Windows Admin Center for managing multiple PCs and servers

Manage many servers and Windows computers from a single console It's one of those recurring dreams of any system administrator. Microsoft has been trying to simplify this task for some time, and with Windows Admin Center, it has taken a significant step in that direction. This browser-based console brings together in a single panel many of the administrative tools that were previously scattered across different windows and add-ons.

Windows Admin Center (formerly known as Project Honolulu) It is a free solution designed to manage Windows servers, clusters, desktop computers, and even Virtual machines Azure, both on-premises and in the cloud. It's not magic, nor will it replace the entire ecosystem of classic tools (like RSAT or certain MMC consoles), but it does allow you to see many of your daily operations in a single view, saving clicks, time, and the occasional headache.

What is Windows Admin Center and what is it really used for?

Windows Admin Center is a browser-based administration platform It is installed on a Windows computer (client or server) and exposes a web interface from which to control different resources: servers, failover clusters, individual Windows computers, and Azure virtual machines. All of this is managed from the "All connections" page, which acts as the central workspace.

Its design is heavily focused on modernizing classic tools like the Server Manager or various MMC consoles, integrating them into a single, cleaner, and more accessible interface from the browser. Instead of having multiple windows open for each role or server, the console groups views, menus, and actions under a single web session, with support for PowerShell scripts running in the background.

Microsoft's philosophy with Windows Admin Center is not to replace RSAT or all consoles.Instead, it offers a complementary console that covers the most frequent tasks of managing Windows servers and computers. There are areas, such as Active Directory, DHCP, DNS, and IIS, that still lack full functionality parity within the tool, so it's still necessary to use traditional utilities for certain advanced configurations.

A key point is that Windows Admin Center works without depending on an internet connection.This is an on-premises solution that runs in your own environment, although it integrates seamlessly with Azure when you want to make the hybrid leap. This allows you to use it in both isolated private data centers and cloud-connected corporate networks.

Compatibility ranges from Windows Server 2012 onwards and Windows 10/11including both physical and virtual machines. Furthermore, it is optimized to work with Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2022 and future versions, and with hardware a wide variety of servers, from nodes prepared for Storage Spaces Direct to a wide range of PowerEdge equipment and other manufacturers.

Requirements, installation methods, and how to open the console

Windows Admin Center is installed as an application on a Windows computer. which will act as the access point to the console. It can be either a client operating system (for example, Windows 10 or Windows 11) as a server (Windows Server 2012 or later). After installation, the tool publishes a web interface that is accessed using a modern browser.

On Windows client machines, the installation is usually configured for local access on port 6600The administrator then opens their browser and accesses the local URL exposed by the console. In server environments, remote access is configured by default via port 443, making it easy for multiple administrators to use the same centralized gateway.

To open Windows Admin Center on a Windows PCThe process is quite simple: just search for “Windows Admin Center (v2)” from the Start menu or using the system search bar, and launching it will automatically open your default browser with the login screen. From there, the user authenticates with their administrator credentials.

In the first Boot A welcome message usually appears This confirms that the version has been installed correctly and displays the main new features of that build. After closing this notification, the user is taken directly to the "All Connections" page, where at least the Windows computer from which the console is running is now listed.

It is important to mention that recent versions of Windows are recommended for accessing Windows Admin Center. Microsoft Edge o Google ChromeAlthough the tool does not require internet access, it does need a modern browser that supports the web technologies used by the interface. In isolated environments, this is usually not a problem because the connection is local or within the LAN.

Centralized connection management: servers, PCs, clusters, and Azure

The operational heart of Windows Admin Center is the “All Connections” page.From here, all managed resources are added, organized, and managed: individual Windows computers, servers, failover clusters, and Azure virtual machines. Each resource appears as an entry in the list, and the tool allows you to filter, tag, and group them so you don't get lost as the number of connections grows.

