clusters.
• Azure portal integration: The Azure portal experience for Azure Stack HCI is designed to view all of your Azure Stack HCI clusters across the globe, with new features in development.
• GPU acceleration for high-performance workloads: AI/ML applications can benefit from boosting performance with GPUs.
• BitLocker encryption: You can now use BitLocker to encrypt the contents of data volumes on Azure Stack HCI, helping government and other customers stay compliant with standards such as FIPS 140-2 and HIPAA.
• Improved Storage Spaces Direct volume repair speed: Repair volumes quickly and seamlessly.

In the Following Step-by-Step guide we install Azure Stack HCI Cluster with Windows Admin Center.

 

Click on Add and then Create New Server Cluster.

Choose for Azure Stack HCI.

Here you can also choose for both Azure Stack HCI nodes are in the same Site or you have more Azure Stack HCI Nodes in Two Sites for disaster Recovery and Business Continuity.
In my MVPLAB I have all Azure Stack HCI nodes in One Site. More information about Microsoft Azure Stack HCI Stretching Clusters can be found here.

Prerequisites before you begin with Windows Admin Center wizard for Creating Azure Stack HCI Cluster.

This is what I like about Windows Admin Center, supporting you in all steps and choices for making an Azure Stack HCI Cluster with Storage Spaces Direct.

 

Specify your administrator Account and password and add the Azure Stack HCI Node Servers

Add the Nodes to the Domain.

Install Required Features on the Azure Stack HCI Node Servers

Install Updates on the Azure Stack HCI Node Servers

Here you get options from your hardware vendor
I don’t get this because it’s virtual.

Restart the Azure Stack HCI Node Servers and Click Next Networking

Networking adapters are UP and Running.

When you have Enough Nics in your Azure Stack HCI Node Server, you can choose here for a Teamed Management NIC.
I choose for a single management NIC.
Plan your Azure Stack HCI Node network

Configure your Production and Storage network

Here you can configure different Switches for your workloads.
Windows Admin Center will work with Software Defined Networking (SDN)
I Skipped this in my MVPLAB.

Before creating the Azure Stack HCI Cluster, we have to Validate the Cluster first.

When the Cluster Validation is done, you can download the Cluster Validation report.

Here we give the Cluster a Name and a static IP.
Click Create Cluster.

Microsoft Azure Stack HCI Cluster is created 😉
Click Next for Storage.

Click Next

I Got some small disks Click Next.

Storage is validated and suitable for Storage Spaces Direct.

Storage Spaces Direct is enabled on your Azure Stack HCI Cluster.
Click Next for SDN

Here you can configure the Network Controller for the Azure Stack HCI Cluster

Done your Azure Stack HCI Cluster is made 🙂

Here we have the Dashboard in Windows Admin Center of my Azure Stack HCI Cluster

Management of your Azure Stack HCI Cluster

Managing your Azure Stack HCI Cluster with Windows Admin Center is important, because I have connected WAC with my Azure Subscription I can use Azure Monitor.
From here the Cluster is also connected with my Analytics workspace of Azure Monitor.

Azure Stack HCI Cluster Nodes connected with Azure Monitor.

With Windows Admin Center you can manage the Azure Stack HCI updates with Cluster Aware Updating (CAU) without any downtime for your workloads.

Start Cluster Aware Updating

Click on Install

One Azure Stack HCI Node is waiting and the other is Installing.

Now the other Azure Stack HCI Node is Installing the Update.

Updates Succeeded on both Azure Stack HCI Nodes.

Microsoft Azure Stack HCI Cluster is Running

Create your Virtual Machine on Azure Stack HCI Cluster.

