Microsoft Azure Arc Extensions Updates #AzureHybrid #AzureArc #AzOps

Azure Arc Extensions

Keep your Azure Arc extensions up-to-date

#Microsoft Azure Arc enabled Servers managed with Windows Admin Center in #Azure #AzureHybrid #MVPBuzz

Microsoft Azure Hybrid Management

With Windows Admin Center in the Azure portal you can manage the Windows Server operating system of your Arc-enabled servers, known as hybrid machines. You can securely manage hybrid machines from anywhere–without needing a VPN, public IP address, or other inbound connectivity to your machine.

With Windows Admin Center extension in Azure, you get the management, configuration, troubleshooting, and maintenance functionality for managing your Arc-enabled servers in the Azure portal. Windows Server infrastructure and workload management no longer requires you to establish line-of-sight or Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)–it can all be done natively from the Azure portal. Windows Admin Center provides tools that you’d normally find in Server Manager, Device Manager, Task Manager, Hyper-V Manager, and most other Microsoft Management Console (MMC) tools.

In the following steps we will install Azure Windows Admin Center (Preview) on a Microsoft Azure Arc enabled Server from the Azure Portal.

Click on Windows Admin Center (Preview) on the Left side.
Then click op Setup

Set the port.
Click on Install

Installing extension Windows Admin Center

At the Activity log you can follow the installation.

and See the Quick Insights

No Problems here 😉

Let’s Connect

Sign in with your Username and Password

 

Running Windows Admin Center from the Azure Portal.

Azure Windows Admin Center of the Azure Arc enabled Server.

PowerShell session remote on the Azure Arc enabled Server.

Events of the Azure Arc enabled Server.

Conclusion

With Microsoft Azure Windows Admin Center and Azure Arc enabled Servers you can manage your servers from anywhere.
You got all the benefits of Microsoft Azure Hybrid features. Try it yourself, Windows Admin Center is still in preview and for testing only.
You can experience this awesome Azure Hybrid solution before it goes in production 😉

 

Azure Arc enabled Server Insights #AzureHybrid #AzureArc #Winserv #Azure

Microsoft Azure Arc enabled Server Insights

Azure Arc-enabled servers lets you manage Windows and Linux physical servers and virtual machines hosted outside of Azure, on your corporate network, or other cloud providers. VM insights monitors the performance and health of your virtual machines and virtual machine scale sets, including their running processes and dependencies on other resources. It can help deliver predictable performance and availability of vital applications by identifying performance bottlenecks and network issues.

In the following steps you see more Azure Arc Insights of this On-premises domain controller.

Azure Arc Insights Performance monitor

Here you see by default performance counters in a dashboard of the Azure Arc enabled Server :

• CPU Utilization
• Available Memory
• Logical Disk IOPS
• Logical Disk MB/s
• Max Logical Disk Used %
• Bytes sent rate
• Bytes received rate

In the right corner you can show your own workbooks.

Azure Arc Insights Map dependencies

I really like this feature to see more Insights of your dependencies with this map. See if there are any communication issues
in your solution is great!

Here you see connections of the Azure Arc enabled domain controller from on-premises.

You even can see if you have Malicious Connections in your process, here they are all green 🙂

Azure Arc Insights Map Changes
You can Investigate Changes

Azure Arc Insights Map Alerts
Here you can Investigate the Alerts.

Azure Arc Insights Overview
Make your own Data Collection Rule.

Here is the Data Source MSVMI-HybridIT
Here you can configure your resources with the Data Sources.

Create your own Data Collection endpoint for your Azure Arc enabled Server

Create your endpoint and select your Tag

with Tags you can set the Owner or cost number on the data collection endpoint.

When It’s ready you can here select the Data collection endpoint for your Server.

We only have Performance Counters, so we will add more Data Sources.

Here you can see some default Data sources.
I select Windows Event Logs.

Here you can configure the event logs and levels to Collect.

