Microsoft Management Console

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MMC on Windows Server 2003, running Computer Management snap-in
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MMC on Windows Server 2003, running Computer Management snap-in

The Microsoft Management Console (MMC) is a component of modern Microsoft Windows operating systems that provides system administrators and advanced users with a flexible interface through which they may configure and monitor the system. Most of Microsoft's administration tools included with both Windows itself, and Windows Server System products are implemented as MMC "snap-ins". Third-parties can also implement their own snap-ins using the MMC application programming interfaces published at MSDN.

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[edit] Common snap-ins

The most prolific MMC is Computer Management, which appears in the Administrative Tools folder in the Control Panel. Computer Management is actually a collection of MMC snap-ins, including the Device Manager, Disk defragmenter, Internet Information Services, Disk Management, Event Viewer, Local Users and Groups, Shared Folders, and other tools. Computer Management can also be pointed at another Windows machine altogether, allowing for monitoring and configuration of other computers on the local network that the user has access to.

Other MMC consoles in common use include:

  • Microsoft Exchange Server administration console
  • Active Directory user and group, domain trust, and site consoles
  • Group Policy management, including the Local Security Policy console included on all Windows 2000 and later systems
  • Services console, for managing Windows services
  • Performance console, for monitoring system performance and metrics
  • Event Viewer, for monitoring system and application events

[edit] Version History

  • MMC 1.0, shipped with Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack.
  • MMC 1.1, shipped with SQL Server 7.0 and Systems Management Server 2.0, and also made available as a download for Windows 9x versions and Windows NT. New features:[1]
    • Snap-in taskpads
    • Wizard-style property sheets
    • Ability to load extensions to a snap-in at run-time
    • HTML Help support
  • MMC 1.2, shipped with Windows 2000. New features:[2]
    • Support for Windows Installer and Group Policy
    • Filtered views
    • Exporting list views to a text file
    • Persistence of user-set column layouts (i.e. widths, ordering, visibility and sorting of lists)
  • MMC 2.0, shipped with Windows Server 2003. New features:
    • Operating system-defined visual styles
    • Automation object model, allowing the capabilities of an MMC snap-in to be used programmatically from outside MMC itself (e.g. from a script)
    • 64-bit snap-ins
    • Console Taskpads
    • View Extensions
    • Multilanguage User Interface help files
  • MMC 3.0, shipped with Windows Server 2003 R2 and Windows Vista, and has a download available for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. New features:
    • Support for developing snap-ins with the .NET framework, including Windows Forms
    • Reduced amount of code required to create a snap-in
    • Improved debugging capabilities
    • Asynchronous user interface model (MMC 3.0 snap-ins only)

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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