#ProjectHonolulu the new future of Windows Server GUI management #servermgmt #SMT #winserv

#ProjectHonolulu the new future of Windows Server GUI management #servermgmt #SMT #winserv 2 comments

As Azure Server management tools discontinued the SMT preview service in Azure on June 30, 2017 and we where stuck to Windows Server management such as Remote Desktop, Server Manager, Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT), and other MMC-based management tools. See my old blog post about this : https://robertsmit.wordpress.com/2016/02/12/azure-server-management-tools-offers-a-set-of-web-gui-tools-to-manage-azurestack-servers-rsmt-asmt/

But Microsoft created a fresh new tool to manage all our servers, Project “Honolulu” is the next step in our journey to deliver on our vision for Windows Server graphical management experiences.

Looking at the interface it is great, real-time graphs, single point of management. Loading of some components can take some time(Seconds). But it runs not in the IE 11 version. So if you run this on a management server you will need Google chrome . I had the chance to work with Microsoft during the last couple of months in the Alpha versions. there is a lot of improvement done. There are some options disappeared in the Project ‘Honolulu’ (Technical Preview) and there is a huge whish list and probably when you test the tool you think he this would be nice also. Then go to the Uservoice page and create or vote for your item. There are a lot of items in UserVoice with some of the more popular requests from Private Preview so vote for you item and make Project “Honolulu” a piece of your self https://aka.ms/HonoluluFeedback

Below is a overview of the standard tool set that Project “Honolulu” is offering.

And there is also a light foot print on memory

So what does it take to run this a huge server ? no just a quick install and you are ready to go. it runs with a self signed certificate if you don’t have a public one.

https://robertsmit.wordpress.com/2016/02/12/azure-server-management-tools-offers-a-set-of-web-gui-tools-to-manage-azurestack-servers-rsmt-asmt/

As you can see the Installation is quick and simple easy to setup. Just pick a port number for the website and a Certificate. If you doesn’t have one there will be a self signed cert created. It does say 60 Days and you can look this up in the local computer Certificate store

After the Installation you can open the icon or open a Chrome session to server name and the port number. eh wait what was the port number again ?

The port number is stored in the register

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\ServerManagementGateway]
"SmePort"="51358"
"UseHttps"="1"

Opening the Wrong Browser :

After starting Honolulu in the right browser there is a quick tour. But as always who does this. just skip the tour brave IT person.

In case the tool hangs or is not responding just restart the service.

So after opening we all want to see the nice dashboards and overview. Well you need to add the machines first and that is a lot of work.

No AD select all all typing and fill in the Credentials Luckily there is also a Import.

And the best part is it is just a Text file TXT fill in the names comma or line separated and you are good to go.

Wait for the credentials as you are doing this with the last server and check the box us this for all servers.

Configure-SMremoting.exe -enable

Running this on Server 2012R2 you will need WMF 5 or Windows Management Framework 5.1 Preview

Windows Management Framework 5.1 includes updates to Windows PowerShell, Windows PowerShell Desired State Configuration (DSC), Windows Remote Management (WinRM), Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI). Release notes: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/wmf/5.1/release-notes

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=53347

But running a Quick Cluster in Azure does not bring me the nice dashboard yet.