I selected only these.
Click on Next : Destination>

Select the right destination.
Then Click on Add Data Source

Here you have your Data Sources

More information :

Microsoft Azure Monitor Overview

Microsoft Azure Arc docs

Azure Arc JumpStart

Azure Arc JumpStart YouTube Videos

Azure Arc on GitHub

Azure Arc on Tech Community

 

#MVPLABSerie Azure Update Management Center (Preview) and #AzureArc enabled Servers #AzureHybrid

Microsoft Azure Update Management Center (Preview)

Update management center (preview) is a unified service to help manage and govern updates for all your machines. You can monitor Windows and Linux update compliance across your deployments in Azure, on-premises, and on the other cloud platforms from a single dashboard. Using Update management center (preview), you can make updates in real-time or schedule them within a defined maintenance window. Here you can find more information about Azure Update Management Center

In the following step-by-step guide, we will start with Azure Update Management Center (Preview) and Microsoft Azure Arc enabled Windows Servers running on-premises in my mvplab.local domain.

With getting started you can configure the environment.

I start here with my Azure Arc enabled Storage Server.

You have options like Hotpatch

We Check manually for Updates on Windows Server mvpstore01
Click on OK for Assessment.

Here are the Windows Server Security updates.
You can click on One-time-Update
But first we look in Update Management Center.

Here you see the Pending Windows Updates in Azure Update Management Center
Open query 

Microsoft Azure Resource Graph Explorer can be really powerful tool

When you have to manage many Windows Servers you can get the status
of these Azure Arc enabled servers and export the results into a CSV file.
Here you find some Azure Resource Graph Explorer queries

Now we start to Install One-time Updates.

Include Update Classification
Click on Add

Click on Next

Select the option if you want to reboot or not.

Review and Install

Updates installed on the Azure Arc Enabled Windows Server.

In Azure Update Management Center Overview Dashboard
you can see that one machine is completed.

For Monitoring you can make your own workbooks.

I like this History, to see if updates are successful or not.

Conclusion

Microsoft Azure Update Management Center is still in Preview but it’s a new way to manage all of your updates on your Servers on-premises with Azure Arc enabled, or on Azure Cloud, but also in other Clouds if you want. One Update Management Center from the Azure Portal is Awesome to work with and gives you control and overview of your update compliance in your datacenter(s).
Important: This Great tool is still in preview and not for production environments yet until it’s made GA by Microsoft and you have the full support on this awesome management tool.

JOIN Azure Hybrid Community Group on LinkedIn

 

MVPLAB Serie Installing SCOM 2022 monitoring with SQL Cluster #SCOM #MVPBuzz

System Center 2022 Operations Manager (SCOM)

Before we can install Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2022 in my mvplab.local domain, I installed the following:

• MVPLAB Serie Windows Server Insider Cluster with ISCSI Target Server

• MVPLAB Serie Cluster Aware Updating – CAU for Windows Server Insider

• MVPLAB Serie Installing SQL Server 2022 CTP on Windows Server Insider Cluster

Installing Operations Manager creates a management group. The management group is the basic unit of functionality. At a minimum, a management group consists of a management server, the operational database, and the reporting data warehouse database.

• The management server is the focal point for administering the management group and communicating with the database. When you open the Operations console and connect to a management group, you connect to a management server for that management group. Depending on the size of your computing environment, a management group can contain a single management server or multiple management servers.
• The operational database is a SQL Server database that contains all configuration data for the management group and stores all monitoring data that is collected and processed for the management group. The operational database retains short-term data, by default 7 days.
• The data warehouse database is a SQL Server database that stores monitoring and alerting data for historical purposes. Data that is written to the Operations Manager database is also written to the data warehouse database, so reports always contain current data. The data warehouse database retains long-term data.

When Operations Manager reporting functionality is installed, the management group also contains a Reporting server which builds and presents reports from data in the data warehouse database.

