Windows Admin Center is a locally deployed browser-based app used for managing Windows servers, clusters, and hyper-converged infrastructure. This can be used to manage Windows 10 and Windows 11 devices as well. It is a free product and is ready to use in production. In this article, you will learn how to troubleshoot and Fix Windows Admin Center cannot be reached. Please see How to schedule and run Windows Update via Windows Admin Center, how to set up WAC on a Windows Server, and how to update install, update and uninstall extensions in Windows Admin Center.
Windows Admin Center complements other existing Windows management tools but does not replace existing Microsoft monitoring and management solutions such as Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT), System Center, Intune, or Azure Stack.
In the past, I have discussed how to install WAC. Kindly take a look at some of these interesting guides: How to Install Windows Admin Center on Windows 10 and Windows 11, how to Manage Azure Virtual Machines with Windows Admin Center and Serial Console, and how to upgrade Windows Admin Center.
Reason for this error “Windows Admin Center cannot be reached”
Below is an error that will be prompted when you try to access
- From an unsupported browser.
- When WAC service isn’t running, or running WAC in an unsupported Windows version such as Win10 1703 or earlier.
WAC isn't supported on your version of Microsoft Edge. You should either upgrade to a recent version of Windows 10 or use Google Chrome or have firewall issues etc.
You may also have to configure TrustedHost depending on some requirements. If you wish to add servers to the Trusted Hosts.
You will need to troubleshoot (find out) why WAC can not be reached. As you can see, every issue mentioned above doesn’t apply to me.
In the next paragraph, I will be showing you how to resolve this issue. See this error and its resolutions: How to install Windows Admin Center (WAC) in an unattended mode using a self-signed certificate.
Resolve Windows Admin Center can’t be reached
The process to resolve this issue is similar to how to upgrade Windows Admin Center, but not entirely.
In order to resolve this issue, kindly check if you have selected the right certificate during the upgrade, or re-installation of WAC. Also, check if you have recently requested and installed a new certificate. The latter was in my case.
Launch the Windows Control Panel and navigate to Programs and Features as shown below. Right-click on WAC and select change or click on Windows Admin Center and Click on the Change menu above.
You will be greeted with the Windows Admin Center Setup-Assistant dialogue. Click on Continue to proceed.
This will open up the Admin Center-Setup page. Unfortunately, you cannot repair it. Click on Change as shown below.
This will open the Gateway endpoint configuration window. Ensure you enter the right certificate fingerprint. Shortly, I will be showing you how you can obtain the Thumbprints. You can uncheck the last option (it is just HTTP – HTTPS redirection).
Get the installed certificate Thumbprint
To get your installed certificate Thumbprint, head over to the MMC. Here are some related guides: How to import a certificate into the Trusted Root and Personal file certificate store, and how to request a certificate signing request in Windows using Microsoft Management Console.
After entering the right certificate fingerprints, click on continue.
As you can see below, the WAC configuration will be changed.
Click on Finish to complete the WAC setup as shown below.
You should be able to reach the WAC once again.
You can click on the following hyperlink from Microsoft to learn about the alternative steps on selecting the right certificate for WAC authentication
I hope you found this blog post helpful. You have learned how to troubleshoot and Fix Windows Admin Center cannot be reached. If you have any questions, please let me know in the comment session.