Introducing Windows Admin Center: Virtualization Mode (vMode)

Now in Public Preview 

Windows Admin Center has long been a favorite tool for IT pros, trusted to manage millions of Windows Servers around the world. Over the years, Windows Admin Center’s browser-based console has made every day server administration easier and more accessible. Now, responding directly to your feedback and evolving needs, we are introducing a new Virtualization Mode (vMode) in the latest Windows Admin Center Public Preview. vMode is a purpose-built experience to help you easily manage on-premises Windows Server Hyper-V virtualization at scale – across multiple hosts and clusters – while effortlessly bridging your environment with Azure Arc for a true hybrid cloud experience. 

In this blog post, we’ll explore what Virtualization Mode is all about, why it was created, and how it empowers IT administrators to oversee their entire virtualization estate with greater simplicity. We’ll highlight the capabilities of vMode, discuss how it connects your Hyper-V infrastructure to Azure for hybrid adaptability, share why this update is such a big deal for Windows Server customers, and provide our roadmap for what comes next. 

Why a new virtualization mode? Listening to you and adapting to change 

Windows Admin Center has been immensely popular since its launch, with an extensible server-oriented design that provides IT professionals with the right tools and insights to manage all their Windows Servers from Active Directory controllers to virtualization hosts and everything in between. This server-oriented design (now called Administration Mode) understands each server’s individual configuration providing optimal insights and tools - perfect for general administration. After carefully considering your feedback, we found that those managing more complex Hyper-V environments needed a specialized console to oversee and manage their on-premises virtualization setups—one capable of handling multiple hosts, clusters, and sophisticated storage and network configurations. 

We heard your feedback loud and clear. The result is Windows Admin Center: Virtualization Mode, or vMode. It’s a new approach dedicated to virtualization management, designed as a direct response to your needs. With vMode enabled, Windows Admin Center transforms into a central console for your Hyper-V hosts, clusters, VMs, storage, and virtual networks – all in one place. And it does so while maintaining Windows Admin Center’s hallmark simplicity, leveraging Azure Arc to enable an adaptive cloud approach. 

Meet vMode public preview: purpose built management for Hyper-V  

When you setup Windows Admin Center Public Preview, you’ll have two separate installation options: the traditional Administrator mode (aMode) or the new Virtualization mode (vMode). At its core, Virtualization Mode (vMode) is about centralizing and streamlining Hyper-V management. Instead of connecting to each server or cluster individually, you can now deploy Windows Admin Center as a stateful appliance and manage your Hyper-V virtualization fabric from a single dashboard. Here are some of the key capabilities and design features that make vMode a game-changer: 

• Scalable, multi-host management: vMode has been designed for large environments, allowing a single Windows Admin Center system to manage up to hundreds of Hyper-V hosts or tens of thousands of virtual machines. You can onboard both standalone servers and multiple clusters, viewing all VMs and hosts in one unified console without switching between tabs or sessions. 

• Unified inventory and dashboard: The Virtual Machines tool in vMode offers a single view of all VMs, displaying their status, host, OS, and resource use. Use global search to quickly locate any VM, host, cluster, or storage object by name. The dashboard highlights key stats like active VMs, cluster health, and CPU/memory usage for an instant overview. 

• Appliance-style deployment: vMode is designed for easy, “appliance-like” setup. Simply install Windows Admin Center on your management server (such as Windows Server 2022/2025), enable Virtualization Mode, and finish deployment in under 10 minutes. The system automatically sets up a lightweight PostgreSQL database to track VM/host inventory and status, so admins don’t need to manage it manually—it’s included with the WAC gateway service. This creates a central Windows Admin Center instance accessible by your entire team. 

• Bulk actions and simplified workflows: vMode lets you manage multiple resources efficiently with bulk operations and streamlined workflows. The Windows Admin Center UI supports live migrations between cluster nodes, and new wizards help with tasks like importing VMs or replicating VMs between hosts or clusters easily. 

• Virtualization-focused UI & tools: In vMode, Windows Admin Center displays only virtualization-related tools, such as VM management, virtual networks, Hyper-V settings, and Storage Spaces Direct. This streamlined interface helps admins focus efficiently. Hosts can be organized into logical groups, simplifying navigation as your environment expands. 

• Performance and responsiveness: Managing thousands of VMs could be overwhelming, but vMode brings significant performance optimizations to make it snappy. The Windows Admin Center team reworked how data is loaded: the VM list and host statuses populate quickly and are quickly retrieved from the database maintaining persistent state.  

