Go To Server

Find your server's address and port number. If you aren't connecting to a pre-configured server, you'll need to know the server's address and port number. Some websites will display Minecraft servers in 'address:port' configuration (e.g., 'play.avengetech.me:19132'). Real-time go servers in which two players play online simultaneously just like over a real goban. Games usually last from 10 minutes to one and a half hours Turn-Based go servers allow you to post a move to a website, and check back later for your opponents response. Games usually last from a few weeks to many months.

Applies to: Configuration Manager (current branch)

Administrators use the Configuration Manager console to manage the Configuration Manager environment. This article covers the fundamentals of navigating the console.

Open the console

The Configuration Manager console is always installed on every site server. You can also install it on other computers. For more information, see Install the Configuration Manager console.

The simplest method to open the console on a Windows 10 computer, press Start and start typing Configuration Manager console. You may not need to type the entire string for Windows to find the best match.

If you browse the Start menu, look for the Configuration Manager console icon in the Microsoft Endpoint Manager group.

Note

The Start menu path changed in version 1910. In version 1906 and earlier, the folder name is System Center. When you update Configuration Manager to version 1910 or later, make sure to update any internal documentation that you maintain to include this new location.

Connect to a site server

The console connects to your central administration site server or to your primary site servers. You can't connect a Configuration Manager console to a secondary site. During installation, you specified the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the site server to which the console connects.

To connect to a different site server, use the following steps:

1. Select the arrow at the top of the ribbon, and choose Connect to a New Site.

2. Type in the FQDN of the site server. If you've previously connected to site server, select the server from the drop-down list.

3. Select Connect.

Starting in version 1810, you can specify the minimum authentication level for administrators to access Configuration Manager sites. This feature enforces administrators to sign in to Windows with the required level. For more information, see Plan for the SMS Provider.

Navigation

Some areas of the console may not be visible depending on your assigned security role. For more information about roles, see Fundamentals of role-based administration.

Workspaces

The Configuration Manager console has four workspaces:

• Assets and Compliance

• Software Library

• Monitoring

• Administration

Reorder workspace buttons by selecting the down arrow and choosing Navigation Pane Options. Select an item to Move Up or Move Down. Select Reset to restore the default button order.

Minimize a workspace button by selecting Show Fewer Buttons. The last workspace in the list is minimized first. Select a minimized button and choose Show More Buttons to restore the button to its original size.

Nodes

Workspaces are a collection of nodes. One example of a node is the Software Update Groups node in the Software Library workspace.

Once you are in the node, you can select the arrow to minimize the navigation pane.

Use the navigation bar to move around the console when you minimize the navigation pane.

In the console, nodes are sometimes organized into folders. When you select the folder, it usually displays a navigation index or a dashboard.

Ribbon

The ribbon is at the top of the Configuration Manager console. The ribbon can have more than one tab and can be minimized using the arrow on the right. The buttons on the ribbon change based on the node. Most of the buttons in the ribbon are also available on context menus.

Details pane

You can get additional information about items by reviewing the details pane. The details pane can have one or more tabs. The tabs vary depending on the node.

Columns

You can add, remove, reorder, and resize columns. These actions allow you to display the data you prefer. Available columns vary depending on the node. To add or remove a column from your view, right-click on an existing column heading and select an item. Reorder columns by dragging the column heading where you would like it to be.

At the bottom of the column context menu, you can sort or group by a column. Additionally, you can sort by a column by selecting its header.

Reclaim lock for editing objects

If the Configuration Manager console stops responding, you can be locked out of making further changes until the lock expires after 30 minutes. This lock is part of the Configuration Manager SEDO (Serialized Editing of Distributed Objects) system. For more information, see Configuration Manager SEDO.

Starting in current branch version 1906, you could clear your lock on a task sequence. Starting in version 1910, you can clear your lock on any object in the Configuration Manager console.

This action only applies to your user account that has the lock, and on the same device from which the site granted the lock. When you attempt to access a locked object, you can now Discard Changes, and continue editing the object. These changes would be lost anyway when the lock expired.

View recently connected consoles

Starting in version 1902, you can view the most recent connections for the Configuration Manager console. The view includes active connections and those connections that recently connected. You'll always see your current console connection in the list and you only see connections from the Configuration Manager console. You won't see PowerShell or other SDK-based connections to the SMS Provider. The site removes instances from the list that are older than 30 days.

Prerequisites to view connected consoles

• Your account needs the Read permission on the SMS_Site object

• Configure the administration service REST API. For more information, see What is the administration service?

