Information Systems:Windows administration with RSAT
It used to be convention (still is, probably), to remote into (RDP) server machines to perform administration of domain services (DNS, Group Policy etc.). Windows 10 offers a more convenient way through RSAT - Remote Server Administration Tools. These appear to just be preconfigured MMCs, but work better than trying to create and save your own MMC of remote tools. To install, add the necessary tools in the Optional Features section of Windows (not the old Turn On/Off features, but the new Optional Features). There's an RSAT for DNS, DHCP, Group Policy, WSUS, AD Users and Computers etc. Once enabled, the tools will ask you to connect to the desired server, and the outcome is the same as if you had RDP'ed into the server and used the same tool, but more elegantly e.g. no risk of leaving the Administrator session open on the server and preventing a scheduled reboot, no kicking another user out who was RDP'ed into the same server etc.
Some caveats to note:
- Try this on domain machines only (preferably, your own). That's because these tools use some sort of SSO, so if you've got an external machine (not joined to the domain), it has problems authenticating and/or connecting to the service.
- These tools also work through VPN (again, on a domain machine).
- It should go without saying, but do not install these tools on PCs used by non-IT staff. If you're doing something on a shared computer, RDP in instead.
- If you're using a multi-homed machine (multiple NICs or vNICs), you may encounter strange behavior e.g. opening Users and Computers appears to do nothing, or browsing an object in Group Policy takes forever. This is related to point 1 - the tool is doing some background enumeration and/or authentication and is getting confused with the routes. For me, I have a vNIC (VLAN 2), and disabling it resolves the glitch immediately.
As always, exercise caution when using powerful tools such as these RSAT ones. This company affords IT the flexibility to do these things in a convenient manner, but it also grants the ability to wreak havoc on the infrastructure e.g. deleting the domain node in DNS. So basically, that quote from Spiderman, and no I'm not going to say it.