To add new resources, use the “+ Add” button.This displays the available connection types. Each type (servers, Windows machines, clusters, Azure VMs) has its own wizards and onboarding methods. You can add resources one at a time, perform bulk imports using CSV files, or even search directly in Active Directory to locate machines within the domain.

For Azure virtual machines, it is essential to register Windows Admin Center with Azure. Before you can create or manage these VMs from the console. Once registered, the integration allows the same interface to work for both on-premises servers and Microsoft cloud instances, facilitating hybrid scenarios.

One interesting detail is that Windows Admin Center allows you to create certain resources from scratch., such as Azure clusters and virtual machines, directly from its wizards. It not only connects to what already exists, but also offers guided paths to deploy new infrastructure, especially useful in modern hyperconverged cluster deployments.

Behind many of the interface operations, PowerShell scripts are running.In fact, the tool itself offers an option to view these scripts: when connecting to a server, cluster, or computer, you can open the PowerShell icon in the toolbar and select the scripts from a dropdown menu. commands associated with a specific action to see the script resulting. This is very practical for learning, auditing, or reusing scripts outside the console.

Shared connections: a common list for all users

When Windows Admin Center is deployed in service mode (gateway on Windows Server)A particularly useful feature for management teams is enabled: shared connections. In this scenario, gateway administrators can define a central list of servers, PCs, and clusters that is shared with all users connecting to that console instance.

These shared connections are configured from the “Gateway Settings” section.Specifically, in the "Shared Connections" tab. From there, servers, clusters, and computers can be added with the same flexibility as in "All Connections," including the use of tags. The difference is that this global list is available to all users accessing the gateway.

Once the shared connections are defined, the “All connections” view is organized into two blocksThe personal connections section for each user, and the shared connections section provided by the gateway. The "Personal" block stores the user's specific list and is maintained between browser sessions; the "Shared" block is common to all and cannot be modified from that screen by regular users.

This mixed structure (personal + shared) allows for a balance between standardization and flexibilityThe IT organization can define an official catalog of critical servers, production clusters, and corporate resources, while each administrator adds other lab equipment, testing, or temporary environments on their own without cluttering the common view.

In large environments, where there are many Windows servers, power user computers, and cluster nodesThis shared connections feature eliminates the need to manually replicate the resource list in each browser or session. It's configured once and everyone inherits it, which also reduces errors by preventing a technician from forgetting to add an important server.

Authentication: single sign-on, credentials, and LAPS

After adding a connection as a managed node, the next step is to authenticate against that resource.Windows Admin Center supports several mechanisms for this, with single sign-on (SSO) using Windows credentials being the preferred option. This way, if the user is already authenticated to the domain with the appropriate permissions, they avoid having to enter their username and password each time.

Single sign-on is enabled by defaultThe console attempts to use the current credentials whenever possible. However, when Windows Admin Center is deployed as a service on a server, additional Kerberos delegation configuration is required for SSO to function correctly in two-hop scenarios (from the client to the gateway and from the gateway to the target server).

If SSO is not possible or configured, you can authenticate by manually specifying credentials.To do this, select a resource from "All Connections" and click "Manage as" to specify the username and password to use for that node. In service mode without Kerberos delegation, it's normal to have to re-enter the credentials even if they are the same as the logged-in user's.

These credentials can be applied to all connections during the browser session.The data remains cached until the page is reloaded. If the browser refreshes or closes, the "Manage as" data will need to be re-entered, which adds a layer of security but can be somewhat repetitive when working with many nodes.

In environments that use the Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS)Alternatively, credentials managed by LAPS can be used to authenticate on the computers. With Windows Admin Center installed on the Windows computer itself, the tool can use the local administrator passwords controlled by LAPS, simplifying the management of machines where passwords change automatically and frequently.

Labeling, organization, and filtering of server farms

When dealing with dozens or hundreds of connections, a simple flat list falls far short.To address this, Windows Admin Center includes a tagging system that allows for flexible classification and filtering of resources. Tags are free-text entries that can be combined and used for both manual organization and replicating existing structures from other tools.