These core components of a management group can exist on a single server, or they can be distributed across multiple servers, as shown in the following image.

In my Test LAB mvplab.local I will install the Management Server on a Windows Server Insider member Server and the Operational Database with the Data Warehouse Database on the SQL Cluster Instance. Here you find more Microsoft Information about System Center 2022 Operations Manager

Architecture SCOM 2022

IMPORTANT : In my MVPLAB I’m working with Windows Server Insider Preview Builds and with SQL Server 2022 CTP2.1 Preview version on a Cluster and is not supported yet for Production workloads, then you have to wait for Microsoft to make it General Available!

Now we have a SQL Cluster Instance running in my mvplab.local domain, I’m going to install Microsoft System Center 2022 Operations Manager (SCOM) for monitoring in the following step-by-step guide :

Run SCOM_2022 as Administrator

Click on Next

Click on Accept the Agreement.
Click on Next

Extract the files to your location.
Click on Next

Click on Extract

Completed Click on Finish

Run Setup

Click on Install

I’m installing only the Management Server and Operations Console.
When this was Production I would install every feature on separated Servers with
two Management Servers.
Click on Next

Select installation location
Click on Next

Click on Next

Give your Management Group a Name.
Click on Next

Agree with the License Terms.
Click on Next

Select de SQL Instance and Port.
Set Database Size.
and Data File Folders.
Click on Next

Here you can select de Instance for data warehouse database.
Click Next

Select the Service accounts
Click on Next

Click on Next

Check the Summary.
Click on Install

SCOM 2022 Installation in Progress.

Processing

SCOM License we set later.

I have installed both databases in one SQL Instance for in my MVPLAB.

 

System Center 2022 Operations Manager (SCOM)

Now you can Configure the Management Packs in SCOM for your environment and set the Alerts. More information about System Center 2022 Operations Manager can you find here :

What’s New in Operations Manager

What is in an Operations Manager management pack?

Microsoft System Center Blog on MS Tech Community

In the following MVPLAB Serie Blogpost I will Install Microsoft System Center Operations Manager Web Server 2022 for Monitoring with your web browser.

MVPLAB Serie Installing SQL Server 2022 CTP on Windows Server Insider Cluster #SQLServer #WIMVP

SQL Server 2022 CTP2.1

In this blogpost of MVPLAB Serie, we are going to install Microsoft SQL Server 2022 CTP2.1 on my Windows Server Insider Preview Cluster in mvplab.local domain. Before this blogpost I installed the following basics in mvplab.local domain :

• MVPLAB Serie Windows Server Insider Cluster with ISCSI Target Server

• MVPLAB Serie Cluster Aware Updating – CAU for Windows Server Insider

Now we are going to install the Backend of the datacenter, and that is SQL Server 2022 CTP2.1 on a Cluster resource with the first SQL Instance for databases which is High Available (HA).

First we download SQL Server 2022 CTP2.1

SQL Server 2022 Preview is the most Azure-enabled release of SQL Server yet, with continued innovation in security, availability, and performance.

• Integration with Azure Synapse Link and Azure Purview enables customers to drive deeper insights, predictions, and governance from their data at scale.
• Cloud integration is enhanced with disaster recovery (DR) to Azure SQL Managed Instance, along with no-ETL (extract, transform, and load) connections to cloud analytics, which allow database administrators to manage their data estates with greater flexibility and minimal impact to the end-user.
• Performance and scalability are automatically enhanced via built-in query intelligence.
• There is choice and flexibility across languages and platforms, including Linux, Windows, and Kubernetes.

Mount the ISO file and Copy the files to a local disk location, then run Setup as Administrator with your personal Domain Administrator Account to install SQL Server 2022 CTP2.1. Before the installation read Configure Cluster accounts in Active Directory (AD)

Click on Yes.