Conclusion

Windows Admin Center supports you all the way for making your Microsoft Azure Stack HCI Cluster in easy steps deployment wizard. Of course you can make also your own PowerShell deployment scripts when you have to make more Azure Stack HCI Clusters for different platforms like Deploying virtual machines or AKS Kubernetes Clusters for Container Applications or a SQL environment.
Here you find more information about PowerShell commands

After deploying Azure Stack HCI Clusters with your own PowerShell Script, you can add the Cluster into Windows Admin Center for IT Management.
The Installation time of the Cluster is really fast. I hope this will give you more inside information about the Preview of Microsoft Azure Stack HCI Cluster and Windows Admin Center better Together!
Next Step is AKS Kubernetes on Azure Stack HCI 😉

Kubernetes Containers on your Azure Stack HCI

Windows Admin Center and The Container Extension #WAC #Containers #Winserv

Windows Admin Center

Windows Admin Center is a locally deployed, browser-based app for managing Windows servers, clusters, hyper-converged infrastructure, as well as Windows 10 PCs. It comes at no additional cost beyond Windows and is ready to use in production. If you want to work more secure with Windows Server Core images without the GUI or with Microsoft Azure Stack HCI operating system then Windows Admin Center is the tool for the Administrator to manage your workloads on-premises or in the Cloud. You have one web based interface for all your Server consoles (MMC) to manage your Hybrid Datacenter.
Here you can read more about Microsoft Windows Admin Center and download the free software.

Get the best with Windows Admin Center Extensions

Windows Admin Center and the Container Extension

When you have installed Microsoft Windows Admin Center you can configure the settings and extensions for your environment. When you want the benefits of the Microsoft azure Cloud Services you can configure your Azure subscription and add the extensions to your Windows Admin Center. There are also Third Party extensions like Dell, DataOn, Fujitsu and more.
Here you find more information about how extensions work.

Container Extension

In the following step-by-step guide we will work with the Container Extension of Windows Admin Center on a Windows Server 2019. You have already added the server in WAC and installed the Container extension. In my MVPLAB.CLOUD is that Windows Server 2019 datacenter Starship01.mvplab.cloud. When you open the server you will come in the Overview of the Windows Server:

Click on Containers.

Click on Install for the Docker installation on Starship01.mvplab.cloud.

This will install Docker on the Windows Server 2019 and reboot when it’s ready to use for Containers. From this moment you can work with Windows Containers on the host via Windows Admin Center.

Remote Desktop in Windows Admin Center, the docker host is installed with the Windows Filter by default.

When you want to use Docker Linux Containers with Windows Server 2019 host, you have to configure the Linux kit LCOW with a distro on the host. More info here

Containers on Starship01.mvplab.cloud

To start with containers you can create your own, or pull an image from Docker Hub with Windows Admin Center. In my case I pull Windows Server 2019 ltsc with IIS image.

mcr.microsoft.com/windows/servercore/iis  (Image)

windowsservercore-ltsc2019 (Tag)

Click then on Pull.

Select your image and click on Run.
Give your Container a name and set your settings.

Click on Run.

Click on Containers tab and you will see your running Container

More details you see the IP-Address of the Container.

IIS is running on Windows Server 2019 ltsc in a Docker Windows Container.
That was easy right 😉

Making your Own Docker file with Windows Admin Center Container Extension

When you have your own Github repository with your software, you can make your own docker file and make a docker image on your host for deployment. To show this I have used this sample on Microsoft docs, but you can clone also a github repository and copy the dockerfile on the host.

I copied the dockerfile on the host C:\BuildImage.

—————

# Sample Dockerfile

# Indicates that the windowsservercore image will be used as the base image.
FROM mcr.microsoft.com/windows/servercore:ltsc2019

# Metadata indicating an image maintainer.
LABEL maintainer=”jshelton@contoso.com”

# Uses dism.exe to install the IIS role.
RUN dism.exe /online /enable-feature /all /featurename:iis-webserver /NoRestart

# Creates an HTML file and adds content to this file.
RUN echo “Hello World – Dockerfile” > c:\inetpub\wwwroot\index.html

# Sets a command or process that will run each time a container is run from the new image.
CMD [ “cmd” ]

---

Here is the Microsoft docs website

Image Creation in progress

New Image Created with Windows Admin Center

Running your Own Container image

Container “Hello World – Dockerfile” running

Conclusion :

In Windows Admin Center comes ITpro world and DevOps world Together in One web based console like with the Container extension. Microsoft is developing really fast in Windows Admin Center to get all the right Feature for ITPro, DevOps and SecOps Administrators in one place. Awesome are the Windows Admin Center Extensions, developers makes these better and better to do the job for Administrators 🚀
Windows Server 2019 Core and Azure Stack HCI are Operating systems without a GUI, and with Windows Admin Center they are really good to manage, update and keeping in control of security.
I like Windows Admin Center a lot and it Rocks for managing your hybrid Datacenter 😉

