MMC Basics

Each console in Microsoft Management Console includes one or more windows. Each window has two panes. The left pane is called the scope pane and shows a tree view of the namespace, which is the hierarchy of all the items that can currently be managed by MMC. Each item (or node) is one of a variety of objects, tasks, or containers. The tree view of the namespace is similar to a Windows NT Explorer view of files and folders on a hard disk.

When you select a node in the namespace, the right pane, called the results pane, displays the results of that selection. The results can be a list of what is contained by the item you select, it can be a Web page providing management information, or it can be another kind of management view, such as a property page or Performance Monitor graph. In a management view, you administer the network by taking action on the contents of the results pane, changing options or executing commands represented by toolbars or command menus.

When you load a snap-in into the console, it adds nodes to the namespace. You can also add items (such as folders, links to Web pages, and ActiveX™ controls) directly to the namespace, allowing your console to link to other Web pages or products.

You can create multiple windows within a console. Each window can have a different view of the current namespace. When there is more than one window, the console always has one current master namespace. Each child window just provides a different view of that master namespace, perhaps showing snap-ins contained by one node. Using multiple windows, you can simultaneously view and work with different parts of the namespace.

After you have created a console by loading snap-ins and arranging windows, you can save the console to a file (with the default extension of .msc). Loading the file later re-creates all the saved console settings.

Because saved console files are not tied to large amounts of managed data, it is practical for you to create multiple console files and to share them by e-mail, on floppy disks, or over the network. Console files can be given the read-only attribute or shared read-only, so that people who open them cannot change them.