Click on the left on Installation
Then Click on New SQL Server Failover Cluster Installation

Here I choose for the Developer edition.
Click on Next

Accept the License terms
Click on Next

Check for Updates (recommended)
Click on Next

Check the Warnings and solve issues.
Click on Next

I Installed only the default for SQL Database.
(You can install later Shared SQL Features if you need them.)
Click on Next

Specify a network name for the New SQL Server Failover Cluster.
mvpsql01
Click on Named Instance and type INSTANCE01
Click on Next

Click on Next

Select your Cluster disk
Click on Next

Select IPv4 and type the IP-Address of your Cluster Resource
mvpsql01
Then Click on Next

Select your domain Service accounts and type the passwords.
Select if you want Maintenance Tasks privilege to your SQL Server Database Engine Service.
Click Next

Here you can add the SQL Admin Group from Active Directory (AD)
Click on top tab Data Directories

I Changed the User Database Log Directory.
Here you can set your directories.
Have a look at the Other TAB fields, I set Memory later.
When you finished all the Tabs then click Next

Check the Summary and click on Install

SQL Server 2022 CTP2.1 Installed Successfully Click on Close.

This was on the first mvpfs01.mvplab.local, now you have to do the installation on the other node mvpfs02.mvplab.local.
Here we will add a SQL Node to the Cluster.

 

Click on the left on Installation
Then Click on Add Node to a SQL Server Failover Cluster

Add Node in Progress

Add Node to SQL Server 2022 CTP2.1 Failover Cluster is Successful
Click on Close

Here you see your SQL Server 2022 CTP2.1 Cluster Instance Running in Failover Cluster Manager.

Here I installed the new Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) version 19 preview 2

Connecting the High Available SQL 2022 CTP2.1 Cluster Resource Instance01.

And you can connect the SQL Instance with Azure Data Studio 😉

With Azure Data Studio you can install marketplace extensions working with your SQL Instance.
Here you find more information about Microsoft Azure Data Studio

+

MVPLAB Serie Cluster Aware Updating – CAU for Windows Server Insider #WindowsServerInsider #MVPBuzz #Winserv

Cluster Aware Updating (CAU)

In my last MVPLAB Serie blogpost, I wrote about setting-up a Microsoft Domain mvplab.local and making a Windows Server Insider Cluster with an iSCSI Target Host Server for Shared iSCSI Storage provisioning. First thing I did was Installing Windows Admin Center for Hybrid IT Management. With WAC we can Manage the Cluster Nodes but also the Cluster, Installing new features via Windows Admin Center like Kubernetes for running Containers and microservices. But first we start with Microsoft Cluster Aware Updating to keep your Cluster up-to-date.

Windows Admin Center Cluster Manager

Installing Cluster Aware Updating

In the following steps you can see how easy it is to install Cluster Aware Updating with Windows Admin Center on your Windows Server Cluster, in my case mvpcl01.mvplab.local

Go to your Windows Server Insider Cluster

In Cluster Manager, go to Updates.
Click on Add Cluster Aware Updating Role

Successfully configured Cluster Aware Updating (CAU)

On both Cluster Nodes is the Update Available.
Click on Install

Click on Install

Look at the status to see what is happening on the Cluster Nodes.

First Cluster Node is done

Both Cluster Nodes are updated successfully.

Here you can read more about Microsoft Cluster Aware Updating

Conclusion

Microsoft Windows Admin Center is the Administrator Management tool to use in your hybrid datacenter. You see how easy it is to configure Cluster Aware Updating (CAU) on your Cluster. When you use Windows Server Core or Azure Stack HCI then Windows Admin Center is really handy instead of command-line tools or PowerShell scripting.  here you can find more information about
Cluster Aware Updating requirements and Best Practices

