Windows Server 2012 MMC Administration (part 3) - Using the MMC - MMC tool availability

MMC tool availability

Generally, the preconfigured MMC consoles available on a server depend on the roles, role services, and features that are installed. As you install additional roles, role services, and features, additional tools for administration are installed, and these tools can be both console tools and standard tools. You don’t have to rely on roles, role services, and features installation for tool availability, however. You can, in fact, install the complete administrative tool set on any Full-server installation regardless of the roles, role services, or features being used.

Follow these steps to install the complete administrative tool set:

1. In Server Manager, the local server is added automatically for management. If you want to install the admin tools on another server, you need to add the server for management using the Add Servers option.
   

2. In Server Manager, tap or click Manage and then tap or click Add Roles And Features. This starts the Add Roles And Features Wizard. If the wizard displays the Before You Begin page, read the Welcome message, and then tap or click Next.

3. On the Select Installation Type page, select Role-Based Or Feature-Based Installation and then tap or click Next.

4. On the Select Destination Server page, the server pool shows servers you’ve added for management. Tap or click the server you are configuring and then tap or click Next twice.

5. On the Select Features page, select the Remote Server Administration Tools check box. This selects key tools under the Role Administration Tools and Feature Administration Tools nodes. If you want to select additional tools, expand the tools node and select tools to install as appropriate. Tap or click Next.

6. Tap or click Install. When the wizard finishes installing the administration tools, tap or click Close.

These tools are then available on the Tools menu in Server Manager and can also be started quickly in the Search box or at the command prompt by typing only their file name (in most cases). At times, you might find it quicker to open consoles from the command line. For example, on a server optimized for handling background services and not programs being run by users, you might find that navigating the menu is too slow. To help you in these instances, Table 1 provides a list of the key console tools and their .msc file names. Note that some of the MMCs won’t be available even if you install all of the Remote Server Administration Tools. Tools for certain server roles and features are only available when those roles and features are installed.

Table 1. Key console tools and their .msc file names

Tool Name	.msc File Name
Active Directory Administrative Center	dsac.exe
Active Directory Domains And Trusts	domain.msc
Active Directory Rights Management Services	AdRmsAdmin.msc
Active Directory Sites And Services	dssite.msc
Active Directory Users And Computers	dsa.msc
ADSI Edit	adsiedit.msc
Certificate Templates Console	certtmpl.msc
Certificates - Current User	certmgr.msc
Certificates - Local Computer	certlm.msc
Certification Authority	certsrv.msc
Computer Management	compmgmt.msc
Device Manager	devmgmt.msc
DFS Management	dfsmgmt.msc
DHCP Manager	dhcpmgmt.msc
Disk Management	diskmgmt.msc
DNS Manager	dnsmgmt.msc
Event Viewer	eventvwr.msc
Failover Cluster Management	cluadmin.msc
Fax Service Manager	fxsadmin.msc
File Server Resource Manager	fsrm.msc
Group Policy Management	gpmc.msc
Health Registration Authority	hcscfg.msc
Hyper-V Manager	virtmgmt.msc
Local Group Policy Editor	gpedit.msc
Local Security Policy	secpol.msc
Local Users And Groups	lusrmgr.msc
NAP Client Configuration	napclcfg.msc
Network Policy Server	nps.msc
Online Responder Manager	ocsp.msc
Performance Monitor	perfmon.msc
Print Management	printmanagement.msc
RD Gateway Manager	tsgateway.msc
RD Remote App Manager	remoteprograms.msc
Reliability And Performance Monitor	perfmon.msc
Remote Desktop Services Configuration	tsconfig.msc
Remote Desktop Services Manager	tsadmin.msc
Remote Desktops	tsmmc.msc
Resultant Set of Policy	rsop.msc
Routing And Remote Access	rrasmgmt.msc
Services	services.msc
Services For Network File System	nfsmgmt.msc
Share And Storage Management	storagemgmt.msc
Storage Explorer	storexpl.msc
Storage Manager For SANs	sanmmc.msc
Task Scheduler	taskschd.msc
Trusted Platform Module Management	tpm.msc
UDDI Services	uddi.msc
Windows Deployment Services	wdsmgmt.msc
Windows Firewall With Advanced Security	wf.msc
Windows Server Backup	wbadmin.msc
Windows System Resource Manager	wsrm.msc
WINS Manager	winsmgmt.msc

MMC and remote computers

Some snap-ins can be set to work with local or remote systems. If this is the case, you’ll see the name of the computer with focus in parentheses after the snap-in name in the console tree. When the snap-in is working with the local computer, you’ll see (Local) after the snap-in name. When the snap-in is working with a remote computer, you’ll see the remote computer name in parentheses after the snap-in name, such as (CORPSERVER01).

Generally, regardless of which type of snap-in you are using, you can specify the computer you want to work with in one of two ways. Within the MMC, you can press and hold or right-click the snap-in node in the console tree and then select Connect To Another Computer. This displays the Select Computer dialog box, as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Specify the computer you want to work with.

If you want the snap-in to work with the computer the console is running on, select Local Computer. Otherwise, select Another Computer and then type the computer name or Internet Protocol (IP) address of the computer you want to use. If you don’t know the computer name or IP address, tap or click Browse to search for the computer you want to work with.

Some snap-ins that can be set to work with local and remote systems can be started from the command line with the focus set on a specific computer. This is a hidden feature that many people don’t know about or don’t understand. Simply set the focus when you start a console from the command line using the following parameter:

/computer=RemoteComputer

Here RemoteComputer is the name or IP address of the remote computer you want the snap-in to work with, such as

compmgmt.msc /computer=corpserver01

or

services.msc /computer=corpserver32

Note

For remote management, the appropriate Windows Firewall rules must be enabled on the target computer. Specifically, the inbound rule for COM+ Network Access (DCOM-In) must be enabled, as well as any appropriate rules related to the snap-in you want to work with.

Several hidden options are available with the Active Directory–related snap-ins. For Active Directory Users And Computers, Active Directory Sites And Services, and Active Directory Domains And Trusts, you can use the /Server parameter to open the snap-in and connect to a specified domain controller. For example, if you want to start Active Directory Users And Computers and connect to the CorpSvr02 domain controller, you could do this by typing the following:

dsa.msc /server=CorpSvr02

For Active Directory Users And Computers and Active Directory Sites And Services, you can use the /Domain parameter to open the snap-in and connect to a domain controller in the specified domain. For example, if you want to start Active Directory Users And Computers and connect to the cpandl.com domain, you could do this by typing the following:

dsa.msc /domain=cpandl.com