This section defines important terms you’ll need to know when working with MMC.
A console, in MMC-speak, is made up of one or more administrative tools in an MMC framework. The admin tools that are included with Server 2003, like Active Directory Users and Computers, are con- sole files. You can configure your own console files without any programming tools—you needn’t be a C or Visual Basic programmer, as I’ll discuss a bit later. The saved console file is a Microsoft saved console (MSC) file and it carries the .MSC extension.
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It’s important to distinguish between the Microsoft Management Console and console tools. The terms console and tool are sometimes used interchangeably when discussing MMC. Strictly speaking though, a console is not a tool, and as I pointed out in the previous section, not all tools are consoles. MMC.EXE is a program that presents administrators (and others creating console tools) with a blank console to work with. When you create a Microsoft Word document, you first load the program (WINWORD.EXE), then create or modify documents within that context. Similarly, you create MMC tools by first loading a blank console (MMC.EXE) and then creating a customized “document” based on the available options and add-ins. In this way, MMC provides a framework for your tool, and the new console you create is the finished product.
Snap-ins (also called plug-ins) are the administrative tools that can be added to the console. For example, the DHCP admin tool is a snap-in, and so is the Disk Defragmenter. Snap-ins can be created by Microsoft or by other software vendors. (You do need programming skills to make these, in other words.) A snap-in can contain subcomponents called nodes, or containers, or even leaves, in some cases. Although you can load multiple snap-ins in a single console, most of the prepackaged administrative tools contain only a single snap-in (including the Computer Management tool, COMPMGMT.MSC).
An extension is basically a snap-in that can’t live by itself on the console but depends on a stand-alone snap-in. It adds some type of functionality to a snap-in. Sometimes the same code is implemented as both a snap-in and an extension. For example, the Event Viewer is a stand-alone snap-in, but it’s also implemented as an extension to the Computer Management snap-in. The key point is that exten- sions are optional. You can choose not to load them. For example, Local Users and Groups is an extension to the Computer Management snap-in. If you remove the extension from the COMPMGMT.MSC file used by your support folk, or simply don’t include it in a custom console that uses the snap-in, those who use the tool won’t have the option to create or manage users and groups with the tool. They won’t even see it. (Please note that this will not prevent them from creating users and groups by other means, if they have the correct administrative privileges.)
To create a new MSC file, customize an existing MSC file or create one from a blank console. The MMC.EXE plus the defined snap-ins, views and custom tasks create the tool interface. Although it’s possible to open multiple tools simultaneously, each one runs in a single instance of the MMC.EXE process. To see what I mean, open an MSC file and check out the Task Manager while it’s running— you only see the MMC.EXE process running, not the MSC file, just as you see WINWORD.EXE running in Task Manager, but not the Word document’s name. However, you can open separate nodes in separate windows within the tool. You could have separate windows open to the Event Viewer and the Device Manager within the same tool, for instance.
By default, prepackaged console tools open in User mode. Changes cannot be made to the console design. You can’t add or remove snap-ins, for example. To create or customize a console, use Author mode. When a user is running a tool and not configuring it, it should be running in one of the User modes. When a tool is running in Author mode,additional items will appear on the File and Action menus. Also, the Favorites menu doesn’t appear in User mode consoles. Favorites can only be con- figured in Author mode.
Figure 3.4 shows a sample console tool, with the parts of the interface labeled. This console is running in Author mode to show all the parts of the MMC interface. This is a custom console, but to open any existing tool in Author mode, invoke it from the Start/Run dialog box with the /a switch. Alternately, right-click the tool’s icon and choose Author to open it in Author mode. This does work with the links to tools in the Administrative Tools group, but remember not to overwrite the original file!
52 CHAPTER 3 CONFIGURING WINDOWS SERVER: THE MICROSOFT MANAGEMENT CONSOLE
FIGURE 3.4
Anatomy of a console tool
In addition to its traditional functions (New, Open, Save, Save As) the File menu in the Main window is used to add and remove snap-ins and set console options. The Action menu and the Toolbar are context sensitive and will reflect the options of the selected snap-in tool or component. The Favorites menu func- tions like the Favorites menu in Explorer; however it stores only links to locations in the console tree.
The hierarchical list of items shown by default in the left pane is called the console tree, and at the top is the console root. The right pane is called the details pane. Snap-ins appear as nodes on the console tree. The contents of the details pane change with the item selected on the console tree.