Send your comments and feedback via Microsoft GitHub repo by opening a new issue for the Container Extension. Follow @vrapolinario on Twitter

 

You can Follow Windows Admin Center here on Twitter : @servermgmt

#Microsoft Windows Admin Center and Azure Backup Management #WAC #Azure

Microsoft Windows Admin Center

Microsoft Windows Admin Center is a web based App working in your modern browser like Edge or Chrome to manage your datacenter infrastructure. You can download it here
You can manage Windows Servers, Windows10 Desktops, Clusters, Hyperconverged Clusters, Storage Spaces Direct and more in a Hybrid environment and that’s what I like.
My Servers can be on-premises or in the Cloud like Azure and will manage them with Windows Admin Center.

Download the Windows Admin Center Overview Poster

Here you find all the Microsoft documentation about Windows Admin Center

Windows Admin Center and Azure backup integration

 

When you have Windows Admin Center running you can register with Microsoft Azure first in the settings of Windows Admin Center.

Register to your Azure Subscription, just follow the instructions.

Install Azure Backup Extension at Available extensions.

From here the basic settings are done and we will have a look at my MVP LAB to backup a virtual Server.

Windows Admin Center in Domain MVPLAB.CLOUD

I have selected stormtrooper01.mvplab.cloud Windows Server 2019 and on the left Azure Backup.

You can read here more about Microsoft Azure Backup

Click on setup Azure Backup.

Here you select the Azure Subscription and the Backup Vault
and this will be a system state backup.

Next Step is Backup Schedule and Encryption key.

IMPORTANT: Keep this Encryption key somewhere save !
You need this key for recovery and Microsoft does not have access to that key.

Azure Backup Schedule settings.

When you apply here it will setup the Azure backup agent and your policies.

Backup is scheduled.

Here I did the Backup by hand.

Here you see the backup in the Azure Backup Vault.
Backup done via Windows Admin Center 😉

Here you see a video from Microsoft Mechanics at Ignite with Jeff Woolsey

Follow Windows Admin Center here on Twitter

Don’t forget to give feedback or great ideas !

Windows Admin Center Rocks for Managing Hybrid DataCenters #WAC #Azure #Winserv

Microsoft Windows Admin Center for Hybrid IT Management

I really like to work with Microsoft Windows Admin Center for managing my Hybrid workloads Windows Servers in Azure Cloud Services but also our On-premises Servers on Hyper-V and VMware platform. Even our physical Windows Servers can be managed from Windows Admin Center.

You can extend on-premises deployments of Windows Server to the cloud by using Azure hybrid services. These cloud services provide an array of useful functions, including the following:

• Protect virtual machines and use cloud-based backup and disaster recovery (HA/DR) with Azure Site Recovery.
• Track what’s happening across your applications, network and infrastructure with the help of advanced analytics and machine learning in Azure Monitor.
• Simplify network connectivity to Azure with Azure Network Adapter.
• Keep virtual machines up to date with Azure Update Management.

Azure hybrid services work with Windows Servers in the following configurations:

• Stand-alone physical servers and virtual machines (VMs)
• Clusters, including hyper-converged clusters certified by the Azure Stack HCI, and Windows Server Software-Defined (WSSD) programs

I’m working with Windows Admin Center since day one, and you see the hybrid management tool evolving with great new features to make your life as an Administrator more easier. For example you get notifications when there are updates in extensions.

Notification details about update Extensions

When you click on the link “Go to Extensions” you will see the Extensions installed and the Updates which you can install from there.

Here you see an Azure Security Center Extension update.

There are not only Microsoft extensions, but also third party solution extensions and you could build your own extension for your solution. Here you find all the information about Windows Admin Center Extensions

Third Party Windows Admin Center Extensions

Installing a New extension is easy to do, the Azure Cloud Shell (Preview) was the last extension I installed in my Azure MVP Lab to work with. Azure Cloud Shell is an interactive, authenticated, browser-accessible shell for managing Azure resources. It provides the flexibility of choosing the shell experience that best suits the way you work, either Bash or PowerShell. Cloud Shell enables access to a browser-based command-line experience built with Azure management tasks in mind. So how does this look in Windows Admin Center?

