Onboard servers to Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Applies to:

• Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Server
• Microsoft Defender for Servers

You can choose from several options to onboard a server to Microsoft Defender for Endpoint. Make sure to review the Minimum requirements for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint.

To onboard servers to Defender for Endpoint, server licenses are required. You can choose from these options:

• Microsoft Defender for Servers Plan 1 or Plan 2 (as part of the Defender for Cloud) offering; or
• Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Server

The following table lists deployment methods for onboarding servers:

Operating system	Deployment method
Windows Server 2025 Windows Server 2022 Windows Server 2019 Windows Server, version 1803	Local script (uses an onboarding package) Defender for Cloud, which integrates with Defender for Endpoint Microsoft Configuration Manager Group Policy VDI scripts
Windows Server 2016 Windows Server 2012 R2	Modern unified solution in Defender for Endpoint
Linux Server (see System requirements)	Local script (manual deployment) Puppet Ansible Chef Saltstack Defender for Endpoint on Linux for ARM64-based devices (preview) Deployment guidance for Defender for Endpoint on Linux for SAP Advanced deployment guidance for Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Linux

See also

• Microsoft Defender for Endpoint - Mobile Threat Defense (for iOS and Android devices)
• Onboard Windows and Mac client devices to Microsoft Defender for Endpoint