Azure Arc: Windows Admin Center unavailable.

Question

I am hoping to get some better clarification concerning the following comment regarding the Azure Arc and Windows Admin Center.

What does the following actually mean: "Microsoft requires devices to be in good working order to obtain a Pay-as-you-go license"

Original Link: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/2117527/windows-admin-center-unavailable-even-with-benefit?page=1&orderby=Helpful&comment=answer-1874924#newest-answer-comment

I have both a Partner's and a Pay as You Go Subscription, yet I am not able to enable Windows Admin Cetner for premise-based systems (configured as per: Azure Arc Agent Prerequisites: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-arc/servers/prerequisites) even though according to several Microsoft Documents specifically this one https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/azure-arc/core-control-plane/#pricing states that this service is part of the Azure Arc - core control plane as is free.

Basically, I was under the impression that the primary purpose of Azure Arc was to enable businesses to leverage Azure management capabilities outside of Azure such premise-based and AWS Services. Is this no longer the case? If what is the go forwarded solution for businesses that have such systems in place (please provide detail links)?

Answer 1

Hi @IngramQuick-5843
Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A Platform! Thank you for asking your question here.  I understand that you are having trouble enabling Windows Admin Center for premise-based systems using Azure Arc. The comment you mentioned means that Microsoft requires devices to be in good working order to obtain a Pay-as-you-go license for Azure services. 

Regarding your issue, Windows Admin Center is indeed part of the Azure Arc - core control plane and is free to use. However, there may be other requirements or configurations that need to be met in order to use it with your premise-based systems. 

I suggest checking the Azure Arc documentation and making sure that all the prerequisites are met for using Windows Admin Center with your systems. Here is the link to the Azure Arc documentation: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-arc/ 

If you are still having trouble after checking the documentation, I recommend reaching out to Azure Support for further assistance. They can help you investigate the issue and find a solution. You can reach out to them by going to Help + Support in the Azure Portal and selecting Azure Arc as the issue. 
If you have any further queries, do let us know  

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