Here you can JOIN the Windows Admin Center Community Group on LinkedIn

MVPLAB Serie Windows Server Insider Cluster with ISCSI Target Server #WindowsServerInsider #Winserv

mvplab.local Domain

I have made a new MVPLAB with Microsoft Windows Server Insider Preview Build 25158 to install Services and Features for learning but also to give Microsoft feedback about the products. When the MVPLAB domain and Clusters are ready in basic then I can use new Microsoft Azure Hybrid solutions as well, like Azure Arc Kubernetes services and Azure Cloud Defender for Servers and SQL.
Before we start, you need to become a Windows Server Insider so that you can download the newest Windows Server Insider Builds ISO.
Here you get more information for the Windows Server Insider Program registration 

After the free registration you can download the new Microsoft Windows Server Insider Builds here :

While I’m writing a new blogpost, Microsoft published a new Build 25169.
Here you can download the ISO or VHDX file

To Build your Test and innovation LAB with the newest Microsoft technologies, you need a platform to Build on. Of course Microsoft Azure Cloud Services is Awesome to work with and Great to make test environments but I like to make a Azure Hybrid scenario with Azure Cloud and On-premises datacenter services like for example a Microsoft SQL Cluster with Cluster resources / Instances.
So my MVPLAB will be Azure Hybrid and for On-premises I use Windows Server Hyper-V to make virtual servers.

It’s Great when your hardware provider like Dell is Microsoft Azure Stack HCI compliant to build your Hyper Converged Infrastructure in your on-premises datacenter.

Microsoft Azure Stack HCI Solution

When you work with Microsoft Azure and Azure Stack HCI, you really need Windows Admin Center for Hybrid IT Management.
This is a Great Administrator tool for managing your Windows Servers, Clusters, Azure Stack HCI, and Azure VM’s in a Hybrid environment.

Windows Admin Center Cluster Overview

Now that we have everything and Hyper-V is running, we will build the Following Windows Servers with the Insider Preview Build:

• MVPDC01 ( the first domain controller for mvplab.local domain )
• MVPStore01 ( ISCSI Target Host for deploying ISCSI Virtual Disks to my Cluster)
• MVPFS01 ( Cluster Node 01 of Cluster MVPCL01 )
• MVPFS02 ( Cluster Node 02 of Cluster MVPCL01 )

I install all the virtual servers with 50GB local harddisk for OS and start with 4GB of Dynamic Memory and a Nic.
Only the Cluster nodes get two Nics (One for Heartbeat of the Cluster)
This is for my MVPLAB, but for Production environments I always start with 3 Nics ( 1 = Production 2 = Heartbeat 3 = Storage )

In Hyper-V we make a New Virtual Machine with these specifications and we attach the Windows Server Insider Preview Build ISO.
We install Windows Server Insider Preview Build default and after the installation we set the NIC IP-Address on static and gave the Server the name MVPDC01. Then I installed all the Windows Updates, and after that I started Server Manager to install the Active Directory Feature :

Active Directory just follow the wizard and don’t forget to run DCPromo to
build your domain.

Active Directory and DNS is running locally like
mvplab.local

So now is my domain and DNS running in my MVPLAB, but what do I need more first to build a Windows Server Insider Cluster?
We need Shared storage, so we build a Windows Server Insider ISCSI Target Host to provision Shared VHD’s via ISCSI Initiator to the Cluster Nodes.

The Next member Windows Server Insider is MVPStore01.mvplab.local joined in our new domain. Here I installed the iSCSI Host features:

Start Server Manager and the Add Server role :
– iSCSI Target Server
– iSCSI Target Storage Provider

Click on Install

In Hyper-V Settings of the Virtual Machine MVPStore01, I have installed a extra disk of 25GB so that we can use that for iSCSI Target Host which is now running on this Server. Now we can provision storage when the new Windows Server Insider Cluster MVPCL01.mvplab.local is installed with the iSCSI Initiator to get Cluster storage. So now we are first going to build a Windows Server Insider Cluster and after that we will provision the Cluster Storage.

Installing a Windows Server Cluster with Insider preview Build 25158.