Install the Azure Cloud Shell (Preview) Extension

You find the Installed Azure Cloud Shell in the pulldown menu of WAC

Copy your code here https://microsoft.com/devicelogin

You will see this screen when you copy-paste the code

When you go back to Windows Admin Center you will see you are connected with Azure Cloud Shell CLI 😉

Azure Cloud Shell in Windows Admin Center

from here you can manage all your Azure Cloud Services via the Azure Cloud Shell CLI with Bash or Powershell.
Here you find more about Microsoft Azure Cloud Shell tools and Features.

you can add an Azure Network Adapter to your on-premises servers to help you securely connect the server to an Azure Virtual Network.

Read more about adding Microsoft Azure Network Adapter (Preview) in the top 10 Features of Windows Server 2019. Nice link speed of 40 Gbps 😉

For Management of your Windows Servers you need some tools and consoles. Windows Admin Center is supporting you to get the Management consoles in one place to do your administration and updates.
The next tree Features are in Windows Admin Center to manage your Windows Server.

Powershell inside WAC of my Domain Controller

Windows PowerShell is a task-based command-line shell and scripting language designed especially for system administration. Built on the .NET Framework, Windows PowerShell helps IT professionals and power users control and automate the administration of the Windows operating system and applications that run on Windows.
Here you find more information about Windows Commands

Windows Update in Windows Admin Center.

Of course you need to update your Windows Servers, and what I like in WAC is that you get the information if an update needs a reboot before you click on Install Updates. This option is good for my Azure MVP Lab but when you need to update more then 100 Servers, you would do that centrally managed like with Update Management solution in Azure

Windows Remote Desktop in WAC

Remote Desktop is one of the Features of Windows Admin Center, to take over the desktop for installations of Applications for example.

Windows Admin Center got a lot more Features and Tools to Manage your Windows Servers in a Hybrid world.
Like these :

• Storage
• Security
• System Insights
• Scheduled Tasks
• Installing Roles and Features of Windows Server
• Registry
• Processes running on your Windows Server
• Managing and deploying Clusters
• and much More………

You can install the following Resources to Manage with WAC

Windows Admin Center Overview

Conclusion:

Microsoft Windows Admin Center is the New Management tool for your Hybrid IT Management to Controle your Servers for your Business. It got all the Management consoles covered of Windows Servers to manage from one tool.
It’s easy to use and It keeps you Up-to-date of what is happening on your Windows Server but also what is New and updated. With Microsoft Windows Admin Center your are learning on the job and that’s what I Like 😉
Hope you will use Microsoft Windows Admin Center too for your Business, download it here for Free!

#Microsoft System Center 2019 GA – Whats New #Sysctr #SCVMM #SCOM #SCDPM #Azure

Download Microsoft System Center 2019 Now

Hybrid Integration

As enterprise environments now span on-premises to the cloud, customers look to leverage the innovation in Azure services using their on-premises tools. To enable this, Microsoft has integrated System Center with a set of management services in Azure to augment the on-premises tools.

• With Service Map integration with System Center Operations Manager (SCOM), you can automatically create distributed application diagrams in Operations Manager (OM) that are based on the dynamic dependency maps in Service Map.
• With Azure Management Pack, you can now view perf and alert metrics in SCOM, integrate with web application monitoring in Application Insights, and monitor more PaaS services, such as Azure Blob Storage, Azure Data Factory, etc.
• Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) 2019 enables simplified patching of VMs by integrating with Azure Update Management.

What is New in Microsoft System Center 2019

Read here what is new on Microsoft System Center 2019 for your IT Management :

New features in VMM 2019
See the following sections for detailed information about the new features/feature updates supported in VMM 2019.
System Center 2019 – Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) supports rolling upgrade of a Hyper-V host cluster from Windows Server 2016 to Windows Server 2019. Versions earlier to VMM 2019 supports rolling upgrade to 2016 from 2012 R2 This article provides the upgrade information for System Center 2019 – Virtual Machine Manager (VMM).

New features in DPM 2019
See the following sections for detailed information about the new features/feature updates supported in DPM 2019.

