Welcome to this introductory article on Administrative tools in
mixed Windows 2000/XP/.NET 2003 environments.
Installing and utilizing the proper ADMINPAK administrative tools (Adminpak.msi)
depends on which operating system you're running. Proper
installation of supported tools allows a system or network
administrator to manage their Windows network environment in
a stable and supported manner.
If you install the incorrect version of the administrative tools
for the systems and directory structure you are trying to
manage, you run the risk of corrupting your Active Directory
database, threatening the availability of the networked
environment and potentially destabilizing the entire forest
structure.
The correct tools are automatically installed on the server version you
are using appropriately by default. That is, on Windows 2000
server versions and NET Server 2003 you will have the tools
installed by default to administer your environment
properly. If a certain service is not installed on a given
server, for example DHCP, the tool is not readily available
on the Administration Tools menu of that server but it can
be added to an MMC console for the purposes of remote
administration. If this service were to be added to this
system at a later time and the snap in had not been
previously installed, it would be at that time.
To install the tools on a workstation or a server for remote
administration, you can get the Adminpak.msi file from the %Systemroot%\System32
folder of an installed server or from the I386 folder of the
server CD-ROM.
In order to maintain either a Windows 2000 domain, or a .NET domain,
from a Windows 2000 Professional or an XP Professional
workstation, you should download and install the appropriate
Adminpak.exe (Adminpak.msi) when the CDROM you need is not
available.
Windows 2000 Administration Tools must only be installed on Windows 2000
computer, (Server or Professional) and only used to manage a
Windows 2000 Active Directory.
Windows .NET Administration Tools may be installed on either a Windows
.NET server or a Windows XP Professional workstation. These
tools can manage Windows 2000 and Windows .NET Active
Directories.
Windows .NET Administration Tools cannot be installed on a Windows
2000-based computer.
The Adminpak.msi tools can NOT be installed on any earlier
operating system.
By default, the remote administration snap-ins are not installed on
computers that are not hosting the applicable services, nor
are they available on Windows 2000 Professional and Windows
XP Professional systems. Because of this, the snap-ins are
not listed on the Add snap-in option when you attempt to add
them to a custom MMC console.
The tools for Windows 2000 are available in the Adminpak.msi file in the
I386 folder on the Windows 2000 Server or Windows 2000
Advanced Server CD-ROM. You can install these tools on
servers that are not hosting these services as well as on
Windows 2000 Professional systems.
To install all of the available tools, double-click the Adminpak.msi
file in the I386 folder on the Windows 2000 Server or
Windows 2000 Advanced Server CD-ROM and follow the prompts.
The administration tools will appear on the Start menu in
the Programs group as Administrative Tools when the process
is complete.
(The processes for installing the tools for NET Server 2003 are
more or less the same, but since the process is not yet
finalized it is difficult to detail certain specifics since
they have changed from the BETA and RC releases and may
change again for the GOLD version.)
When you install the Administration Pack, all of the available tools
in the Administration Pack are installed by default. You can
also opt to install individual, specific Server
Administration Tools by using Windows Installer command line
switches.
msiexec /i adminpak.msi ADDLOCAL=<TOOLNAME> /qb
TOOLNAME is the name of the Server Administration Tool that
you want to install singly. (A list of these are provided in
the table below.)
Install a Specific Server Administration Tool Using Adminpak.msi
(This example will use DHCP)
To install a specific individual Server Administration Tool:
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Insert the Windows 2000 Server or Windows
2000 Advanced Server CD into the CD-ROM drive or enter the
path to the network share that holds the I386 folder.
Copy the Adminpak.msi file to the
Windows\System32 folder on the local system.
Type the following command from a command
prompt or into the RUN box from the START Menu and then
press ENTER:
