I am using Windows 8.1 and have Server Manager installed. I've added one of our servers (Server 2012 Standard) to Server Manager, and it connects just fine (Manageability shows "Online" and I can see things in the Events list for the server. When I go to Hyper-V, then right click on the server and click "Hyper-V Manager", Hyper-V Manager shows up, then about 5 seconds later I get the follow error.
MMC has detected an error in a snap-in and will unload it
Once I click "OK" I get the next error:
Type 'Microsoft.Virtualization.Client.Common.VirtualizationException' in assembly 'Microsoft.Virtualization.Client.Common, Version=6.3.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35' is not marked as serializable.
Exception type:
System.Runtime.Serialization.SerializationException
Exception stack trace:
at Microsoft.ManagementConsole.Internal.IMessageClient.ProcessNotification(Notification notification)
at Microsoft.ManagementConsole.Executive.SnapInNotificationOperation.ProcessNotification()
at Microsoft.ManagementConsole.Executive.Operation.OnThreadTransfer(SimpleOperationCallback callback)
EDIT:
I can connect to another Hyper-V Server (Server 2012 Standard R2) using the Hyper-V manager just fine
Any thoughts on what could be causing this?
Best Answer
The Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) have always been very sensitive to exact Windows versions. In other words, don't even try to manage a server that is running a different version of Windows than your client. And by different version, I mean
Windows 8.1 -> Server 2012 R2
Windows 8 -> Server 2012
Windows 7 -> 2008 R2
Windows Vista -> 2008
You are using a WIndows 8.1 client, which is why connections to a 2012 R2 server works fine, while a connection to 2012 Non-R2 does not.
If you read the fine print for the Windows 8.1 RSAT, you will see:
So according to Microsoft, it's supposed to work, but in my experience, if you are not connecting to the exact same build number from client to server, it will always be buggy. These are just bugs that Microsoft has to fix, and if and when they fix it, you'll have to install the patch. You're not doing anything wrong... unless you tried to install multiple versions of RSAT (uninstall all older versions of RSAT first,) or you've not fully patched both client and server.