Unable to view Registered Servers on Central Management Server

Question

I have a MS-SQL instance configured to be a CMS for 50+ instances of MS-SQL Server 2008-2017. When checking the msdb.dbo.sysmanagement_shared_registered_servers_internal I see a list of the servers and their associated groups.

However when I connect to the instance remotely (from my Desktop via SSMS), the Registered Servers list only displays an offline SQLExpress instance in "local server groups" associated with my local PC - and nothing at all under "Central Management Servers".

When RDP'ing to the CMS directly, in SSMS the Local server group correctly shows the CMS instance under "Local Server Groups" but it's empty - and again, "Central Management Servers" is empty.

Any help on how to usethe existing CMS server list would be appreciated, as rebuilding it would take some time and I'm unsure on any side effects of essentially overwriting another CMS configuration on top of the existing one.

Note: I didn't build the existing CMS nor have I used it previously.

Answer 1

Did you ,from the machine where you are running SSMS, specify the machine where the server registration exists? I.e., you need to "point out" the CMS instance. Right click the CMS folder, and "Register Central Management Server", and in there you specify the SQL server instance where the CMS list exists in the table in msdb.