To sum up, with vMode, you get a unified view, bulk management powers, and a UI tuned to virtualization needs – all without losing the simplicity that made Windows Admin Center popular. 

Hybrid-Ready: Azure Arc integration for adaptive cloud management 

A huge advantage of Windows Admin Center has always been its ability to integrate on-premises environments with Azure services (the “hybrid” aspect). The new Virtualization Mode will double down on this by making Azure Arc integration easier and more powerful than ever for your virtualized apps. 

What is Azure Arc? In brief, Azure Arc is a Microsoft solution that links your on-premises or other-cloud resources to Azure, treating them as “first-class” Azure resources for management purposes. For servers, Arc enables high-value cloud-native tools like Azure Monitor, Azure Update Management, Azure Security Center (Defender for Cloud), and more, even for machines running outside Azure. It’s a key to building a hybrid cloud where you can centrally manage resources across on-prem and Azure in a unified way. 

In the context of vMode, Azure Arc integration means you can “Arc-enable” your Hyper-V VMs running on them with a few clicks – and then leverage Azure to extend your management capabilities: 

• Unified cloud management (adaptive cloud): After connecting on-prem assets via Arc, they're visible in the Azure Portal, allowing you to manage Arc-connected servers with Azure services while retaining local management through WAC. You can use Azure Monitor for centralized VM alerts or Azure Policy to enforce security configurations. Windows Admin Center vMode gives you control over VM settings and migrations. This hybrid approach lets you maintain critical workloads on-premises and use Azure for backup, monitoring, and governance, with vMode streamlining the process. 

Real world example: Suppose you're running a Hyper-V cluster with various business apps. With WAC vMode, you can easily organize and monitor your VMs. By enabling Arc through Windows Admin Center, you get Azure Backup for cloud-based VM protection and use Azure Update Manager to automate Windows Updates from the Azure Portal. Your VMs still run locally on Hyper-V, but management becomes streamlined across both on-prem and Azure environments.  

In summary, Azure Arc integration in vMode turns your on-prem Hyper-V deployment into a hybrid cloud solution. 

No additional cost, no additional complexity 

Windows Admin Center (including vMode) is included at no additional charge with Windows Server Datacenter or standard licenses. There’s no additional license or SKU needed for Windows Admin Center or vMode. Unlike many other virtualization management tools that charge extra fees, Microsoft offers these features at no added cost, making Hyper-V with Windows Admin Center a highly cost-effective solution. The inclusion of advanced features like vMode in a free tool helps lower total cost of ownership.  

Windows Admin Center vMode public preview was developed with community input, incorporating user and partner feedback as well as Insider previews. We will continue to update Virtualization Mode, available through Windows Admin Center’s extension feed or versioned releases. A new VM conversion extension is already in Public Preview, enabling VMware-to-Hyper-V migration directly from Windows Admin Center. The modular design of Windows Admin Center allows additional extensions to integrate with vMode over time.  

Empowering your hybrid virtualization journey 

The introduction of Virtualization Mode in Windows Admin Center streamlines Windows Server management by enabling small IT teams to centrally manage Hyper-V resources (such as hosts, VMs, SDN, and S2D) with ease. This feature also supports Azure integration, allowing organizations to adopt a hybrid approach efficiently. With this public preview, we recommend you take vMode for a test drive and let us know what you think. We have more features in the pipeline for Public Preview 2 including: 

• Virtual Machine Templates 

• Hyper-V Replica 

• Azure Arc Integration 

Public Preview 2 is scheduled for Q1 of 2026 with more to come so stay tuned for upcoming information and updates!  

Ultimately, Windows Admin Center’s Virtualization Mode is about making day-to-day virtualization ops more efficient, helping you consolidate management tasks, and position your environment for the future by connecting it with Azure. 

Learn more & get started: Windows Admin Center with vMode is now in Public Preview. Download it here: https://aka.ms/WACDownloadvMode. To share feedback or suggestions, click the question mark in the top right corner of Windows Admin Center and select “Give us feedback.” The WAC dev team actively monitors feedback channels. Please note: This preview is for evaluation only and isn’t supported in production environments.  

Windows Admin Center’s new Virtualization Mode is more than just a feature update; it’s an evolution driven by the community of IT professionals. Windows Admin Center vMode simplifies on-premises virtualization management and integrates it with the cloud, on your terms. Give it a try and experience how managing Hyper-V can become as modern and streamlined as the rest of your IT environment. 

Happy virtualizing with Windows Admin Center vMode! 

-Jeff Woolsey and the Windows Server Team