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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 requirementsThe following sections list some initial considerations that you need to review, as well as hardware and software requirements for Server Manager. Hardware requirementsServer Manager is installed by default with all editions of Windows Server 2016. No additional hardware requirements exist for Server Manager. Software and configuration requirementsServer 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 computerThe 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
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 manageImportant 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
To enable Server Manager remote management on Windows Server 2012 R2 or Windows Server 2012 by using Windows PowerShell
To enable Server Manager and Windows PowerShell remote management on older operating systems
Tasks that you can perform in Server ManagerServer 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 ManagerServer 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
To start Server Manager from the Windows desktop
To prevent Server Manager from starting automatically
Restart remote serversYou can restart a remote server from the Servers tile of a role or group page in 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
Export Server Manager settings to other computersIn 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.
Note
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 Server Manager settings to other domain-joined computers
To export Server Manager settings to computers in workgroups
FeedbackSubmit and view feedback for What is the primary difference between the Server Manager in Windows Server 2012 and the previous versions?The primary difference between the Windows Server 2012 Server Manager and previous versions is the ability to add and manage multiple servers at once. Server Manager has been tested with as many as 100 servers added to the interface.
How do I get to computer management in Windows Server 2012?To open MMC from the desktop
On the desktop, press the Windows logo key+R to open the Run dialog box. In the Run dialog box, type mmc, and then press Enter.
Which of the following features must be added to a Windows Server 2012 R2 Server Core installation to convert IT to the minimal server interface?Removing the Graphical Management Tools and Infrastructure feature is required to convert to a Server Core installation.
Which of the following tasks can you not perform remotely on a server running Windows Server 2008?A. Correct: You cannot install roles on a remote server running Windows Server 2008 by using Server Manager.
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