The Windows 2003 support tools are a collection of resources with the aim of assisting administrators to simplify management tasks. These include: troubleshooting operating systems, configuring networking and security features, managing Active Directory, and automating application deployment. With the use of these tools, the user is able to pin-point problematic issues with the system and will therefore be able to find a solution more easily.
The Windows 2003 Support Tools consist of a number of command-line utilities, visual basic scripts, GUI based applications, and documents - all of which you must install from a seperate application.
Note:
The Support Tools are not automatically installed when you install Windows 2003; their installation isn’t an option in the Windows 2003 setup. The installation program is located on the CD-ROM in the \support\tools folder and the setup file (suptools.msi) must be opened manually to initiate the installation.
The setup program installs the Support Tools files onto your hard disk and requires approximately 24 MB of free space for a full installation. You must be logged on as the Administrator or have Administrator privileges to be able to install them. Setup creates a Windows 2003 Support Tools folder within the Programs folder on the Start menu. The setup also adds the \program files\support tools directory (or the directory name you choose for installing the tools) to your computer’s path environment variable – this allows you to run the command line tools from any folder on your system.
Once the installation is complete, you can click on Start > Programs > Windows 2003 Support Tools to open the command prompt in the Program Files\Support Tools directory and start using them. All the GUI-based tools, along with the command line ones, can be found in the \Program Files\Support Tools folder (or whichever location you chose at installation).
Installing the support tools
As mentioned previously, the support tools are located in the \support\tools folder on the Windows 2003 CD-ROM. Navigate to that location and double click the “suptools.msi” file to start the installation wizard.
Press Next and browse through the screens, select “I Agree” when the license agreement screen comes up. You will be prompted to choose a location in which to install the tools. By default, the location is c:\program files\support tools\
Press the “Install Now” button and the installation will proceed. The installation will take a couple of minutes to be complete. Press “Finish” and close all windows to be able to start using the tools.
The support tools explained
This section will display the list of support tools found on the Windows Server 2003 CD-ROM in alphabetical order.
To use the command line format tools, open the command prompt and type the filename followed by the appropriate parameters. If you are unaware of the parameters of the tool you wish to use then type: filename /? to show the list of available parameters.
| Tool Name: |
ACL Diagnostics |
| Filename: |
acldiag.exe |
| Format: |
Command Line |
| Description: |
Detects and displays the permission problems found in the Access Control Lists of objects in Active Directory |
| Tool Name: |
Active Directory Replication Monitor |
| Filename: |
replmon.exe |
| Description: |
Allows the control of Active Directory replication information |
| Tool Name: |
Active Directory Search Tool |
| Filename: |
search.vbs |
| Format: |
Command Line |
| Description: |
A script used to search an LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) directory |
| Tool Name: |
Application Deployment Diagnostics |
| Filename: |
addiag.exe |
| Format: |
Command Line |
| Description: |
Gives you a list of the software implemented on a local computer using group policy |
| Tool Name: |
ADSI Edit |
| Filename: |
adsiedit.msc |
| Description: |
Allows the editing of objects in Active Directory in a low-level style editor |
| Tool Name: |
BITS Administration Utility |
| Filename: |
bitsadmin.exe |
| Description: |
Adminsters the Background Intelligent Transfer Service which controls background file transfers for Internet Information Services |
| Tool Name: |
Browser Status |
| Filename: |
browstat.exe |
| Description: |
Displays network browser status |
| Tool Name: |
Clone Principal |
| Filename: |
clonepr.dll |
| Description: |
This dynamic link library clones windows NT 4.0 users and groups to allow migration to a Windows Server 2003 forest |
| Tool Name: |
Dependancy Walker |
| Filename: |
depends.exe |
| Description: |
Allows you to view all the dependencies of a file. You are able to check which DLLs are dependant on others. This can be very useful when investigating a problem related to a missing file. The image below shows the GUI interface of the dependancy viewer. To demonstrate, I have loaded the twain_32.dll file - as you can see, this dll depends on three other dlls for it to work. |
