Microsoft Management console

Microsoft Management Console (MMC) is a framework that hosts administrative tools, called snap-ins, on Windows operating systems. Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Windows 2000 use MMC, which displays snap-ins as consoles. The snap-ins are used to administer networks, computers, services, and other system components. As the basic component of MMC, a snap-in provides the actual management of the program.

MMC is a Multiple Document Interface (MDI) shell user interface (UI) for the integration of modularized administration tools that are implemented as snap-ins. This means that it is possible to have multiple windows, all attached to the same management console. It is a tool that hosts snap-in programs that provide the actual functionality. Snap-in programs are designed to perform a specific set of tasks on a specific type of application or object. A snap-in can be loaded as needed into an MMC console to create a customized management environment. The combined set of snap-ins specified in the console can be saved as an .MSC file, which can be considered an MMC tool, is also referred to as an MMC console. With the capability to Add/Remove snap-ins, it is possible to create specific consoles that match the skill level and job description of the administrator who is intended to operate the console. The .MSC file makes the console portable. Each snap-in operates within the MMC console structure, which consists of three panes.

The Microsoft Management Console (MMC) lets system administrators create much more flexible user interfaces and customize administration tools. MMC unifies and simplifies day-to-day system management tasks. It hosts tools and displays them as consoles. These tools, consisting of one or more applications, are built with modules called snap-ins. The snap-ins also can include additional extension snap-ins. MMC is a core part of Microsoft's management strategy. Microsoft Management Console enables system administrators to create special tools to delegate specific administrative tasks to users or groups. Microsoft provides standard tools with the operating system that perform everyday administrative tasks that users need to accomplish. These are part of the All Users profile of the computer and located in the Administrative Tools group on the Startup menu. Saved as MMC console (.msc) files, these custom tools can be sent by e-mail, shared in a network folder, or posted on the Web. They can also be assigned to users, groups, or computers with system policy settings. A tool can be scaled up and down, integrated seamlessly into the operating system, repackaged, and customized.

The first thing to understand is that a Microsoft Management Console is a host for an administrative tool called a snap-in. A snap-in is actually an Active-X module that is used to perform a specific function, but without a snap-in a console is useless. It's sole purpose is as an application to hold the snap-ins you select and provide a mechanism for them to become functional. Each console is created from either a single snap-in or combination of snap-ins. Once a basic console has been created it's up to you to add snap-ins appropriate to the intended use of the console.

Certificates certmgr.msc
Indexing Service ciadv.msc
Computer Management compmgmt.msc
Device Manager devmgmt.msc
Disk Defragmenter dfrg.msc
Disk Management diskmgmt.msc
Event Viewer eventvwr.msc
Shared Folders fsmgmt.msc
Group Policy gpedit.msc
Local Users and Groups lusrmgr.msc
Removable Storage ntmsmgr.msc
Removable Storage Operator Requests ntmsoprq.msc
Performance perfmon.msc
Resultant Set of Policy rsop.msc
Local Security Settings secpol.msc
Services services.msc
Windows Management Infrastructure (WMI) wmimgmt.msc
Component Services comexp.msc

As shown in the table above, Microsoft Management Consoles use the extension .msc which stands for Microsoft Common Console Document (MCCD). By default, files which use the .msc extension open with the application Microsoft Management Console (MMC). Via the file association, simply clicking on a MCCD opens it in the MMC application. If you are more of a command line type user, typing the document name will accomplish the same result.

Microsoft first introduced MMC Version 1.0 with WinNT 4.0 Option Pack for WinNT Server. They followed that with MMC 1.1 that came with SQL7 and MMC 1.2 which came with Win2K. The ATL Object Wizard of Visual C6 provided a control that would allow you to build MMC tools. However, for some reason, this utility got lost along the path and so, when Microsoft introduced its latest version of MMC, users were advised not to use the ATL wizard anymore.

Basic Terminology

MMC the client that you start by running mmc.exe
Snap-ins the server that you load by using ADD\Remove snap-in.
Scope Pane This is the left hand side pane.
Results Pane This is the right hand side pane.
Console Tree This is the left hand side tree that is used to navigate.
Nodes Nodes represent individual items on the left hand side.

An MMC Snap-in is a COM in-process server. When you run mmc.exe, what you get is the mmc client. When you add a snap-in, you are working with the server DLL.By definition, a COM in-process server is a DLL that houses COM-based components. It executes in the context of the calling process.

Snap-in programs are designed to perform a specific set of tasks on a specific type of application or object. A snap-in can be loaded as needed into an MMC console to create a customized management environment. With the new Add/Remove capability provided in MMC 3.0, it is possible to create specific consoles that match the skill level and job description of the administrator who is the intended operator of the console.

MMC version 3.0, the Management Console provided in Windows Vista, is designed to:

  • Reduce the cost of snap-in development by providing managed code framework
  • Improve reliability by offering heap isolation, Event Tracing for Windows (ETW), and application domain isolation and threading (managed code)
  • Provide consistent user experience for administrators by providing a new Actions Pane, a new Add/Remove dialog, and new user interface guidelines

The managed framework for MMC 3.0 provides a richer snap-in development experience than MMC 2.0 offers. It presents a quick start for developing snap-ins and facilitates incremental improvements of snap-in implementations. MMC 3.0 radically simplifies the task of creating snap-ins by offering a managed layer that calls the MMC core that MMC version 2.0 exposes. In MMC 2.0 (which ships with Windows XP and Windows 2003), a snap-in is implemented as a Component Object Model (COM) in-process server. The compiled code is linked to create a DLL. MMC 2.0 interacts with snap-ins using several defined programming interfaces. Using MMC 3.0, a snap-in developer does not need to write code to access the MMC internals, therefore can focus development time on programming management tasks. The MMC API can be used successfully to implement those user interfaces that best expose management functionality.

MMC 3.0 managed interfaces support the following features:

  • Managed/unmanaged snap-in extensibility (Namespace and Property Page)
  • Actions Pane Support, allowing developers to program actions once to offer consistent surfacing through Actions Pane and Context menus
  • Integrated Windows Forms controls (replaces OCX controls)
  • Multiple Views per node
  • Status Management

It takes less time to get a snap-in up and running on Windows Vista. MMC 3.0 is easier to debug because actions are now logged, and MMC provides integrated trace support. MMC 3.0 provides the ability to design, develop, and debug using Visual Studio. It also is fully integrated with Windows Forms.

The following summarizes the steps required to create a snap-in.

  • Declare and register the snap-in.
  • Create nodes in the scope tree.
  • Create and use actions and standard verbs.
  • Create a results view.

MMC 3.0 is fully backward-compatible and supports all existing snap-ins: snap-ins written for earlier versions of MMC (1.0, 1.2, and 2.0) are also available in Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 (SP1), and Windows XP (SP2).

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