Not particularly new news, but it's been sat in my inbox for a while, and you may still find it useful.

One of my demos I often show around Windows Server 2008 is Server Core; a scaled down version of the OS with a command line interface for local management.  Now, being from the School of GUI whilst growing up with technology means that scripting at the command line isn't in my comfort zone, which means it's important to provide powerful alternatives.  In the case of Windows Server 2008 and Server Core, I could simply go to another Windows Server 2008 box (GUI version) and manage the Server Core box remotely (providing I've opened up the relevant ports in the firewall).  This, however, isn't always convenient, especially if I spend most of my working day working on a client operating system, which in this case, would be Vista SP1.

So, with that, it's useful to learn that there is a tool that can be installed on Vista SP1 (x86/x64) which allows remote management of a Windows Server 2008 machine.  So, what does it allow you to manage?

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 Service Tools
  • DNS Server Service Tools
  • Shared Folders Tools
  • Network Policy and Access Services Tools
  • Terminal Services Tools
  • Uniiversal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI) Services Tools

Feature Administration 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

Download: Remote Server Administration Tools (x86)

Download: Remote Server Administration Tools (x64)

There are a few common questions being asked around what is required to run RSAT and what it actually replaces:

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.

RSAT is also available in the following languages:

Language x86 x64
German German - Germany German - Germany
Japanese Japanese - Japan Japanese - Japan
French French - France French - France
Spanish Spanish (Traditional Sort) - Spain Spanish (Traditional Sort) - Spain
Chinese - Simplified Chinese - China Chinese - China
Italian Italian - Italy Italian - Italy
Chinese - Traditional Chinese - Taiwan Chinese - Taiwan
Chinese - Hong Kong Chinese - Hong Kong SAR Chinese - Hong Kong SAR
Russian Russian - Russia Russian - Russia
Korean Korean - Korea Korean - Korea
Portuguese (Brazil) Portuguese - Brazil Portuguese - Brazil
Dutch Dutch - Netherlands Dutch - Netherlands
Swedish Swedish - Sweden Swedish - Sweden
Portuguese (Portugal) Portuguese - Portugal Portuguese - Portugal
Polish Polish - Poland Polish - Poland
Turkish Turkish - Turkey Turkish - Turkey
Czech Czech - Czech Republic Czech - Czech Republic
Hungarian Hungarian - Hungary Hungarian - Hungary

Happy Managing! :-)