Software Development Kit (SDK)

The Microsoft® Server Appliance Kit (SDK) provides the tools to develop software for your server appliance that takes advantage of the features provided by the Server Appliance Kit. These features make the server easier to manage as a remotely administered device by providing a basic user interface (UI) on the device itself and the capability to administer the server remotely.

With the SDK, you can utilize the three frameworks provided by the Server Appliance Kit:

• The Web User Interface Framework supports an extensible Web-based user interface (Web UI) that provides a Web UI for the most common server-management tasks. You can use the Web UI framework to add support for other management tasks, and you can replace any or all of the default Web UI components with those specific to your organizational needs.
• The Local User Interface Framework provides the programming interface for a small display and keypad located on the server. Administrators can use this interface to perform initial configuration tasks (such as setting the IP address of the server), monitor basic status, and perform basic management tasks.
• Using the Localization Framework, you can dynamically provide your Web UI and Local UI elements in the language of the user's choice. You can create resource dynamic-link libraries (DLLs) for each language you want to support and install those DLLs in the specified locations. If the user selects a language that has a corresponding DLL as the preferred language, your Web and local UI elements will be displayed in that language.

The Server Appliance Kit includes a variety of samples that illustrate how to use these frameworks. For more information, see SDK Samples.

For information about changes made to the Server Appliance Kit 3.0 since the previous version, see Changes in this version.

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