| Tool Name: |
Device Console Utility |
| Filename: |
devcon.exe |
| Description: |
The command prompt version of the device manager in the hardware tab of system properties |
| Tool Name: |
DFS and SYSVOL Replication Topology Analysis Tool |
| Filename: |
topchk.cmd |
| Description: |
Shows the FRS replication topology |
| Tool Name: |
DHCP Server Locator Utility |
| Filename: |
dhcploc.exe |
| Description: |
Shows a list of all DHCP servers on the subnet |
| Tool Name: |
Directory Disk Usage |
| Filename: |
diruse.exe |
| Description: |
Displays directory sizes and compression information |
| Tool Name: |
Directory Services ACL Editor |
| Filename: |
dcaslc.exe |
| Description: |
Manages access control lists for Active Directory objects |
| Tool Name: |
Directory Services Utility |
| Filename: |
dsastat.exe |
| Description: |
Compare and contrast two directory trees in the same domain or across different domains |
| Tool Name: |
Distributed File System (DFS) Utility |
| Filename: |
dfsutil.exe |
| Description: |
Manages DFS, limits clients to targets within the same site and enables windows server 2003 based DFS servers to select remote targets |
| Tool Name: |
Diskprobe |
| Filename: |
dskprobe.exe |
| Description: |
Allows you to edit the disk sector information directly (includes also the MBR) |
| Tool Name: |
Disk Manager Diagnostics |
| Filename: |
dmdiag.exe |
| Description: |
Provides detailed diagnostic information about hard disk drives |
| Tool Name: |
DNS Server Troubleshooting Tool |
| Filename: |
dnscmd.exe |
| Description: |
Administrators are able to view and modify DNS servers, zones and resources |
| Tool Name: |
Domain Controller Diagnostic Tool |
| Filename: |
dcdiag.exe |
| Description: |
Analyzes and reports on the state of a domain controller |
| Tool Name: |
Encrypting File System Information |
| Filename: |
efsinfo.exe |
| Description: |
Provides information about files that have been encrypted using EFS. This is a very helpful tool when you want to analyze which files and folders are encrypted. If I were to go to the C: drive in the command prompt and type “efsinfo”, a list of all the files and their encryption related information will be displayed. This can be seen in the example below: |
| Tool Name: |
Extensible Performance Counter List |
| Filename: |
Exctrlst.exe |
| Description: |
Displays information about the programs that use the registry to provide performance counters |
| Tool Name: |
File and Directory Comparison |
| Filename: |
windiff.exe |
| Description: |
Compares ASCII text files or folders |
| Tool Name: |
File Replication Utility |
| Filename: |
ntfrsutil.exe |
| Description: |
Displays the status of the NT file replication service onto the screen and dumps it in a file |
| Tool Name: |
FileVer |
| Description: |
States version information of a file or folder |
| Tool Name: |
FRS Connection Status Report |
| Filename: |
connstat.cmd |
| Description: |
|
| Tool Name: |
FRS Health Check |
| Filename: |
health_chk.cmd |
| Description: |
States the health of the FRS of a specified domain controller |
| Tool Name: |
FRS Inbound and Outbound Logs Report Tool |
| Filename: |
lologsum.cmd |
| Description: |
Displays information about FRS replication |
| Tool Name: |
Get Security ID |
| Filename: |
getsid.exe |
| Description: |
Checks if a user account database is corrupt by comparing the SIDs of the account on two domain controllers |
| Tool Name: |
Global Flags Editor |
| Filename: |
gflags.exe |
| Description: |
Allows you to edit global registry settings or flags that are in use by the kernel |
| Tool Name: |
HTTP Configuration Utility |
| Filename: |
httpcfg.exe |
| Description: |
Manages the HTTP Application Programming Interface |
| Tool Name: |
IAS Parse Tool |
| Filename: |
iasparse.exe |
| Description: |
Parses RAS and IAS log files and displays the results in IAS or ODBC format |
| Tool Name: |
Kerberos Keytab Setup |
| Filename: |
ktpass.exe |
| Description: |
Configures a non-windows 2003 kerberos service to be a security principle in Windows Server 2003 |
| Tool Name: |
Kerberos Setup |
| Filename: |
ksetup.exe |
| Description: |
Configures Windows Server 2003 clients to use an MIT Kerberos Server |
| Tool Name: |
LDP Tool |
| Filename: |
ldp.exe |
| Description: |
Performs Lightweight Directory Access Protocol operations |
| Tool Name: |
Manipulate Service Principle Names for Accounts |
| Filename: |
setspn.exe |
| Description: |
Manipulates SPNs for active directory service accounts |
| Tool Name: |
Memory Pool Monitor |
| Filename: |
poolmon.exe |
| Description: |
Shows information about the system’s memory pool. |
| Tool Name: |
Memory Profiling Tool |
| Filename: |
memsnap.exe |
| Description: |
Allows you to save a list of the memory resources being used by all processes |
| Tool Name: |
Move Users |
| Filename: |
movetree.exe |
| Description: |
