This 2410 preview release improves upon the last Windows Admin Center 2410 Public Preview build that was released on October 16th. This build comes with new additions to the virtual machines tool, updates to the security tool, bugfixes, and more. 

Thank you to our customers and partners who have provided feedback on the anticipated Windows Admin Center 2410 release so far—your insights are critical to ensuring we make Windows Admin Center better!   

What's new in this build

Virtual machine tool update  

We have heard your feedback and have improved the virtual machine (VM) tool experience! Our primary goal is to provide you with the list of VMs as soon as possible so you are empowered to efficiently carry out your administrative tasks. To make this easier, we’ve added a toggle in the top right corner of the Virtual machines tool that will allow you to switch between a “detailed” mode and a “light” mode.     

Today, we invite you all to use the tool and share your feedback. 

Highlights:    

• We improved the inventory page’s responsiveness by rewriting how we load and display data; so today - clicking, hovering and scrolling is a lot better than what it used to be   

• The actions performed on a VM (e.g. start, pause, import move etc.) now only update the VM selected without reloading the entire table, saving customers valuable time    

• To prioritize loading the VM list first, certain operations are deferred until after the initial load (e.g., cluster node check)    

• To optimize performance, we have reduced the number of columns in the default view to show only essential information about the VM to you. Note that this can be toggled off using the “Detailed Mode” toggle to switch back to the previous experience     

• In default mode, we now show you the computer name of running Windows VMs and their operating system versions, we’ve categorized this information with the goal to make discovery easy for users 

Additionally, the Move and Import VM features have improved! We’re happy to share with you that we have added a wizard experience that guides you through the steps for importing or moving a VM (and/or its resources). With is change, we empower you to: 

• Change the destination of the stored resources association with the VM different locations configurable by you - the user  

• Reconfigure virtual switches at the destination if needed 

• Provide proper validations of your VM configuration before you perform the action to move or import VM 

• Include better notification and progress update for users to track the status of their VM’s operation 

Although we are actively still investing in these scenarios, we would like to invite you to enable these features and try it out. Remember we will like to hear from you about these features. 

To enable and test these new VM management improvements, follow these steps: 

1. Navigate to your Windows Admin Center settings by selecting the gear in the top right corner of the header.  
2. Navigate to the “Advanced” tab.  
3. Add the following experiment key(s):
   • msft.sme.hyperv.newImportFlow
   • msft.sme.hyperv.newMoveVmFlow 

The first key enables the new import VM experience and the second key above enables the new move VM experience. 

Security tool update  

We now have a tailored security baseline for Windows Server with hundreds of security settings! It supports security best practices based on Microsoft recommended security baselines and industry best practices. Customers can apply the security baseline throughout the device lifecycle starting from initial deployment using Microsoft provided ‘PowerShell tooling’ or Windows Admin Center, supported by the new security configuration platform, ‘OSConfig’. Customers can leverage the ‘inbuilt drift control mechanism’, one of the salient features of the security configuration platform which helps ensure that the system starts and remains in a known good security state.  

Apply the recommended Windows Server security baseline: 

• Center for Internet Security (CIS) Benchmark  

• Defense Information Systems Agency Security Technical Implementation Guides (DISA STIG) 

• Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS 140) requirements for the OS 

• Azure Compute Security baselines  

 
Support of security baselines is intended to make it easier for customers to help meet their compliance and regulatory requirements. 
 
You can learn more about all the new Windows Server 2025 security features and updates here: Windows Server 2025 security book. 
 

Windows Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS) extension is now in preview!  

We are happy to announce we now have a Windows LAPS tool in Windows Admin Center! Now, you can use Windows LAPS to manage your passwords on your LAPS enabled machines within the domain. With this tool, you can reveal and copy passwords of a given machine. You can also view the corresponding password expiration time and update the time stamp. You can also set the expiration time and reset passwords for multiple machines at a time, making password management and authentication more secure, simple, and efficient.  
  

Bugfixes 

The following fixes have been made since the last preview release:  

• Resolved issue where Azure Arc status call on All connections page would fail if you were viewing only cluster connections 

• Resolved issue where the data table search bar in multiple tools was hanging  

• Resolved issue of clusters being added to both Shared connections and personal connections after completing add Shared connections workflow 

• Several bugfixes in the virtual machines tool 

Download today! 

We hope you enjoy this latest update of Windows Admin Center, all the new features, and all the extensions!

Direct download link here! 

As always, thanks for your ongoing support, adoption, and feedback. Your contributions through user feedback continue to be vital and valuable to us, helping us prioritize and sequence our investments. 

Windows Admin Center is continuously evolving and growing as a tool and a platform, and we are beyond thrilled to have you part of our journey. 

Thank you, 

Windows Admin Center Team (@servermgmt)