Tags can be assigned when creating a new connection or edited later.On the "All Connections" page, select one or more resources and use the "Edit Tags" option. A side panel will open with the "Available Tags," where you can add new terms, apply existing tags by checking boxes, or delete tags by unchecking the corresponding box.

If a label only applies to some of the selected connections, its box appears in an intermediate state.This helps to see at a glance which classifications are already partially applied to that group of nodes, and decide whether to homogenize it by checking or unchecking the box to extend or remove the tag to all selected connections.

To exploit these tags, the interface offers a specific filter next to the search box.From the filter icon, you can choose which tags to use to limit the view, and you can also define the logic between them using operators such as "or", "and", or "not". This allows you to build complex filters such as "show only Hyper-V servers that are not legacy clusters", to give a typical example.

The practical result is that you can work with very specific subsets of servers or equipment. without having to navigate through endless lists. This is especially useful in organizations with multiple locations, lab, pre-production, and production environments, or when administrative responsibilities need to be separated by roles, zones, or criticality levels.

Import and export connections using PowerShell and CSV

In addition to managing connections from the graphical interface itself, Windows Admin Center includes a PowerShell module Designed to automate the import and export of the resource list. This module is loaded from the console's installation directory, typically within "Program Files\Windows Admin Center\PowerShell\Modules\ConnectionTools".

Within this module, several key cmdlets stand out: Export-Connection and Import-ConnectionThe first allows you to export all connections defined in a specific instance of Windows Admin Center to a CSV file, also preserving the label information. The second does the opposite: it reads a CSV file to create or update connections within the console.

A typical export example would be something like Export-Connection "https://wac.contoso.com" -fileName "WAC-connections.csv"This generates a file containing the list of resources and their tags. You can then use Import-Connection with this same file to replicate the configuration in another instance of Windows Admin Center, or to restore it after a reinstallation.

The -prune option of the Import-Connection cmdlet is especially powerfulWhen used, the tool not only imports the connections included in the CSV file, but also removes any resources from the console that are not listed in the file. In other words, it makes that list the source of truth for the configuration, which is very useful for keeping multiple gateways aligned or for cleaning up legacy environments full of outdated entries.

CSV format for importing connections and practical example

For the import to work correctly, the CSV file must follow a very specific format.The first line must contain four headings, in this order: "name", "type", "tags", and "groupId". Each subsequent line represents a connection, with its data separated by commas and the values ​​enclosed in quotation marks.

The "name" field stores the FQDN or connection namewhich can be the fully qualified DNS name of the managed server or machine. “type” defines the resource type, using internal strings that identify the connection class; for example, “msft.sme.connection-type.server” for a Windows server or “msft.sme.connection-type.cluster” for a failover cluster.

Tags are entered in the "tags" field separated by vertical bars (|)This allows you to assign multiple classifications to each node at once (for example, "hyperv|WS2019|production"). The "groupId" field is used in the context of shared connections, and when you want an entry to be part of the global group, it's common to use the value "global".

An example CSV file would include lines such as "myServer.contoso.com", "msft.sme.connection-type.server", "hyperv" For a simple server with the "hyperv" tag, or for entries where "groupId" has the value "global" in clusters and nodes that you want to publish in the shared list. This simple structure makes it very easy to generate or modify the CSV with scripting tools, text editors, or from other applications.

Using this standardized format allows Windows Admin Center to be integrated into larger automation processes.such as deployment pipelines, infrastructure configuration scripts, or migrations from other remote administration tools. In this way, the connection list can be maintained as a versioned resource, under change controland be replicated across environments with guarantees.

Migrate from RDCMan: CSV conversion script for Windows Admin Center

Many administrators have been managing their teams for years using Remote Desktop Connection Manager (RDCMan)which uses .rdg files to store collections of servers and hierarchical groups. To facilitate the transition to Windows Admin Center, a PowerShell script has been released that can convert these .rdg files into compatible CSV files.

