Not everyone likes the chilly climate of the server room or the mesmerizing humming of racks, stuffed with server hardware. For these pseudo-admins, Microsoft releases remote management tools. (They work wonders for managing Server Core installations, too!)

The latest incarnation was released two weeks ago and works with Windows 7.

History of remote management tools

For Windows 2000 Server-based environments and Windows Server 2003-based environments, Microsoft enabled remote management from a workstation through the infamous adminpak.msi, which could be found in the %systemroot%\system32 folder of the server. For Windows Server 2008-based remote management tools, however, Microsoft introduced a different tool: The Remote Server Administration Tools (or RSAT for short) For a Windows Server 2008 R2-based environment Microsoft released a new version of the RSAT, designed to run on Windows 7 clients.

Hands on with the Tools

To get hands on with the Release Candidate Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) for Windows 7, follow the 3 steps below:

Step 1 Download the software

Below are the all-important download links for the Release Candidate Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) for Windows 7.

Microsoft Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7 Beta (x86) (35,9 MB)
Microsoft Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7 Beta (x64) (42,8 MB)

Step 2 Install the Tools

Installation of the Release Candidate Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) for Windows 7 is fairly straight forward when you’re familiar with the way Microsoft update files (*.msu files) work:

After downloading the appropriate package for your architecture (x86 or x64), simply double click the downloaded file.

Of course you would have no problem clicking the Yes button in the screen that asks whether you’d want to install the update corresponding to Knowledgebase article 958830.

The second screen confronts you with the license terms for this piece of pre-release software. Clicking I Accept would start the actual installation process.

When installation is done, you’d click the Close button.

Step 3 Configure the tools

Now that you’ve installed the update package you can enable the remote tools of your choice. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Programs. In the Programs and Features area, click Turn Windows features on or off.

When you expand Remote Server Administration Tools you’ll find the tools of your choice:

• Feature Administration Tools:
  • BitLocker Password Recovery Viewer
  • Failover Clustering Tools
  • Group Policy Management Tools
  • Network Load Balancing Tools
  • SMTP Server Tools
  • Storage Explorer Tools
  • Storage Manager for SANs Tools
  • Windows System Resource Manager Tools
• Role Administration Tools:
  • Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS) Tools
  • Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) Tools
  • Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS) Tools
  • DHCP Server Tools
  • DNS Server Tools
  • File Services Tools
  • Hyper-V Tools
  • Terminal Services Tools
• Server Manager

You can indicvidually select the tools you need. Clicking OK installs them to the Administrative Tools folder.

Step 4 Making the tools visible in the Start Menu

Just like in Windows Vista, the Administrative Tools folder is not by default visible in the Start Menu in Windows 7. To make it visible right click the Windows orb and select Properties from the context menu. On the Start Menu tab, click Customize… in the top right corner.

Scroll all the way to the bottom of the list until you reach the System administrative tools section. Select either the Display on the All Programs menu option or the Display on the All Programs menu and the Start menu option. Click OK twice to confirm your choice.

Step 5 Enjoy!

You’re now ready to manage your Windows Server 2008 R2 boxes!

Concluding

The Release Candidate Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) for Windows 7 allow you to remotely manage your Windows Server 2008 R2 boxes.

In this release of the Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) the Hyper-V Manager is included, but unfortunately there is no method to manage WINS. It feels like Microsoft has completely forgotten about their initial name resolution protocol…

Further reading

Windows 7 RC RSAT Tools Released
Group Policy Infrastructure in Windows: Today and Tomorrow
Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) for Windows 7 RC released to the web!
Remote Server Admin Tools (RSAT) for Windows 7 RC – now available
Active Directory Powershell: Installation using RSAT on Windows 7
Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) for Windows 7 RC released to the web!
Windows 7 RC Remote Server Tools Available
Microsoft releases update to RSAT tools for Windows 7
Hyper-V RC Release Download Links
RSAT for Windows 7 Release Candidate
RSAT for Windows 7 x86 or x64
Windows 7 RC – RSAT Tools released
Microsoft release RSAT for Windows 7
Admin Pack for Windows 7 RC
Windows 7 Remote Server Admin Tools Available
Remote Server Admin Tools (RSAT) Windows 7

Disclaimer Pre-release Software

The information on this webpage applies to software from Microsoft that was in testing phase but utilizable by experienced users by the time the webpage was written. This software has not been released for sale, distribution or usage for the general public. The information on this webpage and the software are provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.