Applies to: Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2008 R2

Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) enables IT administrators to remotely manage roles and features in Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 from a computer that is running Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows Vista, or Windows 7.  

This is similar to installing the adminpak.msi on Windows 2000 or Windows XP client computers. There is one major difference: in Windows Vista and Windows 7, the tools are not automatically available after RSAT is downloaded and installed. You must enable the tools that you want to use by using the Control Panel. To do so, click Start, click Control Panel, click Programs and then click Turn Windows features on or off (as shown in the following figure).

However, in the RSAT release for Windows 8.1 and Windows 8, tools are once again all enabled by default. You can open Turn Windows on or off to disable tools that you don't want to use.  In Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 8.1 and Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 8, GUI-based tools are accesssed from within the Server Manager console, on the Tools menu.



For RSAT that runs on Windows Vista and Windows 7, after running the downloaded installation package, you must enable the tools for the roles and features that you want to manage (as shown in the following figure).  You don't need to do this for RSAT for Windows 8 or RSAT for Windows 8.1.





If you need to install management tools in Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, or Windows Server 2012 R2 for specific roles or features running on remote servers, there's no need to install additional software.  Open the Add Features Wizard in Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2, or the Add Roles and Features Wizard in Windows Server 2012 and later releases, and on the Select Features page, expand Remote Server Administration Tools and select the tools that you want to install. Complete the wizard to install your management tools. See the following figure.

Download locations for RSAT

Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) for Windows 8.1
Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) for Windows 8
Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) for Windows 7 with SP1 (both x86 and x64)
Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) for Windows Vista 32-bit (x86)
Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) for Windows Vista 64-bit (x64)

