Windows Server 2003 Utilities
Whenever I find the right Windows Server tool for the right job, I always get a satisfying glow. I particularly enjoy discovering a new utility that saves me time, ADSI Edit for interrogating LDAP properties, springs to mind. Other utilities come into their own in an emergency, NTDSutil and ESEutil are life savers in a disaster recovery situation. There again, I love old friends like, Ipconfig for checking IP configuration. However, in Windows 2003 they have new twists, such as Ipconfig -flushdns and in Vista Ipconfig -allcompartments
The most common fault when evaluating new tools is forgetting where they came from; take DCDIAG for an example, is it built-in? Or does it come in the resource kit. Actually its neither, you install it from the Windows Server 2003, Support tools folder.
One curiosity with these Windows utilities is that even amongst top techies, it’s a case of one man’s meat is another man’s poison. Few others rate cmdhere as highly as I do, whereas I have never really got on with diskpart or dsmod.
Sources of Windows Server 2003 Utilities
Support Tools
- ADSI Edit – Getting Started
- ADSI Edit – More Examples
- DCDiag – Domain Replication
- LDP – LDAP Search of you Domain
- NetDiag – Network Testing
- (Network Cables)
- Replmon – Directory Replication
- Windiff – Compare Files
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Built-in Tools – Executables that come with the operating system.
- Authoritative Restore – Active Directory Restore (F8)
- CACLS – Modify Access Control Lists (ACL)
- NTDSutil
- Ipconfig, Ping
- Shutdown – Restart a remote machine
- Taskmanger – Check those server processes
- TCP/IP Suite
Microsoft’s Site
- Acctinfo.dll
- ADModify – Microsoft’s PSS (Product Support Services)
- ExBPA (Exchange Best Practice Analyser)
- GPMC (Group Policy Management Console)
Third party
- CopyRite
- Network Performance Monitor
- Free Real-time Network Traffic Analyzer
- Network Cables
- Free CatTools Device Backup Utility
- Permissions Monitor
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Resource Kit(s)
- Acctinfo.dll – Additional Account Information
- CmdHere and more useful little utilities
