Windows Server 2012 MMC Administration (part 2) - Using the MMC - MMC window and startup

MMC window and startup

As Figure 2 shows, the MMC window consists of the console tree, the main pane, and an optional actions pane. The left pane is the console tree. It provides a hierarchical list of nodes available in the console. At the top of the tree is the console root, which could be specifically labeled Console Root or, as with the preconfigured tools, it is simply the snap-in name. Generally, snap-ins appear as nodes below the console root. Snap-ins can also have nodes, as is the case with Computer Management. In any case, if there are nodes below the console root, you can expand them by tapping or clicking the plus sign to the left of the node label or by double-tapping or double-clicking the node.

Figure 2. MMC windows are customizable.

The main pane is also referred to as the details pane, and its contents change depending on the item you’ve selected in the console tree. When you are working with one of the lowest-level nodes in the console tree, you’ll sometimes have two views to choose from in the details pane: standard or extended view. The difference between the two is that the extended view typically provides quick access links to related, frequently performed tasks and a detailed description of the selected item. These are not displayed in the standard view.

One way to start a console tool is to select it on the Tools menu in Server Manager or double-tap or double-click its icon on the desktop or in File Explorer. You can also start console tools from the Search box, the command prompt, and the Windows PowerShell prompt. The executable for the MMC is Mmc.exe, so you can open the MMC by typing mmc in the Search box and then pressing Enter or by entering mmc at a command prompt. Either way, you’ll end up with a blank (empty) console you can use to design your custom administration tool.

To use an existing console, you can specify the console file to open when the MMC runs. This is, in fact, how the preconfigured tools and any other tools that you create are started. For example, if you press and hold or right-click the shortcut for Computer Management in the %SystemRoot%\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Administrative Tools folder and then select Properties, you’ll see that the target (the command that is run) for the menu item is as follows:

%windir%\System32\Compmgmt.msc /s

The first part of the target (%windir%\System32\Compmgmt.msc) is the file path to the associated Microsoft Saved Console (.msc) file. The second part of the target (/S) is a command parameter to use when running the MMC. It follows that you can run the MMC by specifying the file path to the .msc file to use and any necessary command parameters as well using the following syntax:

mmc FilePath Parameter(s)

Here FilePath is the file path to the .msc file to use and Parameter(s) can include any of the following parameters:

• /A Enables author mode, which lets you make changes to preconfigured consoles as well as other consoles previously set in user mode.

• /S Prevents the console from displaying the splash screen that normally appears when the MMC starts in earlier versions of the Windows operating system. This parameter isn’t needed when running on Windows Server 2008 or later.

• /32 Starts the 32-bit version of the MMC, which is needed only if you explicitly want to run the 32-bit version of the MMC on a 64-bit Windows system.

• /64 Starts the 64-bit version of the MMC, which is available only on 64-bit versions of Windows.

INSIDE OUT: Using 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the MMC

The /32 and /64 parameters for the mmc command are meaningful only on 64-bit Windows versions. The 64-bit versions of the Windows operating system can run both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the MMC. For 32-bit versions of the MMC, you use 32-bit snap-ins. For 64-bit versions of the MMC, you use 64-bit snap-ins. You can’t mix and match MMC and snap-in versions, though. The 32-bit version of the MMC can be used only to work with 32-bit snap-ins. Similarly, the 64-bit version of the MMC can be used only to work with 64-bit snap-ins. In most cases, if you aren’t sure which version to use, don’t use the /32 or /64 parameter. This lets the Windows operating system decide which version to use based on the snap-ins contained in the .msc file you are opening.

When a console contains both 32-bit and 64-bit snap-ins and you don’t specify the /32 or /64 parameter, Windows will open a subset of the configured snap-ins. If the console contains more 32-bit snap-ins, Windows will open the 32-bit snap-ins. If the console contains more 64-bit snap-ins, Windows will open the 64-bit snap-ins. If you explicitly use /32 or /64 with a console that contains both 32-bit and 64-bit snap-ins, Windows will open only the snap-ins for that bitness. On 64-bit systems, 32-bit versions of snap-ins are stored in the %SystemRoot%\SysWow64 folder and 64-bit versions of snap-ins are stored in the %SystemRoot%\System32 folder. By examining the contents of these folders, you can determine when 32-bit and 64-bit versions of snap-ins are available.

Most console tools are found in the %SystemRoot%\System32 directory. This puts them in the default search path for executables. Because there is a file type association for .msc files, specified files of this type are opened using Mmc.exe; you can open any of the preconfigured tools stored in %SystemRoot%\System32 by specifying the file name followed by the .msc extension. For example, you can start Event Viewer by typing eventvwr.msc.

This works because of the file association that specifies .msc files are executed using Mmc .exe. (You can examine file associations using the ASSOC and FTYPE commands at the command prompt.)

Some console tools aren’t in the %SystemRoot%\System32 directory, or the search path for that matter. For these tools, you must type the complete file path.