Moves objects between domains |
| Tool Name: |
Network Connectivity Tester |
| Filename: |
netdiag.exe |
| Description: |
Troubleshoots network connectivity by running various tests on your configuration and displaying the results. This tool does not require any extra parameters, which allows the administrator to instruct a user to run this command, pass on the results and allow them to be analyzed. Thus, making it less complicated if say, a senior admin was at home instructing the junior admin to do this on the servers at the office. The image below only displays the first phase of the results. |
| Tool Name: |
Network Monitor Capture Utility |
| Filename: |
netcap.exe |
| Description: |
Acts as a packet sniffer by using Network Monitor to capture packets and log them to a file |
| Tool Name: |
NItest |
| Filename: |
nitest.exe |
| Description: |
Queries the status of trusts; lists primary domain controllers; forces a shutdown and forces a user database in syncronization |
| Tool Name: |
Poolmon |
| Filename: |
poolmon.exe |
| Description: |
Helps to detect memory leaks by displaying detailed information about the allocation of memory. As soon as you type “poolmon” from the command prompt, the following kind of data will be shown. This includes the total amount of memory in the system and the memory available, amongst others. |
| Tool Name: |
Port Query |
| Filename: |
portqry.exe |
| Description: |
Allows you to troubleshoot TCP and UDP ports. This helps the administrator to determine the state of any given port. If you type “portqryt -n computer_name -e port_number” the name will be resolved to the ip address and the port number will be queried. Details such as the service assigned to that port, the port type (TCP, UDP), the state of the port and also any held data will be displayed. |
| Tool Name: |
Process Viewer |
| Filename: |
pviewer.exe |
| Description: |
Allows you to change a process priority or kill a process. This can be described as more advanced version of the “process viewer” available in the task manager. With this tool you are able to set the priority of the thread and process or kill a process altogether. Pressing on the memory detail button will bring up a window displaying in-depth information as to where the memory of the process is going. |
| Tool Name: |
Remote Command Line |
| Filename: |
remote.exe |
| Description: |
Runs command line programs on remote computers using only named pipes |
| Tool Name: |
Remote Storage Diagnostics Utility |
| Filename: |
rsdiag.exe |
| Description: |
Queries and reports on remote storage databases |
| Tool Name: |
Remote Storage File Analysis Utility |
| Filename: |
rsdir.exe |
| Description: |
Displays information form files in remote storage |
| Tool Name: |
Replication Diagnostics Tool |
| Filename: |
repadmin.exe |
| Description: |
Allows the doagnosis of replication problems between controllers in Windows Server 2003 |
| Tool Name: |
Security Administration Tools |
| Filename: |
sidwalk.exe, showaccs.exe, sidwalk.msc |
| Description: |
Manages access control lists |
| Tool Name: |
Security Descriptor Check Utility |
| Filename: |
sdcheck.exe |
| Description: |
Displays access controls on an object |
| Tool Name: |
Service Pack Check |
| Filename: |
spcheck.exe |
| Description: |
Creates a file containing a list of the service pack versions of important system files. This tool requires you to have the spcheck.ini file in the directory in which you are going to execute the command. If you do not have this file available, then you may download it from the Microsoft website. Type “spcheck” and a report will be created and dumped into the current directory. You will then have to go to the file and open it will a text editor (notepad.exe will do fine). The report contains a list of important system files and which service pack they have installed or if they are missing. |
| Tool Name: |
Windows Domain Manager |
| Filename: |
netdom.exe |
| Description: |
Provides command line administration of domains and trusts |
| Tool Name: |
Windows Installer Cleanup Utility |
| Filename: |
msicuu.exe |
| Description: |
Removes excess registry entries from a faulty installation |
| Tool Name: |
Windows Installer Zapper |
| Filename: |
msizap.exe |
| Description: |
The same as the widows installer cleanup utility, only a more in depth version |
| Tool Name: |
Xcacls.exe |
| Filename: |
xcacls.exe |
| Description: |
Sets and displays files ACLs |
Summary
As you can see, there have been quite a few additions to the support tools in Microsoft Windows Server 2003. They help you to troubleshoot any problems that may occur in your network setup and servers and provide valuable information for maintenance related tasks. The support as a whole has improved in Windows Server 2003; it’s easier to find what you want, there is more information about certain topics and the layout is better structured.