With Windows Server 2019 and Windows Admin Center, we are able to build hybrid cloud in an easy way. First Windows Admin Center provide a GUI to configure features such as Azure Backup, Azure Site Recovery or Azure File Sync. With Windows Server 2019, we can interconnect an On-Prem host to an Azure virtual network thanks to Azure Virtual Network Adapter. Finally, Storage Migration Service enables to migrate a file server to an Azure File Service such as Azure File Sync. But to be able to leverage all these features from Windows Admin Center, it must be registered in Microsoft Azure. In this topic, I’ll show you step-by-step how to register Windows Admin Center in Microsoft Azure.
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To be able to follow this topic, you need the following:
- An Azure subscription
- A running Windows Admin Center (1809 at least).
Register Windows Admin Center in Microsoft Azure
From a web browser (Edge or Chrome), open Windows Admin Center and click on the wheel at the top right corner. Then click on Azure and Register.
Then copy the code and click on Device Login and past the code you just copied. A Microsoft login pop-up should be raised: enter your Azure Credentials.
If you have several tenant, choose the right one. You can find the tenant ID from the Azure Portal by clicking on Switch Directory. If you have already register a Windows Admin Center before, you can reuse the Azure AD App by selecting the option.
Now you are asked to grant permissions to the Azure AD App. Open an Azure Portal from the browser of your choice.
Then navigate to App Registrations and select your Windows Admin Center App. Edit its settings and click on Required permissions. Finally click on Grant Permissions.
If the Windows Admin Center works well, you should have the following information.
Now you can enjoy Azure Hybrid features such as Azure Backup from Windows Admin Center.
If you wish, you can also use Azure Active Directory to authenticate users and administrators on Windows Admin Center.
Conclusion
With Windows Server 2019 and Windows Admin Center has promised to simplify hybrid scenario. Thanks to Windows Admin Center we are able to configure On-Prem hosts in Azure Site Recovery and Azure Backup. The “hybrid” extensions of Windows Admin Center are still in preview. Just by upgrading extensions, we’ll have more features. This is why Windows Admin Center is a good product (and it’s free !)