View connected consoles

1. In the Configuration Manager console, go to the Administration workspace.

2. Expand Security and select the Console Connections node.

3. View the recent connections, with the following properties:

   • User name
   • Machine name
   • Connected site code
   • Console version
   • Last connected time: When the user last opened the console
   • Starting in version 1910, the Last Console Heartbeat column has replaced the Last Connected Time column.
     • An open console in the foreground sends a heartbeat every 10 minutes.

Start Microsoft Teams Chat from Console Connections

(Introduced in version 1910)

Starting in version 1910, you can message other Configuration Manager administrators from the Console Connections node using Microsoft Teams. When you choose to Start Microsoft Teams Chat with an administrator, Microsoft Teams is launched and a chat is opened with the user.

Prerequisites

• For starting a chat with an administrator, the account you want to chat with needs to have been discovered with Azure AD or AD User Discovery.
• Microsoft Teams installed on the device from which you run the console.note
• All prerequisites to view connected consoles

Start Microsoft Teams Chat

1. Go to Administration > Security > Console Connections.
2. Right-click on a user's console connection and select Start Microsoft Teams Chat.
   • If the User Principal Name isn't found for the selected administrator, Start Microsoft Teams Chat is grayed out.
   • An error message, including a download link, appears if Microsoft Teams isn't installed on the device from which you run the console.
   • If Microsoft Teams is installed on the device from which you run the console, it will open a chat with the user.

Known issues

The error message notifying you that Microsoft Teams isn't installed won't be displayed if the following Registry key doesn't exist:

ComputerHKEY_CURRENT_USERSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionUninstall

To work around the issue, manually create the Registry key.

In-console documentation dashboard

Starting in Configuration Manager version 1902, there's a Documentation node in the new Community workspace. This node includes up-to-date information about Configuration Manager documentation and support articles. It includes the following sections:

Product documentation library

• Recommended: a manually curated list of important articles.
• Trending: the most popular articles for the last month.
• Recently updated: articles revised in the last month.

Support articles

• Troubleshooting articles: guided walkthroughs to assist with troubleshooting Configuration Manager components and features.
• New and updated support articles: articles that are new or updated in the last two months.

Troubleshooting connection errors

The Documentation node has no explicit proxy configuration. It uses any OS-defined proxy in the Internet Options control panel applet. To retry after a connection error, refresh the Documentation node.

Command-line options

The Configuration Manager console has the following command-line options:

Next steps

Applies To: Windows Server (Semi-Annual Channel), Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012

Server Manager is a management console in Windows Server that helps IT professionals provision and manage both local and remote Windows-based servers from their desktops, without requiring either physical access to servers, or the need to enable Remote Desktop protocol (rdP) connections to each server. Although Server Manager is available in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2008, Server Manager was updated in Windows Server 2012 to support remote, multi-server management, and help increase the number of servers an administrator can manage.

In our tests, Server Manager in Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012 R2, and Windows Server 2012 can be used to manage up to 100 servers, depending on the workloads that the servers are running. The number of servers that you can manage by using a single Server Manager console can vary depending on the amount of data that you request from managed servers, and hardware and network resources available to the computer running Server Manager. As the amount of data you want to display approaches that computer's resource capacity, you can experience slow responses from Server Manager, and delays in the completion of refreshes. To help increase the number of servers that you can manage by using Server Manager, we recommend limiting the event data that Server Manager gets from your managed servers, by using settings in the Configure Event Data dialog box. Configure Event Data can be opened from the Tasks menu in the Events tile. If you need to manage an enterprise-level number of servers in your organization, we recommend evaluating products in the Microsoft System Center suite.

This topic and its subtopics provide information about how to use features in the Server Manager console. This topic contains the following sections.

Review initial considerations and system requirements

The following sections list some initial considerations that you need to review, as well as hardware and software requirements for Server Manager.

Hardware requirements

Server Manager is installed by default with all editions of Windows Server 2016. No additional hardware requirements exist for Server Manager.

Software and configuration requirements

Server Manager is installed by default with all editions of Windows Server 2016. You can use Server Manager in Windows Server 2016 to manage Server Core installation options of Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012 , and Windows Server 2008 R2 that are running on remote computers. Server Manager does run on the Server Core installation option of Windows Server 2016.

