Welcome to the MiServer Managed Service. Here are some important steps designed to assist you with connecting and configuring your access to your virtual server.
Join MCommunity Group
To begin, please make sure you are a member of the MiServer Notify group in MCommunity. This group is used to notify members of all system maintenance, service issues and other announcements.
To join the MiServer Notify group, visit the MiServer Notify entry in MCommunity and click the Join Group button.
Log in to Your Managed Server
If this is your first managed Windows server you can log on with a U-M uniqname account that is a member of your server's MCommunity admin group using the Remote Desktop Connection client from a Windows computer or the Windows App from the Mac App Store on macOS. Please review the OU and Server Local Admins best practice document for guidance on changing the default OU and Server Local Admins configuration.
Two-Factor Authentication
Managed Windows servers are configured to use Duo two-factor authentication for Remote Desktop connections. Before login you will need to make sure you have registered your account(s) in Duo.
Enroll a non-uniqname account in Duo
Best Practices for Windows Server Administration
A security best-practice is to use accounts other than your regular user account for management tasks which require server administrator privileges. Instructions for creating a separate account for server administration can be found in the OU and Server Local Admins document.
Scheduling Maintenance Periods
The MiServer service monitors alerts for your managed servers 24/7 or during business hours, depending on the type of support you selected. Because of the shared administration model you can reboot or shut down your server as needed, please remember to create a maintenance period in the Zabbix monitoring system so that it does not generate an alert to MiServer staff during planned maintenance activities.
To Schedule a Maintenance Period
- Refer to the Creating a Zabbix maintenance period to suspend monitoring document
- Visit the Zabbix monitoring system