Windows Server Insider 2022 Datacenter Azure version #WindowsInsiders #WIMVP #Azure #Winserv

Installing Windows Server Insider Datacenter Azure Edition

In my last blogpost we installed Windows 11 Insider Preview Enterprise Build on a Microsoft Azure Virtual Machine. Now we do the same with Windows Server 2022 Insider build version on Microsoft Azure Cloud.

IMPORTANT

This blogpost is for testing only and not ready for production environments yet!

Before you Search for the Windows Server Insider Preview image, you need some preview features added to your azure subscription first. Here you find more information

One of the features is Inquest Hot patching, which we activate via Azure Cloud Shell with Bash Azure CLI :

az feature register –namespace Microsoft.Compute –name InGuestHotPatchVMPreview
az feature register –namespace Microsoft.Compute –name InGuestAutoPatchVMPreview
az feature register –namespace Microsoft.Compute –name InGuestPatchVMPreview

Register via Azure CLI with these commands.

Feature registration can take up to 15 minutes. To check the registration status:

az feature show –namespace Microsoft.Compute –name InGuestHotPatchVMPreview
az feature show –namespace Microsoft.Compute –name InGuestAutoPatchVMPreview
az feature show –namespace Microsoft.Compute –name InGuestPatchVMPreview

When registration is done, you will see this message.

Once the feature has been registered for your subscription, complete the opt-in process by propagating the change into the Compute resource provider.

Type the following Azure CLI commandline :

az provider register –namespace Microsoft.Compute

Now your Microsoft Azure Subscription is ready for the new Features with the Windows Server 2022 Insider Preview Datacenter Azure Edition Build.

You need the Core edition when you want to try hotpatching.
and you need to be a Windows Server Insider.

Here you can Register for the Windows Server Insider Program

Create the Virtual Machine.

Add Storage to your Virtual Machine.
Because it’s for testing only I selected SSD.

Set your network settings.

Set Management settings like Hotpatch Preview.

At Advanced tab you can add Extensions and Custom scripts.
Click on Review + Create

Validation is passed, Click on Create and the
Windows Server Insider 2022 Datacenter Azure Edition will deploy.

IMPORTANT

Check the Network Security Group (NSG) of the Virtual Machine in Azure and set the security settings!

Set the Security Settings in the NSG.

Because we Installed the Windows Server Insider Core version,
Windows Admin Center (Preview) is very handy for Management.

Running Windows Server 2022 Insider Build 10.0.20348.166 in Azure
with Windows Admin Center (Preview) for Testing.

Now we wait for the Hotpatch 😉

Conclusion

Microsoft Azure Cloud platform is great for testing new products like Windows Server Insider Build versions, Windows 11 Insider Preview and the new Azure features. So when this becomes GA in the future you have already the experience and did some feedback to the Microsoft Product Team 😉

#WindowsAdminCenter and Windows Server 20H2 Core with WSL2 #Ubuntu Distro #Winserv #WSL2

Windows Server 2019 Core and WSL 2 Ubuntu 18.04

The Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) gives you the most command-line tools, utilities, and applications directly on Windows. I’m using Microsoft Windows Admin Center and Windows Server Core 20H2 with Build version 19042.746 to deploy WSL 2 with Ubuntu 18.04 Linux Distro. Here you find the installation of the Windows Server Core 20H2 with Windows Admin Center

In the following steps we will install the Following :

• Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)
• Move from WSL 1.0 to WSL 2.0
• Install Ubuntu 18.04 Linux distro

Installing Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)

Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Windows-Subsystem-Linux

This will install the WSL Feature.
When it ask do you want to Restart select No, because we will install the Next Feature :

Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName VirtualMachinePlatform

Select now Yes for Restarting the Server.

Moving from WSL 1.0 to WSL version 2.0

Before we Move from WSL version 1 to WSL version 2, we need a WSL Kernel Update.
Download here https://aka.ms/wsl2kernel

I Created a Share on the Windows Server via WIndows Admin Center.
And Uploaded the WSL_Update_X64.msi

Run WSL_Update_X64 and Click on Next.

Click on Finish

WSL –Set-Default-Version 2
Now we have Windows Subsystem for Linux version 2 Active.

Install Ubuntu 18.04 Linux Distro for WSL2

With the following Powershell Invoke-WebRequest we get Ubuntu 18.04

---

Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://aka.ms/wsl-ubuntu-1804 -OutFile ~/Ubuntu1804.zip -UseBasicParsing
md C:\Distros\Ubuntu1804
Expand-Archive ~/Ubuntu1804.zip C:\Distros\Ubuntu1804

---

Run Ubuntu 18.04

Ubuntu 18.04 is Running in WSL2 on Windows Server Core 20H2 😉

Conclusion

First of All Microsoft Windows Admin Center is supporting me in the Installation of Windows Subsystem for Linux. We have WSL 2 Running with Ubuntu 18.04 with a lot of possibilities!
What I really like is integration, like in Windows 10 and Docker for desktop with the WSL 2 Engine. Here my Blogpost
Together with VSCode Remote WSL is Cool.

Would be awesome to run Docker Windows and Linux Containers in combination with WSL 2 integration on Windows Server Core edition. Maybe in the Future, who knows?

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 !

Getting Started with Azure Stack HCI and Windows Admin Center #AzureStack #HCI #WAC

Microsoft Azure Stack HCI

Microsoft Azure Stack is a family of products and solutions that extend Azure to your datacenter or the edge. Includes Azure Stack Hub, Azure Stack HCI, and Azure Stack Edge.

Here you find all the information you need about the Microsoft Azure Stack Family

Here you find the Azure Stack HCI Overview

The Power of Hybrid IT Management is awesome with Azure Hybrid Services for your Servers with Microsoft Windows Admin Center. While you can set up most Azure hybrid services by downloading an app and doing some manual configuration, many are integrated directly into Windows Admin Center to provide a simplified setup experience and a server-centric view of the services. Windows Admin Center also provides convenient intelligent hyperlinks to the Azure portal to see connected Azure resources as well as a centralized view of your hybrid environment.

Hybrid IT Management with Azure Family and Windows Admin Center.

See here the Differences between global Azure, Azure Stack, and Azure Stack HCI

 

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!

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

Protect your #HyperV Virtual Machines from Windows Admin Center with #Azure Site Recovery #WAC #ASR

Windows Admin Center 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.

You can download Microsoft Windows Admin Center from here

Windows Admin Center supports several optional features that integrate with Azure services. Use the following information to configure the Windows Admin Center gateway to support these Azure integration features.  Configuring Azure Integration in WAC

When you have Azure integration in place with Microsoft Windows Admin Center you can use Azure Site Recovery (ASR).
Azure Site Recovery is an Azure service that replicates workloads running on VMs so that your business-critical infrastructure is protected in case of a disaster. Learn more about Azure Site Recovery

Protect your Hyper-V Virtual Machines from Windows Admin Center with Azure Site Recovery

.Use the following information to configure replication settings and create a recovery plan from within the Azure portal, enabling Windows Admin Center to start VM replication and protect your VMs.

 

Follow Jeff Woolsey Principal Program Manager Windows Server / Hybrid Cloud

Windows Admin Center Just Rocks also for our PowerShell Administrators 😉

Start Today with Windows Admin Center

#MVPbuzz