Server Manager runs in the Minimal Server Graphical Interface; that is, when the Server Graphical Shell feature is not installed. The Server Graphical Shell feature is not installed by default on Windows Server 2016. If you are not running Server Graphical Shell, the Server Manager console runs, but some applications or tools available from the console are not available. Internet browsers cannot run without Server Graphical Shell, so webpages and applications such as HTML help (The mmc F1 help, for example) cannot be opened. You cannot open dialog boxes for configuring Windows automatic updating and feedback when Server Graphical Shell is not installed; commands that open these dialog boxes in the Server Manager console are redirected to run sconfig.cmd.

To manage servers that are running Windows Server releases older than Windows Server 2016, install the following software and updates to make the older releases of Windows Server manageable by using Server Manager in Windows Server 2016.

Manage remote computers from a client computer

The Server Manager console is included with Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 10. Note that when Remote Server Administration Tools is installed on a client computer, you cannot manage the local computer by using Server Manager; Server Manager cannot be used to manage computers or devices that are running a Windows client operating system. You can only use Server Manager to manage Windows-based servers.

To start Server Manager on a client computer

1. Follow instructions in Remote Server Administration Tools to install Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 10.

2. On the start screen, click Server Manager. The Server Manager tile is available after you install Remote Server Administration Tools.

3. if neither the Administrative Tools nor the Server Manager tiles are displayed on the start screen after installing Remote Server Administration Tools, and searching for Server Manager on the start screen does not display results, verify that the Show administrative tools setting is turned on. To view this setting, hover the mouse cursor over the upper right corner of the start screen, and then click Settings. If Show administrative tools is turned off, turn the setting on to display tools that you have installed as part of Remote Server Administration Tools.

for more information about running Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 10 to manage remote servers, see Remote Server Administration Tools on the TechNet Wiki.

Configure remote management on servers that you want to manage

Important

By default, Server Manager and Windows PowerShell remote management is enabled in Windows Server 2016.

To perform management tasks on remote servers by using Server Manager, remote servers that you want to manage must be configured to allow remote management by using Server Manager and Windows PowerShell. If remote management has been disabled on Windows Server 2012 R2 or Windows Server 2012 , and you want to enable it again, perform the following steps.

To configure Server Manager remote management on Windows Server 2012 R2 or Windows Server 2012 by using the Windows interface

1. Note

   The settings that are controlled by the Configure remote Management dialog box do not affect parts of Server Manager that use DCOM for remote communications.

   Do one of the following to open Server Manager if it is not already open.

   • On the Windows taskbar, click the Server Manager button.

   • On the start screen, click Server Manager.

2. In the Properties area of the Local Servers page, click the hyperlinked value for the remote management property.

3. Do one of the following, and then click OK.

   • To prevent this computer from being managed remotely by using Server Manager (or Windows PowerShell if it is installed), clear the Enable remote management of this server from other computers check box.

   • To let this computer be managed remotely by using Server Manager or Windows PowerShell, select Enable remote management of this server from other computers.

To enable Server Manager remote management on Windows Server 2012 R2 or Windows Server 2012 by using Windows PowerShell

1. Do one of the following.

   • To run Windows PowerShell as an administrator from the start screen, right-click the Windows PowerShell tile, and then click Run as Administrator.

   • To run Windows PowerShell as an administrator from the desktop, right-click the Windows PowerShell shortcut in the taskbar, and then click Run as Administrator.

2. type the following, and then press Enter to enable all required firewall rule exceptions.

   Configure-SMremoting.exe -Enable

   Note

   This command also works in a command prompt that has been opened with elevated user rights (Run as Administrator).

   if enabling remote management fails, see about_remote_Troubleshooting on Microsoft TechNet for troubleshooting tips and best practices.

To enable Server Manager and Windows PowerShell remote management on older operating systems

• Do one of the following.

  • To enable remote management on servers that are running Windows Server 2008 R2 , see remote Management with Server Manager in the Windows Server 2008 R2 help.

  • To enable remote management on servers that are running Windows Server 2008 , see Enable and Use remote Commands in Windows PowerShell.

Tasks that you can perform in Server Manager

Server Manager makes server administration more efficient by allowing administrators to do tasks in the following table by using a single tool. In Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2012 , both standard users of a server and members of the Administrators group can perform management tasks in Server Manager, but by default, standard users are prevented from performing some tasks, as shown in the following table.

Administrators can use two Windows PowerShell cmdlets in the Server Manager cmdlet module, Enable-ServerManagerStandardUserremoting and Disable-ServerManagerStandardUserremoting, to further control standard user access to some additional data. The Enable-ServerManagerStandardUserremoting cmdlet can provide one or more standard, non-Administrator users access to event, service, performance counter, and role and feature inventory data.

