Create and Manage Server Groups

Applies To: Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2

This topic describes how to create custom, user-defined groups of servers in Server Manager in Windows Server® 2012 R2 and Windows Server® 2012.

Server groups

Servers that you add to the server pool are displayed on the All Servers page in Server Manager. You can create custom groups of servers that you have added. Server groups allow you to view and manage a smaller subset of your server pool as a logical unit; for example, you can create a group called Accounting Servers for all servers in your organization’s Accounting department, or a group called Chicago for all servers that are geographically located in Chicago. After you create a server group, the group’s home page in Server Manager displays information about events, services, performance counters, Best Practices Analyzer results, and installed roles and features for the group as a whole.

Servers can be a member of more than one group.

To create a new server group

1. On the Manage menu, click Create Server Group.

2. In the Server group name text box, type a friendly name for your server group, such as Accounting Servers.

3. Add servers to the Selected list from the server pool, or add other servers to the group by using the Active Directory, DNS, or Import tabs. For more information about how to use these tabs, see Add Servers to Server Manager in this topic.

4. When you have finished adding servers to the group, click OK. The new group is displayed in the Server Manager navigation pane under the All Servers group.

To edit an existing server group

1. Do one of the following.

   • In the Server Manager navigation pane, right-click a server group, and then click Edit Server Group.

   • On the home page for the server group, open the Tasks menu on the Servers tile, and then click Edit Server Group.

2. Change the group name, or add or remove servers from the group.

   Note

   Removing servers from a server group does not remove servers from Server Manager. Servers that you remove from a group remain in the All Servers group, in the server pool.

3. When you are finished with changes to the group, click OK.

To delete an existing server group

1. Do one of the following.

   • In the Server Manager navigation pane, right-click a server group, and then click Delete Server Group.

   • On the home page for the server group, open the Tasks menu on the Servers tile, and then click Delete Server Group.

2. When you are prompted to make sure you want to delete the server group, click Yes.

   Note

   Deleting a server group does not remove servers from Server Manager. Servers that were in a deleted group remain in the All Servers group, in the server pool.

3. When you are finished with changes to the group, click OK.

See Also

Add Servers to Server Manager
Manage Multiple, Remote Servers with Server Manager