Client Connector availability with Windows Home Server, Small Business Server and Windows Server Essentials for Supported Client OS

[This post comes to us courtesy of Schumann GE from Product Group, Sabir Chandwale and Sandeep Biswas from Global Business Support]

[This post is updated on October 21, 2015]

In today’s post we will discuss about the client connector availability for supported client OS joined to the following Server OS: 

  • Windows Home Server 2011

  • Small Business Server 2011 Essentials

  • Small Business Server 2011 Standard / Premium

  • Windows Server Essentials 2012

  • Windows Server Essentials 2012 R2

  • Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard/Datacenter with Essentials Experience Role

 

Client OS: Windows 7

SERVER OS
Client OS
Windows 7
Installation
Client Connect to Server
Client Backup
Client Backup restore
Package availability
Known Issue
Windows Home Server 2011

Working

Working

Working

Working

INBOX

NONE

Small Business Server 2011 Essentials

Working

Working

Working

Working

INBOX

NONE

Small Business Server 2011 Standard

Working

Working

NA

NA

INBOX

NONE

Windows Server Essentials 2012

Working

Working

Working

Working

INBOX

NONE

Windows Server Essentials 2012 R2

Working

Working

Working

Working after client OS hotfix installation

Auto download from DLC

NONE

Client OS: Windows 8/8.1

SERVER OS
Client OS
Windows 8 / Windows 8.1
Installation
Client Connect to Server
Client Backup
Client Backup restore
Package availability
Known Issue
Windows Home Server 2011

Working

Working

Working

Working

INBOX

NONE

Small Business Server 2011 Essentials

Working

Working

Working

Working

INBOX

NONE

Small Business Server 2011 Standard

Working

Working

NA

NA

INBOX

NONE

Windows Server Essentials 2012

Working

Working

Working

Working

INBOX

NONE

Windows Server Essentials 2012 R2

Working

Working

Working

Working after client OS hotfix installation

Auto download from DLC

NONE

Client OS: Windows 10 RTM

SERVER OS
Client OS
Windows 10 RTM
Installation
Client Connect to Server
Client Backup
Client Backup restore
Package availability
Known Issue
Windows Home Server 2011
Working
Working
Working
Working
INBOX
NONE
Small Business Server 2011 Essentials
Working
Working
Working
Working
INBOX
NONE
Small Business Server 2011 Standard
Working
Working with work-around
NA
NA
INBOX
Follow instructions as mentioned under Appendix-A
Windows Server Essentials 2012
Working
Working
Working
Working
INBOX
NONE
Windows Server Essentials 2012 R2
Requires manually installation
Working
Working
Working
X64
X86
User needs to manually download and install the client connector until the fix on the server is available which is being targeted to be released tentatively in October November 17, 2015.

Appendix-A

User needs to add the following two lines to the XML file on the server located at -
C:\Program Files\Windows Small Business Server\Bin\WebApp\ClientDeployment\packageFiles\supportedOS.xml

<OS Architecture="9" RequiredProductType="1" RequiredSuite="" ExcludedSuite="512" SPMinor="" SPMajor="" Build="10240" Minor="0" Major="10" Name="Windows 10, AMD64" id="9"/>
<OS Architecture="0" RequiredProductType="1" RequiredSuite="" ExcludedSuite="512" SPMinor="" SPMajor="" Build="10240" Minor="0" Major="10" Name="Windows 10, x86" id="10"/>

 

So what do we mean by the terms used above:**

Working: No user functional loss when the client OS is upgraded to Windows 10 RTM. There is no change on the Current User Experience

  • INBOX: The client connector software is available on the respective server and it is not required by the user to download it manually and install. There is no change on the Current User Experience
  • Auto download from DLC : The client connector software is automatically downloaded from the download center when user runs https://servername/connect on the client. There is no change on the Current User Experience
  • Working after client OS hotfix installation: It requires the user to install the client OS Hotfix manually for the Client Restore to function properly
  • NA: The respective feature is not applicable
  • NONE: No issues experienced while in-house repro

 Resolution (Updated on 29/07/2015):

The Client Connector for Windows 10 to connect to Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials has been released.  

For x64 bit Windows 10 Client download it from here.

For x86 bit Windows 10 Client download it form here.

Note :

- The Client Connector needs to be manually downloaded and installed on the Windows 10 Client OS. Once the installation is completed follow the steps listed below,

            - Click on Start, All Apps

            - Scroll down till "Windows Server Essentials", expand and run "Windows Server Essentials Connector Configuration Wizard".

This is a known issue and the fix on the server is being targeted to be released tentatively in October 2015.

Once the fix is patched, then there will be no user intervention required, all the downloading, installation and configuration will be automatically carried out

- With the release of Windows Server 2016 Essentials, all client connector software will be available and no user intervention will be needed.

Update (21/10/2015):

- There will be a Windows Update released on 17th,November 2015 for Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials.

- This Windows Update will enable the Windows 10 clients to be joined to the Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials. In current scenario, the user has to download and install the client connector manually on the Windows 10 client, this manual process would not be required after applying this Windows Update to the Server.

- This Windows Update will not affect any of the existing Windows 10 clients connected to the Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials.

 

Update (17/11/2015):

The update to support auto-redirection of Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials for Windows 10 client connector is now available at:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3105885