Modern Backup Storage (MBS) was introduced in System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM) 2016 to deliver 50% storage savings, 3X faster backups, and more efficient, workload-aware storage. DPM 2019 introduces further performance improvements with MBS resulting in 50-70% faster backup with Windows Server 2019. This article provides the upgrade information for System Center 2019 – Data Protection Manager (DPM). 

New features in Operations Manager 2019
See the following sections for detailed information about the new and updated features in System Center 2019 – Operations Manager. Features and updates introduced in Operations Manager version 1801 and 1807 are included in version 2019. Plan your Upgrade to SCOM 2019

Service Map integration
Service Map automatically discovers application components on Windows and Linux systems and maps the communication between services. It automatically builds a common reference map of dependencies across your servers, processes, and third-party services. Integration between Service Map and System Center Operations Manager allows you to automatically create distributed application diagrams in Operations Manager that are based on the dynamic dependency maps in Service Map.

System Center Configuration Manager Documentation

New in System Center Orchestrator

New in System Center Service Manager

New in System Center Service Management Automation

New in System Center Service Provider Foundation

#Microsoft Azure Hub-Spoke model by Enterprise Design 2 of 4 Lift and Shift #Azure #Hyperv #VMware

Microsoft Azure Hybrid Cloud Architecture HUB-Spoke Model

Microsoft Azure Hub-Spoke model

This blogpost about Microsoft Azure Hub-Spoke model by Enterprise Design 2 of 4 “Lift and Shift” is part of a Datacenter transition to Microsoft Azure Intelligent Cloud. It’s talking about Azure Architecture, Security, Assessment, Azure Policy, and implementation of the design. Here you find the first blogposts :

• Microsoft Azure Hub-Spoke model by Enterprise Design 1 of 4
• Microsoft Azure Policy and BluePrints Overview (Extra Blogpost)

It’s important for your business to have your Azure Architectural design with Security in place before you start your “Lift and Shift” actions, think about Identity Management and Provisioning, RBAC for your Administrators and Super Users with Two-Factor Authentication. Security with Network Security Groups and Firewalls 

Azure Multi-Factor-Authentication (MFA)

Microsoft Azure Hub-Spoke model : “Lift and Shift”

 

Microsoft Azure HUB subscription for “Lift and Shift”

To “Lift and Shift” to the Azure HUB Subscription we have the following in place by Design :

1. Azure Scaffold and Hierarchy (Governance)
2. Virtual Networks (VNET) with the Subnets and IP-Number plan
3. ExpressRoute VPN Connection with a backup failover Site-2-Site VPN connection to Azure.
4. Resource Groups, like Active Directory, ADFS Farm, Authentication, SQL Backend.
5. Resource Policies
6. Resource Locks
7. Network Security Groups (NSG)
8. DNS
9. Azure Firewall
10. Azure internal Load Balancers.
11. Azure Storage Accounts
12. Azure Virtual Machine sizes
13. Azure Virtual Machine Image
14. Managed Disks and Encryption.
15. Redundancy for Virtual Machines
16. Azure Key Vault for Encryption.
17. Azure Recovery Vault ( Backup)
18. Azure Policy
19. Managed Identities, Azure MFA, RBAC,ADFS
20. Azure Monitor
21. Azure Naming Convention
22. Azure Tagging
23. Azure Cost Management
24. ARM (JSON) Deployment template (for New requests)

To help you more with your Azure Virtual Datacenter have a look here

 

Azure Hierarchy

Azure Scaffold

When creating a building, scaffolding is used to create the basis of a structure. The scaffold guides the general outline and provides anchor points for more permanent systems to be mounted. An enterprise scaffold is the same: a set of flexible controls and Azure capabilities that provide structure to the environment, and anchors for services built on the public cloud. It provides the builders (IT and business groups) a foundation to create and attach new services keeping speed of delivery in mind. Read more hereI did the “Lift and Shift” between quotes because it’s important to follow the process workflow to be successful in your Datacenter transition to the Microsoft Azure Cloud.

