Professional Windows Server 1002003 Security A Technical Reference [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

WS2003 administration is based largely on a software framework called
the Microsoft Management Console (MMC). The MMC is an application
that in itself has no administrative functionality, but in which
other software components called snap-ins can be installed and
utilized. Each of these snap-ins provides basic administrative
functionality for some component or aspect of WS2003. When one or
more snap-ins are installed in the MMC, the result is called a
console. WS2003 includes a number of preconfigured consoles and
utilities called administrative tools. These tools can be launched by
shortcuts found in the Administrative Tools program group.

Snap-ins

Table 4-28 lists the various
snap-ins included with WS2003. If the table
entry under "Component Required" is
"None," the snap-in is present when
a typical setup of WS2003 has been performed; otherwise, the
associated Windows component must be installed before the snap-in
becomes available in the Add/Remove Standalone Snap-in box.

When you try to add a snap-in to an MMC console, a dialog box
sometimes appears prompting you for further information. For example,
if you try to add the Computer Management snap-in to a console, a
dialog box appears prompting you to specify whether the console will
be used to manage the local computer or a remote computer. As a
different example, when you install the Shared Folders snap-in, you
must specify whether to display all three subnodes (Shares, Sessions,
and Open Files) or just one of them. Table 4-29
summarizes the options offered when installing various snap-ins. When
no options are indicated, no dialog box appears when you try to add
the snap-in.

Consoles

Let's examine one particular
administrative
tool as an example of a preconfigured MMC console. The
tool we will look at is Computer Management, which is used to manage
a variety of resources on both local and remote computers. You can
launch the Computer Management console in several ways:

• Start Programs Administrative Tools
  Computer Management

• By using My Computer or Windows Explorer to browse the
  

  System32 folder and double-clicking on the file
  

  compmgmt.msc

• From the command line by typing
  %SystemRoot%\system32\compmgmt.msc

• By opening a new (blank) MMC console and adding the Computer
  Management snap-in to create a custom MMC console

Computer Management consists of a single window with two panes:

Left pane

Displays a treelike structure of different nodes called the console
tree. The root node identifies the snap-in involved (Computer
Management) and displays which computer is currently being managed
(local computer). Beneath the root node are three containers (System
Tools, Storage, and Services and Applications) whose only purpose is
to group together the nodes under them according to function or
usagethese nodes themselves being either leaf nodes (nodes
that can't contain other nodes) or further
containers.

Right pane

Also called the details pane. What is displayed in this pane depends
entirely on which node is selected in the left pane of the console
tree. For example, if you select Event Viewer under System Tools in
the left pane, the right pane displays a simple list showing the
various logs that are managed by this tool. The details pane can also
contain more complex elements such as multiple subpanes, graphic
elements, or web pages, depending on the node selected in the console
tree.

Besides the other usual Windows gadgets (titlebar, control gadget,
sizing gadgets, status bar), there is also a toolbar displayed in the
console window. This toolbar is context-sensitive, meaning that it
changes depending on which node you select in the console tree or
which object you select in the details pane. The toolbar typically
includes several drop-down menus such as Action and View, usually
providing the same set of options you obtain in the shortcut menu
when you right-click on a node in the console tree or an object in
the details pane.

The real power of the MMC, however, resides in the capability of
creating your own custom MMC consoles. Custom consoles can contain
any snap-ins you wish and can be arranged into a console tree in any
fashion you desire. Some of the reasons you might want to create
custom consoles include:

• Creating a console that can be used to manage the resources on more
  than one computer at a time (the preconfigured administrative tool
  called Computer Management can connect to only one computer at a
  time)

• Creating a console that can be used to manage a limited subset of
  resources on a computer and then assigning this console to a
  junior-level administrator

• Creating a console with multiple windows arranged just the way you
  like it

• Creating a console with shortcuts to frequently used nodes and
  objects to facilitate easy administration of those nodes and objects

Default Consoles

Table 4-30 lists the various

preconfigured
consoles (

.msc files) installed on WS2003. Some
of these files are present only when certain optional Windows
components like DHCP or DNS are installed. All of these are found in
the

\System32 folder except:

comexp.msc

\system32\Com

iis.msc

\system32\inetsrv

mscorcfg.msc

\system32\Microsoft.NET\Framework\version