The script first defines an auxiliary function AddServers It iterates through the XML of the .rdg file and identifies nodes of type "server" or "group". When a server is found, it extracts its name and generates an entry in the CSV with the connection type "msft.sme.connection-type.server" and the tags constructed from the group hierarchy in which that server was located within RDCMan.

For nodes of type “group” or “file”, the function accumulates the group name as a label and continues navigating through the child nodes. In this way, each server eventually inherits, as tags, the group path by which it was accessed in RDCMan. Thus, the folder organization is translated into a set of tags that can then be used to filter and group within Windows Admin Center.

The main RdgToWacCsv function is responsible for loading the .rdg file, generating the CSV output path, and writing the headers "name", "type", "tags".Next, it calls AddServers, passing the root node of the XML file. This causes the entire document to be scanned and the corresponding CSV file to be created. Finally, it displays the path to the resulting file.

To use the script, simply run it in a PowerShell session and then invoke RdgToWacCsv -RDGfilepath "path\to\myFile.rdg"Optionally, a different output directory can be specified using the -CSVdirectory parameter. The generated file can then be imported into Windows Admin Center, so that the connection list labels reflect the same grouping hierarchy as in RDCMan.

PowerShell scripts and advanced network and cluster configuration

Beyond graphical management, administrators often complement Windows Admin Center with PowerShell scripts to automate complex network tasks, storage and clusters. Some common examples include preparing NICs, configuring VLANs, enabling RDMA, or creating clusters for Storage Spaces Direct.

A typical pattern involves identifying network cards using Get-NetAdapterassign them logical names and then configure specific VLANs using Set-NetAdapter -VlanID. It is common to see scripts where variables such as $S1Nic and $S2Nic are defined to represent specific adapters (for example, “slot1 port1” and “slot2 port2”) and VLANs such as “12” or “21” are assigned to them to separate traffic.

In virtualization scenarios with Hyper-V and failover clustersThe steps may include installing roles such as Hyper-V, Failover-Clustering, Data-Center-Bridging, or BitLocker using Install-WindowsFeature, along with creating a virtual switch (New-VMSwitch) that binds to two physical NICs, and creating a management adapter on the host operating system with Add-VMNetworkAdapter.

It is also common to configure VLANs for the management network using Set-VmNetworkAdapterVlanas well as adjusting advanced card properties to enable Jumbo Frames (via Set-NetAdapterAdvancedProperty with “Jumbo Packet” and a value of 9014) and enable RDMA depending on the manufacturer. For example, checking with Get-NetAdapter whether the interface is from QLogic or Mellanox to set properties such as “NetworkDirect Technology” or “DcbxMode”.

Once the network, storage, and server base are prepared, the cluster creation process can be automated. with commands like New-Cluster -Name MyCluster1 -Node MYNODE1,MYNODE2 -NoStorage and then enable Storage Spaces Direct with Enable-ClusterStorageSpacesDirect. From there, you can create CSV volumes with New-Volume, specifying sizes, tier names, and a cluster-optimized ReFS file system.

All these types of automation work very well with Windows Admin CenterThe console offers a more user-friendly view for monitoring the results (cluster status, disks, volumes, networks, etc.), while PowerShell remains the Swiss Army knife for initial deployments and advanced configurations. In fact, being able to see the scripts the console itself runs is a great way to get inspiration for writing custom automations.

Windows Admin Center has become a key tool for centralizing the management of multiple PCs, servers, and clusters.It brings together in a single panel many of the tasks that previously required switching between different tools. Although it doesn't yet cover all the functions of RSAT or some classic consoles, its integration with Azure, support for shared connections, tags, bulk CSV import, and its close relationship with PowerShell make it a very powerful option for any modern Windows environment seeking agility and control without losing visibility over the infrastructure.