 

Here you find all the Microsoft Azure Migration information

 

 

App Migration to Azure: Your options explained by Jeremy Winter

The Azure Migrate service assesses on-premises workloads for migration to Azure. The service assesses the migration suitability of on-premises machines, performs performance-based sizing, and provides cost estimations for running on-premises machines in Azure. If you’re contemplating lift-and-shift migrations, or are in the early assessment stages of migration, this service is for you. After the assessment, you can use services such as Azure Site Recovery and Azure Database Migration Service, to migrate the machines to Azure.

In your datacenter you got all kind of different workloads and solutions like :

• Hyper-V Clusters
• VMware Clusters
• SQL Clusters
• Print Clusters
• File Clusters
• Web Farm
• Two or three tiers solutions
• Physical Servers
• Different Storage solutions

When you do your Datacenter Assessment it’s important to get your workloads visible, because “Lift and Shift” with Azure Site Recovery (ASR) of a Virtual Machine is an different scenario then SQL database migration to Azure. That’s why Microsoft has different tooling like :

• Azure Site Recovery Deployment Planner for Hyper-V and VMware
• Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit

• Data Migration Assistant (DMA)

To get your dependencies in your Datacenter on the map, Microsoft has Azure Service Maps.

Service Map automatically discovers application components on Windows and Linux systems and maps the communication between services. With Service Map, you can view your servers in the way that you think of them: as interconnected systems that deliver critical services. Service Map shows connections between servers, processes, inbound and outbound connection latency, and ports across any TCP-connected architecture, with no configuration required other than the installation of an agent.

This is very handy to get insides of your Datacenter communication workloads.

More information on using Azure Service Maps here

Installation example of Hyper-V Virtual Machines with ASR

In the following step-by-step guide we will install the Azure Site Recovery Agent on a Hyper-V host and migrate a virtual machine to Microsoft azure in a “Lift and Shift” way.

First create a Recovery Services Vault => Click Add.

Then you go to your new created Recovery Vault and click on Getting started for Site Recovery. => Prepare infrastructure and follow the steps.

When you have selected Hyper-V VM to Azure, the next step is the ASR Deployment Planner tool kit. Here you find more information on Azure Site Recovery Deployment Planner user guide for Hyper-V-to-Azure production deployments.

Then in step 3 you will make your Hyper-V Site in Microsoft azure with the Right Hyper-V Servers.

Give your Hyper-V Site the right name, especially when you have a lot of Hyper-V Clusters with Different workloads.

Here is where the registration begins with the Azure Site Recovery (ASR) Agent installation on your Hyper-V Host.
Follow the five steps and make sure your Hyper-V Node can access Azure via secure port 443(https) via Proxy or firewall rules.

Install as Administrator the AzureSiteRecoveryProvider.exe file on the Hyper-V host.

Click on Next

Choose your Installation location and Click on Install.

The Azure Site Recovery agent is installed and need to be registered with your Azure Recovery Vault.
For this you need the key file from the Azure portal to download at step 4. Click on Register.

Browse to your downloaded key file from the Azure Portal Recovery Vault and click on Next.

When you have a proxy you can select that, otherwise select Next.

Now your Azure ASR Agent on Hyper-V is registered with your Azure Site Recovery Vault.

In the Azure Portal you will see your Hyper-V Node, in my Demo LAB it’s WAC01.MVPLAB.LOCAL.

In the next step you can choose an existing Storage account, or a new one with different specifications.

Check also after storage your network in azure.

In this step we create the replication policy.

Set your own settings.

The Replication policy is added to the configuration.

When you click on OK the Infrastructure is done.

We are now going to enable the replication :

Select your Source and location.

here you select your target Storage account, Resource Group and Network.

The connections are made between Hyper-V, ASR Vault and Storage.

Select the Virtual Machine(s) from the Hyper-V host to replicate for migration with ASR

Configure the properties.

Click on OK

From here the Replication will begin from Hyper-V Host to Azure  🙂

Azure Sire Recovery Replication Job status.

Replicated item(s)

To make your recovery plan and do the failover for migration to azure, you have to wait until the first replication is done for 100%.

Azure Site Recovery Plan for failover (Migration)

Make recovery Plan.

Click OK

The Target in the recovery plan can only be selected when the first replication is done.

Overview of the Azure Site Recovery Migration failover.

From the Hyper-V Host you can pause or see the replication health status.

