Windows Server 1.1 : Demo examining a group membership

This short video is a demo dedicated to checking the workgroup or domain membership of any machine. It works the same way on a client OS, on a Windows Server, or on any flavour in between — once you know where to look, the procedure is identical.

In the previous video we saw the client path: open Control Panel → System and Security → System, scroll down to Computer name, domain and workgroup settings, click Change settings, then Change…. From there you can either join a domain (by entering the domain name and the administrator credentials provided by your network admin) or rejoin a workgroup with a different name.

The server-side shortcut

On a Windows Server 2019 the same information is available from a much faster place: Server Manager → Local Server. The membership status is displayed right next to the computer name, alongside many other useful properties (IP, Windows updates, remote management, time zone, antivirus, etc.). From the same page you can also trigger the change. There is no special server-only feature here — it is simply a more compact view on the same Active Directory information, which makes day-to-day administration noticeably easier on a server. Use the system applet on clients, use Server Manager → Local Server on servers, and you are covered for both.