Administrative ToolsConcepts


Administrative ToolsConcepts

WS2003 includes a number of administrative tools for performing day-to-day administration tasks on domain controllers and member servers. These tools are accessed from the Start menu and are mostly MMC consoles with a few wizards tossed in for good measure. However, the tools displayed in this menu are only those needed to administer the different WS2003 components installed on your server. For example, if you have not installed Certificate Services on your machine, the Certification Authority console is absent from the menu. Furthermore, most administrators prefer to manage their servers from a remote location such as their office instead of going to the server room every time they need to perform a task.

Administrative Tools Pack

To install the full slate of WS2003 administrative tools on your server or to install these tools on a different machine used for performing remote administration, install the WS2003 Administrative Tools Pack using the procedures outlined in the Tasks section for this topic. This pack is implemented as the Windows Installer file adminpak .msi and is found on your WS2003 product CD. You can install this pack on:

  • Any member of the WS2003 family

  • Windows XP Professional machines with Service Pack 1 installed

Using an XP/WS2003 machine with these tools installed, you can administer multiple WS2003 machines from a single location. If you have many tasks to perform on a single WS2003 machine, it may be simpler to use Remote Desktop instead.

To perform administrative tasks on a domain controller using the WS2003 Administration Tools Pack installed on an XP or WS2003 machine, you must first join the machine to the domain. Also, if you plan to administer downlevel W2K domain controllers using these tools, you must either install W2K Service Pack 3 on these domain controllers or edit the registry to disable LDAP signing; see Knowledge Base article 325465 for more information.

Computer Management

Computer Management ( compmgmt.msc ) is a key administrative tool that contains a number of snap-ins organized into three categories:

System Tools

Event Viewer, Shared Folders, Local Users and Groups, Performance Logs and Alerts, and Device Manager snap-ins

Storage

Removable Storage, Disk Management, and Disk Defragmenter snap-ins

Services and Applications

Telephony, Services, WMI Control, and Indexing Service snap-ins

Computer Management may contain additional snap-ins such as Internet Information Services if such optional components are installed

Convenience Consoles

Three convenience consoles are included in the Administrative Tools menu when you install adminpak.msi on a machine. Like Computer Management, these convenience consoles contain multiple snap-ins. They can also be started from the command line using their .msc filenames. Table 4-2 provides details about the convenience consoles.

Table 4-2. Convenience consoles

Convenience console

Snap-ins

Active Directory Management ( ADMgmt.msc )

Active Directory Users and Computers

Active Directory Domains and Trusts

Active Directory Sites and Services

DNS

IP Address Management ( IPAddrMgmt.msc )

DHCP

DNS

WINS

Public Key Management ( PKMgmt.msc )

Certification Authorities

Certificate Templates

Certificates for Current User

Certificates for Local Computer

Manage Your Server

Another key administrative tool is Manage Your Server, which lets you add different roles to your server and manage these roles by performing basic tasks using wizards and consoles. By default, WS2003 installs with no roles defined, and you can add any of the following roles with this tool:

File Server
Print Server
Application Server (IIS, ASP.NET)
Mail Server (POP3, SMTP)
Terminal Server
Remote Access/VPN Server
Domain Controller (Active Directory)
DNS Server
DHCP Server
Streaming Media Server
WINS Server

Here are a couple of examples of adding roles:

  • Adding the File Server role lets you share folders using the Share a Folder Wizard and manage your file server using the File Server Management console ( filesrv.msc ), which contains the Shared Folders, Disk Defragmenter, and Disk Management snap-ins.

  • Adding the Application Server role lets you use your server as a web server to host ASP.NET applications on the Internet. You can manage this role using the Application Server console ( appsrv.msc ), which contains the .NET Configuration 1.1, Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager, and Component Services snap-ins.

Administering Downlevel W2K Servers

The Administration Tools Packs for W2K Server and WS2003 have significant compatibility issues:

  • The W2K Server version of adminpak.msi can be installed only on W2K machines. Similarly, the WS2003 version can be installed only on XP or WS2003 machines.

  • Some W2K Server administrative tools are unable to display or configure certain settings of WS2003 machines, and vice versa for WS2003 admin tools.

The simplest solution (though not an elegant one) is for administrators to use two desktop machines to administer a mixed W2K/2003-based network: a W2K Professional machine with the W2K Server version of adminpak.msi installed on it and an XP machine with the WS2003 version installed. For IIS administrators, there is an additional problem: the WS2003 version of adminpak.msi doesn't include the Internet Service Manager console. Applying Service Pack 2 for XP and reinstalling adminpak.msi should correct this problem.

If you insist on having only one desktop for managing your whole network, it should probably be an XP system with the WS2003 version of adminpak.msi installed. In addition, make sure that Service Pack 3 for W2K is installed on all your W2K servers so you can use the new version of the Active Directory console to manage your downlevel domain controllers.



Windows Server 2003 in a Nutshell
Windows Server 2003 in a Nutshell
ISBN: 0596004044
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 415
Authors: Mitch Tulloch

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