I deployed two member servers MVPFS01.mvplab.local and MVPFS02.mvplab.local into the new domain. they have static IP-Address and are working fine with DNS resolving. On both Servers I installed the Feature Failover Clustering

Failover Clustering Installed.

from here we are going to install the new Windows Server Insider Cluster MVPCL01.mvplab.local

Start Failover Cluster Manager.
Create Cluster.

Click on Next

select the two new Cluster Nodes
Click on Next

Select Yes, run configuration validation tests
Click on Next

Click on Next

Run all tests
Click Next

Confirmation
Click Next

Type in the new Cluster name => mvpcl01
IP-Address => 192.168.2.43
Click Next

Confirmation
Click on Next

Creating Cluster….

We now have a Cluster mvpcl01.mvplab.local running, but without storage and without the witness disk. the iSCSI initiator is running on both Cluster nodes, so now we have to provision storage to the Cluster via the iSCSI Target Host MVPStore01.mvplab.local.

iSCSI Storage provisioning to Windows Server Insider Cluster

via the Server Manager of the iSCSI Target host, we are going to create a new iSCSI Virtual Disk for both Cluster Nodes :

Click on New iSCSI Virtual Disk

iSCSI Virtual Disk Name
Click on Next

Type in the Size I’m using 20GB of 24,9 because I need also a Quorum disk for the Cluster.
Select Fixed Size.
Click on Next.

New iSCSI Target
Click on Next

Give the iSCSI Target a Name
Click on Next

Add the Access Servers via iSCSI Initiator
Click on Next

Here you can set Authentication if you want.
Click on Next

Confirmation
Click on Create

the iSCSI Virtual Disk is successfully created.

the iSCSI Target VHD is not connected yet.
Now we connect with iSCSI Initiator from the Cluster Nodes.
The work on iSCSI Taget Host MVPStore01.mvplab.local is Done.

When you start the iSCSI Initiator it will set the services and the firewall settings on the Server.
You have to do this on both Cluster nodes.

First we add the Target portal and that is our iSCSI Taget Host MVPStore01.mvplab.local with
IP-Address 192.168.2.46 with port 3260.
This is under the discovery tab.

Select Targets tab
you see the Target mvpstore01 Inactive.
Select and click on Connect.

If you had Multi-path IO running, you could enable Multipath too.
Click on Ok

The iSCSI Taget Virtual Disk is connected.

On the iSCSI Target Host MVPStore01.mvplab.local is the target now also in Connected status.

You now can now bring the 20GB disk Online via Disk Management and give it a drive letter
for the Cluster.
Then you can add the 20GB disk via Storage of Cluster Manager tool.

 

 

You can make Cluster Shared Volume.

I made a Cluster for a SQL Instance and I made
a 2GB iSCSI Taget VHD for the Witness Disk.

So Now we have Cluster storage running and failovers are working, now we need to configure Quorum witness disk via
Failover Cluster Manager.

Go to more actions on the Cluster.
Configure Cluster Quorum

Click on Next

Select the quorum witness
Click on Next

You can configure your witness on different locations.
I will select our 2GB witness disk on our Cluster

Select the Quorum disk
Click on Next

Confirmation
Click on Next

You have successfully configured the quorum settings for the Cluster
Click on Finish

Witness disk is running.

So my Microsoft Windows Server Insider Cluster is ready for workloads, if you want to you can run a Cluster validation to see
if everything is okay. Now my MVPLAB is ready for the next installation on my Cluster and that is :

Installing the Newest SQL Server 2022 CTP2.1 on my Windows Server Insider Cluster.

But that will be a next Blogpost : Installing SQL Server 2022 CTP2.1 on a Windows Server Cluster 😉
Follow me on Twitter : @Jamesvandenberg

 

Running #Ubuntu and #Debian Linux distro on Windows Server 2022 Preview with #WSL2

Running Ubuntu and Debian Linux Distro on Windows Server 2022
Preview Build 25120.1010 with WSL 2.0

In the Week of MS-Build 2022 Event, Microsoft is announcing that WSL 2.0 is coming to Windows Server 2022 Preview Build on twitter.

