How to Install and Use the Windows 2003 Server Administration Tools Pack on a Windows XP Professional client
This How-To explains how to install and use the Windows 2003 Server Administration Tools Pack on a Windows XP client to manage a Windows 2003 Server.
 | This tutorial assumes you already have a Windows 2003 Server domain controller and a Windows XP Professional client on the same domain, and that everything is configured correctly. The installation of Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP Professional, and configuration of the server environment is outside the scope of this how-to. |
1. Download the Windows 2003 Server Administration Tools Pack
The Windows 2003 Server administration tools are available on Microsoft's web site.Here is a direct link: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&familyid=c16ae515-c8f4-47ef-a1e4-a8dcbacff8e3#Overview
After downloading, run the file.
2. Extract the Installer
When you run the file you downloaded, you will get a prompt asking where you would like to extract the installer. You can extract them anywhere you would like, I chose the desktop.
3. Run the Installer
Run adminpak.msi, the Windows 2003 Administration Tools Pack Installer. Complete the installation process. It is a very straightforward installer. During setup you will have to agree with an End User License Agreement (EULA). | In order to install and use the Windows Server 2003 Administration Tools Pack, you must be logged in as a user with the proper administrative privliges. If you do not have the proper permissions, installation will fail notifying you the security policy doesn't allow you to install. My user was a member of the server's "Administrators" group and the "Domain Admins" group. |
Installation Complete
The installer added serveral server-specific tools to the Administrative Tools folder.
On the left is what Adminstrative Tools looked like before installation. On the right is what it looks like after installation. The installer added 22 items. Among these items are Active Directory Users and Computers, Active Directory Management, DHCP, and DNS. I'm going to look at 3 tools: Active Directory Users and Computers, DNS, and the previously existing tool Services.
Active Directory Users and Computers
To start this tool, go to Start > Administrative Tools > Active Directory Users and Computers. This tool allows you to create and manage users and groups on the domain, and allows you to manage computers on the domain. Below on the left is a screenshot of what the tool looks like. Notice that there is no "Administrators" group. That is because that group is local to the server, it is not a domain group. The group "Domain Admins" is a domain group that consists of administrators.I decided to add a user to the domain. I gave the user the name "newuser" with the first name "New" and the last name "User" as you can see below on the right.
Active Directory Users and Computers on Windows XP shows me that it has added the new user. However, since I have never before used this tool when not directly accessing the server, I don't yet believe it. I logged into the server and confirmed the new user has been added, as you can see from the server screenshot below.
DNS
To Start the DNS tool, go to Start > Administrative Tools > DNS. The first thing you will see is a prompt asking if DNS is running on the local computer, or another computer. Since it is running on the server, you will have to connect to it by typing the full server path, including the domain, in the "The Following Computer:" text box. Click OK and the tool will show up. Since I did not need to view or modify any DNS information I did not go any further. The interface looks exactly as it does on Windows 2003 Server connected to the local computer. Below on the left is the "Connect to DNS Server" prompt and on the right is the DNS tool.
Services
To start the Services tool, go to Start > Administrative Tools > Services. As you can see from the original Administrative Tools screenshot above, Services is a Microsoft Management Console Snap-In that comes with Windows XP and was not added by this installation. However, if it did not come with Windows XP the installation would have added it because you can use the tool to connect to the server and manage the services running on the server. To connect to the server, click Action > Connect to Another Computer. You will see the "Select Computer" dialog box, shown below on the left. Select "Another Computer" and type the address of the server, or click browse and browse for the server. It is best to know the address of the server, since not all dialog boxes have a browse button, as we saw with the "Connect to DNS Server" dialog earlier. Click OK and the Snap-In will now show the services installed on the server, as you can see below on the right. You can stop or restart running services, and start services not running.
