windowsvistalogo I have been asked this question a lot:  Where are the administrative tools for Windows Vista?  Well on Tuesday (sorry for the delay) we got the answer.

The Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) have been released the and are currently on the web.  RSAT is the collection of Windows Server 2008 management tools which will allow you manage their Windows Server infrastructure from their PCs running Windows Vista with Service Pack 1. 

Download the bits here:

Here is a list of Windows Server 2008 administration tools which are included in RSAT:

  • Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS) Tools
  • Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) Tools
  • Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS) Tools
  • DHCP Server Service Tools
  • DNS Server Service Tools
  • Shared Folders Tools
  • Network Policy and Access Services Tools
  • Terminal Services Tools
  • Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI) Services Tools
  • BitLocker Drive Encryption Tools
  • Failover Clustering Tools
  • Group Policy Management Tools
  • Network Load Balancing Tools
  • SMTP Server Tools
  • Storage Manager for SANs Tools
  • Windows System Resource Manager Tools

The tools in the following list are fully supported managing Windows Server 2003 servers as well:

  • Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) Tools
  • Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS) Tools
  • Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS) Tools
  • DHCP Server Tools
  • DNS Server Tools
  • Group Policy Management Tools
  • Network Load Balancing Tools
  • Terminal Services Tools
  • Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI) Services Tools

RSAT FAQ:

Q. Why is Microsoft making RSAT available?
A. Many IT professionals manage their servers from their own desktops. RSAT enables IT professionals to use the updated Windows Server 2008 management tools to manage their servers remotely from their own computers.

Q. Which operating systems does RSAT manage?
A.  All RSAT tools manage Windows Server 2008 servers. Certain RSAT tools also manage servers running Windows Server 2003.

Q. Is RSAT the next version of ADMINPAK.MSI?
A. Yes. As ADMINPAK.MSI provides IT professionals the ability to remotely manage their Windows Server 2003 servers, RSAT provides updated functionality for Windows Server management from computers running Windows Vista with Service Pack 1. All RSAT tools support the management of servers running Windows Server 2008; some of these tools also support the management of servers running Windows Server 2003, and thus can be considered a replacement for ADMINPAK.MSI.

Q.  Will RSAT run on the version of Windows Vista with no service packs installed?
A.  No. RSAT requires Windows Vista with Service Pack 1.

Q.  Will RSAT include Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) for Windows Vista with SP1?
A.  Yes.

Q. Will l the GPMC provided by RSAT allow me to manage Group Policy preference items from a computer running Windows Vista with SP1?
A.  Yes.