In the following step-by-step guide we will install Windows Subsystem for Linux 2.0 (WSL) on Microsoft Windows Server 2022 Insider Preview Build 25120.1010 to run Ubuntu and Debian Linux Distro’s.

Here you can download Windows Server 2022 Insider Preview Build ISO or VHDX disk
when you are registered as a Windows Insider.

Windows Server 2022 Insider Preview Build 25120 Installed.

Install the latest updates.

Open Windows Server Manager.

I Have installed the following :

• Containers ( because I like this for later in my MVP Lab )
• Hyper-V
• Windows Subsystem for Linux
• VirtualMachine Platform
• Reboot the System after installation.

dism.exe /online /enable-feature /featurename:VirtualMachinePlatform /all /norestart

When the Virtual Server is up, you have to bring it down to make nested virtualization possible when you run your server on a Hyper-V Host like me.

On the host in PowerShell administrator mode :

Set-VMProcessor -VMName WIN2022 -ExposeVirtualizationExtensions $true

Start the Virtual Machine.

wsl –install

wsl –update

WSL 2.0 is Installed

wsl –status

wsl –install -d Ubuntu

I did the same for Debian wsl –install -d debian

Here you can see both Linux distro’s on Windows Server.

Here we are running both WSL 2.0 Linux distro’s Ubuntu and Debian on Windows Server Insider Preview Build together at the same time 😉

Here I’m running VSCode on Remote WSL Debian Linux distro.

More information about Microsoft WSL you can find here on Docs.

Important:

All this is still in Preview and not ready for production environment yet. I installed this all in my MVP Test Lab for learning and testing. Hope you find this useful for your test environment to play with the newest Windows Server 2022 Insider Preview and WSL 2.0 with
all kind of Linux distro’s.

Windows Admin Center and Deploying Windows Server Insider Build 25099 Core #WindowsAdminCenter #Winserv #WIMVP

Windows Admin Center Version 2110.2 Build 1.3.2204.19002

Windows Admin Center is a customer-deployed, browser-based app for managing servers, clusters, hyper-converged infrastructure, and Windows PCs. It comes at no additional cost beyond Windows and is ready to use in production. Learn more about Windows Admin Center.

Benefits

• Simple and modern management experience
• Hybrid capabilities
• Integrated toolset
• Designed for extensibility

Languages
Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Czech, Dutch (Netherlands), English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Russian, Spanish, Swedish (Sweden), Turkish

In the following step-by-step guide I will deploy Windows Server 2022 Insider Build 25099 Core Edition with Windows Admin Center tool together with some great features for managing Windows Servers in a secure hybrid way with Microsoft Azure Cloud services. Like Azure Defender for Cloud, Azure Backup Vault, Azure Monitor, Security and more.
So I have Windows Admin Center 2110.2 installed and I have a Windows Server 2022 Hyper-V Server for my Virtual Machines in my MVPLAB Domain.
Now we will deploy the new Windows Server 2022 Insider Preview Build 25099.

In WAC on my Hypervisor in Virtual Machines

When you explore and open your Hyper-V Host and go to Virtual Machines, you can Click on Add and then on New for Creating your Windows Server Insider VM.

Create a New Windows Server Insider VM called StormTrooper01

Here you can configure your new Windows Server 2022 Insider VM with the following :

• What kind of Generation VM (Gen 2 Recommended)
• The path of your Virtual Machine and the path of your virtual disk(s)
• CPU and you can make nested Virtualization too
• Memory and use of Dynamic Memory
• Network select the Virtual Switch
• Network Isolation by VLAN
• Storage, Create the size of the Virtual Disk. Choose an ISO or Select an existing VHD(x)

I Created a New 70GB OS Disk
and I want to Install the New Windows Server Insider OS from ISO.
Click on Browse

Here you Browse Default on your Hyper-V Host and select the ISO.

