The Definition and Purpose of Microsoft Management Console

What Is Microsoft Management Console

What is the Microsoft Management Console? MMC is the abbreviation of the Microsoft Management Console utility. It is an application that provides a Graphical User Interface (GUI) and a programming framework where you can create, save, and open consoles (a collection of management tools).

Microsoft Management Console was originally released as part of the Windows 98 Resource Kit and is included in all later versions. It uses the Multiple Document Interface (MDI) in an environment similar to Microsoft Windows Explorer.

Microsoft Management Console is considered a container for actual operations and is called a “tool host”. It does not provide management itself but provides a framework in which management tools can be run.

The management console can host component object model components called snap-ins. Most of Microsoft’s management tools are implemented as MMC snap-ins. Third parties can also use the MMC application programming interface published on the Microsoft Developer Network website to implement their own snap-in.

What Is the Purpose of the Microsoft Management Console

What is the purpose of the Microsoft Management Console. The console is used to manage Windows-based hardware, software, and network components, and includes items such as controls, wizards, tasks, documentation, and snap-ins. These items may come from Microsoft or other software vendors, or they may be user-defined.

The richest MMC component, Computer Management, appears under System and Security in the Category view in the Administrative Tools folder in Control Panel. 

Computer management includes a set of MMC snap-ins, including Device Manager, Disk Defragmenter, Internet Information Services (if installed), Disk Management, Event Viewer, Local Users, and Groups (except in Windows Home Edition), Sharing Folders, and other tools.

Computer management can also point entirely to another Windows computer, allowing you to monitor and configure other computers on the local network that users can access. Other MMC snap-ins in common use include:

• Microsoft Exchange Server
• Services snap-in, for managing Windows services
• Event Viewer, for monitoring system and application events
• Performance snap-in, for monitoring system performance and metrics
• Active Directory Users and Computers, Domains and Trusts, and Sites and Services
• Group Policy Management, including the Local Security Policy snap-in, included on all Windows 2000 and later systems (Home editions of Microsoft Windows disable this snap-in)

To create a console, you can run the MMC executable file to open an empty console and chooses from among a list of all the tools installed on the system (such as, for example, certificate server manager, device manager, and DNS manager).

You can create consoles and then send them as e-mail attachments to developers responsible for specific tasks since they exist as files. The most prolific MMC component, Computer Management, appears in the “Administrative Tools” folder in the Control Panel, under “System and Security” in Category View.

How to Open the Microsoft Management Console

Just now, you have got some basic information about the Microsoft Management Console. Then you may wonder how to open it. You can open it using the four methods illustrated below.

Method 1: Turn it on via the Run box

Step 1: Press the Windows+R keys at the same time to open the Run box. Then type mmc and click OK.

Step 2: Select Yes in the User Account Control window. Then you have opened Microsoft Management Console successfully.

Method 2: Open it via the Search box

You can also try opening it via the Search box. You just need to input mmc in the Search box and click the first result to open it.

Method 3: Open it via Command Prompt

Step 1: Type cmd in the Search box. Then right-click the first result to choose Run as administrator.

Step 2: Input mmc and press Enter.

Method 4: Run it via Windows PowerShell

Step 1: Open Windows PowerShell through searching.

Step 2: Type mmc.exe and press Enter.

The End

To sum up, you have known the definition and the usage of the Microsoft Management Console from this post. Besides, you have got four useful methods to open it. I hope that this post can be helpful to you.