Important

Server Manager cannot be used to manage a newer release of the Windows Server operating system. Server Manager running on Windows Server 2012 or Windows 8 cannot be used to manage servers that are running Windows Server 2012 R2 .

Note

Server Manager cannot be used to add roles and features to servers that are running Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2008 .

Start Server Manager

Server Manager starts automatically by default on servers that are running Windows Server 2016 when a member of the Administrators group logs on to a server. If you close Server Manager, restart it in one of the following ways. This section also contains steps for changing the default behavior, and preventing Server Manager from starting automatically.

To start Server Manager from the start screen

• On the Windows start screen, click the Server Manager tile.

To start Server Manager from the Windows desktop

• On the Windows taskbar, click Server Manager.

To prevent Server Manager from starting automatically

1. In the Server Manager console, on the Manage menu, click Server Manager Properties.

2. In the Server Manager Properties dialog box, fill the check box for Do not start Server Manager automatically at logon. Click OK.

3. Alternatively, you can prevent Server Manager from starting automatically by enabling the Group Policy setting, Do not start Server Manager automatically at logon. The path to this policy setting, in the Local Group Policy editor console, is computer ConfigurationAdministrative TemplatesSystemServer Manager.

Restart remote servers

You can restart a remote server from the Servers tile of a role or group page in Server Manager.

Go To Server Manager

Important

Restarting a remote server forces the server to restart, even if users are still logged on to the remote server, and even if programs with unsaved data are still open. This behavior is different from shutting down or restarting the local computer, on which you would be prompted to save unsaved program data, and verify that you wanted to force logged-on users to log off. Be sure that you can force other users to log off of remote servers, and that you can discard unsaved data in programs that are running on the remote servers.

if an automatic refresh occurs in Server Manager while a managed server is shutting down and restarting, refresh and manageability status errors can occur for the managed server, because Server Manager cannot connect to the remote server until it is finished restarting.

To restart remote servers in Server Manager

1. Open a role or server group home page in Server Manager.

2. select one or more remote servers that you have added to Server Manager. Press and hold Ctrl as you click to select multiple servers at one time. For more information about how to add servers to the Server Manager server pool, see add Servers to Server Manager.

3. Right-click selected servers, and then click Restart Server.

Export Server Manager settings to other computers

In Server Manager, your list of managed servers, changes to Server Manager console settings, and custom groups that you have created are stored in the following two files. You can reuse these settings on other computers that are running the same release of Server Manager (or Windows 10 with Remote Server Administration Tools installed). Remote Server Administration Tools must be running on Windows client-based computers to export Server Manager settings to those computers.

• %appdata%MicrosoftWindowsServerManagerServerlist.xml

• %appdata%LocalMicrosoft_CorporationServerManager.exe_StrongName_GUID6.2.0.0user.config

Note

• Manage As (or alternate) credentials for servers in your server pool are not stored in the roaming profile. Server Manager users must add them on each computer from which they want to manage.
• The network share roaming profile is not created until a user logs on to the network, and then logs off for the first time. The Serverlist.xml file is created at this time.

You can export Server Manager settings, make Server Manager settings portable, or use them on other computers in one of the following two ways.

• To export settings to another domain-joined computer, configure the Server Manager user to have a roaming profile in active directory Users and computers. You must be a Domain Administrator to change user properties in active directory Users and computers.

• To export settings to another computer in a workgroup, copy the preceding two files to the same location on the computer from which you want to manage by using Server Manager.

To export Server Manager settings to other domain-joined computers

1. In active directory Users and computers, open the Properties dialog box for a Server Manager user.

2. On the Profile tab, add a path to a network share to store the user's profile.

3. Do one of the following.

   • On U.S. English (en-us) builds, changes to the Serverlist.xml file are automatically saved to the profile. Go on to the next step.

   • On other builds, copy the following two files from the computer that is running Server Manager to the network share that is part of the user's roaming profile.

     • %appdata%MicrosoftWindowsServerManagerServerlist.xml

     • %localappdata%Microsoft_CorporationServerManager.exe_StrongName_GUID6.2.0.0user.config

4. Click OK to save your changes and close the Properties dialog box.

How To Set Up Your Own Server

To export Server Manager settings to computers in workgroups

Go To Server Manager On Windows 10

• On a computer from which you want to manage remote servers, overwrite the following two files with the same files from another computer that is running Server Manager, and that has the settings you want.

  • %appdata%MicrosoftWindowsServerManagerServerlist.xml

  • %localappdata%Microsoft_CorporationServerManager.exe_StrongName_GUID6.2.0.0user.config