RSAT for Windows 8 Platform and Tools Support Matrix

Remote Server Administration Tools technology	Description	Manages technology on Windows Server 2003	Manages technology on Windows Server 2008	Manages technology on Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2
Active Directory Certificate Services Tools	Active Directory Certificate Services Tools includes the Certification Authority, Certificate Templates, Enterprise PKI, and Online Responder Management snap-ins.	√, except Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP)	√	√
Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) Tools and Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS) Tools	Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) and Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS) Tools includes Active Directory Administrative Center; Active Directory Domains and Trusts; Active Directory Sites and Services; Active Directory Users and Computers; ADSI Edit; DCPromo.exe; LDP.exe; NetDom.exe; NTDSUtil.exe; RepAdmin.exe; Active Directory module for Windows PowerShell; DCDiag.exe; DSACLs.exe; DSAdd.exe; DSDBUtil.exe; DSMgmt.exe; DSMod.exe; DSMove.exe; DSQuery.exe; DSRm.exe; GPFixup.exe; KSetup.exe; KtPass.exe; NlTest.exe; NSLookup.exe; W32tm.exe. - Server for NIS Tools includes an extension to the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in, and the Ypclear.exe command-line tool.	√, Windows PowerShell and ADAC remote management require the Active Directory Web Service download package.	√, Windows PowerShell and ADAC remote management require the Active Directory Web Service download package.	√ Identity Management for UNIX, which includes Server for NIS, is deprecated in Windows Server 2012 R2, and tools for managing these features are no longer available in RSAT for Windows 8.1.
Best Practices Analyzer	Best Practices Analyzer cmdlets for Windows PowerShell	Not available; no BPA models run on WS03	Can run on WS08 R2 when the Windows Management Framework 3.0 package is installed on WS08 R2.  No BPA models are available for WS08.	√
BitLocker Drive Encryption Administration Utilities	Manage-bde; Windows PowerShell cmdlets for BitLocker; BitLocker Recovery Password Viewer for Active Directory	Not available	Not available	√
Cluster-Aware Updating	Cluster-Aware Updating management console, Cluster-Aware Updating cmdlets for Windows PowerShell	Not available	Not available	√
DHCP Server Tools	DHCP Server Tools includes the DHCP Management Console, the DHCP Server cmdlet module for Windows Powershell, and the Netsh command-line tool.	√ Windows PowerShell module does not run on WS03	√ Windows PowerShell module does not run on WS08 and WS08 R2	√
DirectAccess, Routing and Remote Access	Routing and Remote Access management console; Connection Manager Administration Kit console; Remote Access provider for Windows PowerShell	Not available	Not available	√
DNS Server Tools	DNS Server Tools include the DNS Manager snap-in, the DNS module for Windows PowerShell and the Ddnscmd.exe command-line tool.	√	√	√
Failover Clustering Tools	Failover Clustering Tools include Failover Cluster Manager, Failover Clusters (Windows PowerShell Cmdlets), MSClus, Cluster.exe	Not available	√ Failover Cluster Manager runs only on Windows Server 2012.  The Windows PowerShell cmdlet set supports Windows Server 2012 and WS08R2.  MSClus and Cluster.EXE support Windows Server 2012, WS08R2 and WS08.	√
File and Storage Services Tools	File Services Tools include the following: Share and Storage Management Tools; Distributed File System Tools; File Server Resource Manager Tools; Services for NFS Administration Tools; iSCSI management cmdlets for Windows PowerShell - Distributed File System Tools include the DFS Management snap-in, and the Dfsradmin.exe, Dfsrdiag.exe, Dfscmd.exe, Dfsdiag.exe, and Dfsutil.exe command-line tools. - File Server Resource Manager tools include the File Server Resource Manager snap-in, and the Dirquota.exe, Filescrn.exe, and Storrept.exe command line tools. - Share and Storage Management Tools include the Share and Storage Management snap-in.	Not available	√ iSCSI cmdlets for Windows PowerShell can be used to manage iSCSI on Windows Server 2012 only.	√
Group Policy Management Tools	Group Policy Management Tools include Group Policy Management Console, Group Policy Management Editor, and Group Policy Starter GPO Editor.	√	√	√
Hyper-V Tools	Hyper-V Tools include the Hyper-V Manager snap-in and the Virtual Machine Connection remote access tool.	Not available	Hyper-V Manager console doesn’t support managing Hyper-V servers running Server 2008 or Server 2008 R2.	Hyper-V tools are not part of Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 8 or Windows 8.1. These tools are available as part of Windows 8 and Windows 8.1; there is no need to install RSAT to use them. The Hyper-V Manager console for Windows Server 2012 doesn’t support managing Hyper-V servers running Server 2008 or Server 2008 R2.  Managing Hyper-V running on Windows Server 2012 by using Windows PowerShell tools available in RSAT for Windows 8.1 works, but is not officially supported. Likewise, using RSAT for Windows 8 to manage Hyper-V on Windows Server 2012 R2 works, but is not officially supported.
IP Address Management (IPAM) Management Tools	IP Address Management client console	Not available	Not available	√ IPAM tools in Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 8.1 cannot be used to manage IPAM running on Windows Server 2012.
Network Adapter Teaming, or NIC Teaming	Network Adapter Teaming management console	Not available	Not available	√
Network Load Balancing Tools	Network Load Balancing Tools include the Network Load Balancing Manager; Network Load Balancing Windows PowerShell Cmdlets; and the NLB.exe and WLBS.exe Command Line Tools.	√	√	√
Remote Desktop Services Tools	Remote Desktop Services Tools include the Remote Desktop snap-ins; RD Gateway Manager, tsgateway.msc; RD Licensing Manager, licmgr.exe; RD Licensing Diagnoser, lsdiag.msc. Server Manager  should be used for administration of all other RDS role services except RD Gateway and RD Licensing.	√	√	√
Server Manager	Server Manager includes the Server Manager console. Remote management with Server Manager is available in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2012.	Not available	Available for WS08 R2 and forward, not WS08	√
SMTP Server Tools	SMTP Server Tools include the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) snap-in.	√	√	The tools are not available in RSAT for Windows 8 and later
Storage Explorer Tools	Storage Explorer Tools include the Storage Explorer snap-in.	Not available	√	The tools are not available in RSAT for Windows 8 and later
Storage Manager for Storage Area Networks (SANs) Tools	Storage Manager for SANs Tools include the Storage Manager for SANs snap-in and the Provisionstorage.exe command-line tool.	√ Storage Manager for SANs is available in Windows Server 2003 R2 and later releases.	√	The tools are not available in RSAT for Windows 8 and later
Volume Activation	Manage Volume Activation, vmw.exe	Not available	The tool can be used to manage volume activation on remote servers running WS08 or WS08 R2, but cannot run on those operating systems.	√
Windows System Resource Manager Tools	Windows System Resource Manager Tools include the Windows System Resource Manager snap-in and the Wsrmc.exe command-line tool.	Not available	√	√ WSRM has been deprecated in Windows Server 2012 R2, and thus tools for managing WSRM are not available in Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 8.1.
Windows Server Update Services Tools	Windows Server Update Services Tools include the Windows Server Update Services snap-in, WSUS.msc	Not available	√	√

Reference: KB 858830

Related topics

Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 8 and 8.1 Help
Description of Windows Server 2008 Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows Vista Service Pack 1
RSAT Released for Windows 7
Remotely Managing your Server Core Using RSAT
Screencast: How to Install and Enable Microsoft RSAT (Remote Server Administration Tools) for Windows Vista
Using MMC Snap-ins and RSAT

Related forum threads

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