When the Windows Server ISO is selected you can hit Create

We get the Notification that the virtual machine is successfully created.

Only the Virtual Machine is now made with your specs and visible on the Hyper-V Host.
Select the New Virtual Machine (StormTrooper01) click on Power and hit Start.

After you started the VM, you can double click on it and go to Connect.
Click on Connect to the Virtual Machine.

Now you are on the console via VM Connect.

Click on Install Now

We are installing Windows Server 2022 Insider Core edition, because we have WAC 😉

Installing Windows Server 2022 Insider Core Preview Build 25099 via Windows Admin Center

Create New Administrator Password.

And here we have Sconfig of the Windows Server 2022 Core.
via Virtual Machine Connect.

Now we can add and connect the New Virtual Machine with Windows Server 2022 Insider Preview Build in Windows Admin Center via IP-Address.

The Next step is to join the Windows Server 2022 Insider to my Domain MVPLAB.

Click on the Top on Edit Computer ID
Click on Domain and type your domain name.
Click op Next
Add your administrator account for joining the server
Reboot the VM.

Windows Server 2022 Insider Preview Core edition is domain joined.

Now we have the New Microsoft Windows Server 2022 Insider Preview Build 25099 running in Windows Admin Center, we can use all the tooling provided by WAC also in a Azure Hybrid way. Think about Azure Defender for Cloud, Azure Monitor. In Microsoft Windows Admin Center we also have a topic Azure Hybrid Center :

Here you see all the Azure Hybrid benefit features for your Windows Server 2022 Insider.

• Microsoft Azure Arc
• Azure Backup
• Azure File Sync
• Azure Site Recovery
• Azure Network Adapter
• Azure Monitor
• Azure Update Management
• and More…

Microsoft Azure and the Windows Admin Center Team made the wizards customer friendly and easy to get those Azure Hybrid services for your Windows Server.
When you have your Server running, you want to make backups and Monitoring your Server for management. And after that you want to be in control of your security of your new Server. In the following steps you see some examples on the same Windows Server 2022 Insider Preview Build:

Microsoft Azure Backup via WAC

Click on Azure Backup
Select your Azure Subscription and the Azure Backup Vault.
Select your data and make the schedule.

Enter the Encryption passphrase and Apply.

Here you have Azure Backup Vault working together with WAC.

Azure Defender for Cloud Security

Click op Microsoft Defender for Cloud
Click on Setup
Add the right Azure Subscription and Workspace
Click on Setup.

Configuring Azure Defender for Cloud agent and Subscription.

Azure Defender for Cloud in Windows Admin Center on your Windows Server 2022 Insider Preview Build.

In Windows Admin Center there is also a Security tab for the Windows Server.

Here you can see your Secured-Core status

• Hypervisor Enforced Code Integrity (HVCI)
• Boot DMA Protection
• System Guard
• Secure Boot
• Virtualization-Based Security (VBS)
• Trusted Platform Module (TPM2.0)

Here you can see if your system is supported for this security features 🙂

Enable the supported features and Restart de Virtual Machine.

And here you see my status overview.

Further more you can manage RBAC in Windows Admin Center when you have to work with different kind of users.

You can find RBAC in settings.

Conclusion

Windows Server Insider Core edition and Windows Admin Center are working better together! You have all the tools you need to startup your Windows Server and
manage it with WAC. Windows Admin Center is getting better and better to manage your Hybrid Datacenter and keep you as an Administrator in Control!
So is how I manage my MVPLAB but also for Production workloads I use Windows Admin Center and the Azure Portal together. With Microsoft Azure Arc Services
Azure Hybrid becomes your solution where Windows Admin Center can Support you with making Azure Stack HCI Clusters with Azure Kubernetes for your DevOps environment.

Windows Admin Center Community Group on LinkedIn