Summary MMC

The Microsoft Management Console provides a way to create, save and open administrative tools. It hosts management applications called snap-ins and saves the settings in .msc extension in the My Administrative Tools folder. Each users gets this folder the first time a .msc-file is saved. The MMC has the following benefits :

	A single interface for most administrative tasks.
	Central administration. Also remote machines can be managed.

A snap-in is an application designed to work in the MMC. There are two type of snap-ins :

Stand-alone snap-ins are administrative tools providing one or a set of functions.

Extension snap-ins can provide a function to various stand-alone snap-ins.

	Extensions are designed to work with more than one snap-in.
	Only extensions compatible with the stand-alone snap-in are shown.
	When adding a stand-alone snap-in, Windows 2000 adds all available extensions.
	An extension can be add to multiple snap-ins.

There are two types of console modes :

Author mode

	Full access to the MMC to add or remove snap-ins.
	Full access to create new windows.
	View all portions of the console tree.
	Save MMC console.

User mode

	Full access. User can do everything expect adding or removing snap-ins.
	Delegated access, Multiple windows (users can’t open new windows and can’t access the full console tree. Users can view multiple windows in the console)
	Delegated access, Single window (users can’t open new windows and can’t access the full console tree. Users can view only one window in the console)

MSC file are by default stored in the \winnt\system32 folder. You can start msc-files from the command prompt on a Professional installation (depending on the installed items) :

	Certmgr.msc. Certificates.
	Ciadv.msc. Indexing services.
	Compmgmt.msc. Computer management.
	Comexp.msc. Component services (\winnt\system32\com)
	Devmgmt.msc. Device management.
	Dfrg.msc. Defragmenter.
	Diskmgmt.msc. Disk management.
	Eventvwr.msc. Event viewer.
	Faxserv.msc. Fax service.
	Fsmgmt.msc. Shared folders.
	Gpedit.msc. Group policy editor.
	Ias.msc. Internet authentication service.
	Lusrmgr.msc. Local user management.
	Msinfo32.msc. System information. (Installed with office in \program files\common files\microsoft shared\msinfo)
	Ntmsmgr.msc. Removable storage.
	Ntmsoprq.msc. Removable operator storage requests.
	Perfmon.msc. Performance monitor.
	Secpol.msc. Local security policy.
	Services.msc. Services.
	Wmimgmt.msc. Windows management infrastructure.

Windows 2000 server also offers the following consoles (depending on the installed items) :

	Acssnap.msc. QoS admission control.
	Dcpol.msc. Domain controller security policy.
	Dfsgui.msc. DFS.
	Dhcpmgmt.msc. DHCP.
	Dnsmgmt.msc. DNS.
	Domain.msc. Active Directory domains and trusts.
	Dompol.msc. Domain security policy.
	Dsa.msc. Active Directory users and computers.
	Dssite.msc. AD sites and services.
	IIS.msc. IIS (\winnt\system32\inetsrv)
	Rrasmgmt.msc. Routing and remote access.
	Rsadmin.msc. Remote storage.
	Tapimgmt.msc. Telephony.
	Tscc.msc. Terminal services configuration.
	TSmmc. Terminal services connections. (Windows 2003 server only or via download)
	Winsmgmt.msc. WINS.
	Wmtperf.msc. Performance media services. (\winnt\system32\windows media\server)

The administration tools adds the following consoles :

	Certsrv.msc. Certification authority.
	Schmmgmt.msc. Active directory schema.

The support pack adds the following consoles :

	Adsiedit.msc. ADSI edit
	Sidwalk.msc. Security migration.

Exchange 2000 adds the following consoles :

	Exchange system manager.msc
	Users and computers.msc
	adcamin.msc. Active Directory connector.

Remote administration

You can install management console files on a non-Windows 2000 server by installing the \I386\adminpak.msi file for the Windows 2000 server cd. (approx. 15 mb)

Last update : 2 January 2003

Links :

Step-by-step guide to the Microsoft Management console