Hyper-V Health Status

To monitor Azure Site Recovery and Troubleshooting 

Azure Migrate Virtual Machines using Azure Site Recovery video with Microsoft Jeff Woolsey

Microsoft Azure Data Migration Assistant

To migrate your SQL Backend to Microsoft Azure, use this step-by-step instructions help you perform your first assessment for migrating to on-premises SQL Server, SQL Server running on an Azure VM, or Azure SQL Database, by using Data Migration Assistant.

Conclusion :

“Lift and Shift” Migration of your complete datacenter exists of different scenarios for your workloads to Microsoft Azure. With that said, Microsoft has for each scenario tooling available to get the job done. It’s all about a good Architectural Design, Security in place, People and process to get your Intelligent Azure Cloud up and running for your Business.

Next Blogpost Microsoft Azure Hub-Spoke model by Enterprise Design 3 of 4 :
SQL assessment and Data Migration to Azure

Deep dive on Windows Server 2019 Updates by @WSV_GUY #Winserv #WAC #Hyperv

Deep Dive into Windows Server 2019 Updates with Jeff Woolsey Principal PM of the Windows Server Team.

What’s New in Windows Server 2019 Insider Preview Builds :

See here what’s New in Windows Server 2019 Insider Preview Builds

Windows Insider Program for Server allows you deploy the Windows Server 2019 Insider Preview builds in your enterprise. The docs cover the new enterprise features we’d like you to test and describes how to do the most common tasks.

Windows Insider Server program:
https://aka.ms/WindowsServerInsider
Download Windows Server 2019 preview:
https://aka.ms/WindowsServer2019Preview
Windows Admin Center:
https://aka.ms/DownloadWAC

Download Windows Server 2019 Insider Preview and Windows Admin Center Now !

Connecting Windows Admin Center to #Microsoft Azure Subscription #WAC #Azure

To allow the Windows Admin Center gateway to communicate with Azure to leverage Azure Active Directory authentication for gateway access, or to create Azure resources on your behalf (for example, to protect VMs managed in Windows Admin Center using Azure Site Recovery), you will need to first register your Windows Admin Center gateway with Azure. You only need to do this once for your Windows Admin Center gateway – the setting is preserved when you update your gateway to a newer version.

In the following Step-by-Step Guide you will connect Windows Admin Center to your Microsoft Azure Subscription.

From here you have to copy the device Code and hit the Link device login ( https://aka.ms/devicelogin )
This will make the connection between Windows Admin Center and your Azure Subscription.

Paste the Code into here and Click on Continue.

Sign in your Azure Subscription.

From here you are connected to your Azure Subscription.

Select the right Azure Tenant and Click on Register.

Go to the Azure AD App Registration link.

Click on Settings

Click on Required Permissions and then on Grant permissions

Click on Yes.

Windows Admin Center has now Permission.

Microsoft Windows Admin Center (WAC) Gateway is now registered to your Azure Subscription and you can use Azure AD Multi-Factor Authentication and Azure Site Recovery to protect your Virtual Machines with WAC.

IMPORTANT : Before you can add Microsoft Azure VM’s to Windows Admin Center, you have to set the Azure Network Firewall portal settings and also the Microsoft Windows OS Firewall of the VM.

Networking Settings of the Azure VM.

Open for http WAC port 5985 and for https 5986.

To make the port more Secure you have these Options in the Firewall rule.

Now you have done this for Azure Networking in the portal, you have to do the same in the Firewall settings of the Virtual Machine Inside.

Allow Port 5985 and 5986.

More information about Azure Integration in Windows Admin Center here

 

Here you see my Azure VM in Windows Admin Center On-Premises.

Here you see my Azure Data Science VM in the Cloud via Windows Admin Center 😉

#Microsoft Windows Server Summit 2018 on June 26 #Winserv #WindowsAdminCenter #Containers #WindowsServerSummit

Microsoft Windows Admin Center

Join Microsoft Windows Server Summit on June 26, 2018

Join Microsoft on Tuesday, June 26, 2018 for a virtual experience to learn tips and tricks for modernizing your infrastructure and applications—regardless of whether you’re running Windows Server on-premises or in the cloud.

Here you find more Microsoft Information about the Windows Server Summit 2018

Windows Admin Center Rocks

#MVPbuzz