In this post I will take you through the process on how to install Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) on Windows Server. Installation of RSAT tools gives us the flexibility of managing few remote administration tasks related to server such ad Active Directory, BitLocker management etc.
Components included in Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT)
Microsoft RSAT is a server management tools which can either be installed on workstation or on any Windows Server. RSAT is a combination of Windows Admin tools, Installing the tool on Windows Server can be done through Server Manager tools. Following are the RSAT components which we can install:
Run following PowerShell command to get this info
Get-WindowsFeature | Where-Object {$_.Name -like 'RSAT*'} | select Name,DisplayName
Name | DisplayName |
RSAT | Remote Server Administration Tools |
RSAT-Feature-Tools | Feature Administration Tools |
RSAT-SMTP | SMTP Server Tools |
RSAT-Feature-Tools-BitLocker | BitLocker Drive Encryption Administration Utilities |
RSAT-Feature-Tools-BitLocker-RemoteAdminTool | BitLocker Drive Encryption Tools |
RSAT-Feature-Tools-BitLocker-BdeAducExt | BitLocker Recovery Password Viewer |
RSAT-Bits-Server | BITS Server Extensions Tools |
RSAT-DataCenterBridging-LLDP-Tools | DataCenterBridging LLDP Tools |
RSAT-Clustering | Failover Clustering Tools |
RSAT-Clustering-Mgmt | Failover Cluster Management Tools |
RSAT-Clustering-PowerShell | Failover Cluster Module for Windows PowerShell |
RSAT-Clustering-AutomationServer | Failover Cluster Automation Server |
RSAT-Clustering-CmdInterface | Failover Cluster Command Interface |
RSAT-NLB | Network Load Balancing Tools |
RSAT-Shielded-VM-Tools | Shielded VM Tools |
RSAT-SNMP | SNMP Tools |
RSAT-SMS | Storage Migration Service Tools |
RSAT-Storage-Replica | Storage Replica Module for Windows PowerShell |
RSAT-System-Insights | System Insights Module for Windows PowerShell |
RSAT-WINS | WINS Server Tools |
RSAT-Role-Tools | Role Administration Tools |
RSAT-AD-Tools | AD DS and AD LDS Tools |
RSAT-AD-PowerShell | Active Directory module for Windows PowerShell |
RSAT-ADDS | AD DS Tools |
RSAT-AD-AdminCenter | Active Directory Administrative Center |
RSAT-ADDS-Tools | AD DS Snap-Ins and Command-Line Tools |
RSAT-ADLDS | AD LDS Snap-Ins and Command-Line Tools |
RSAT-Hyper-V-Tools | Hyper-V Management Tools |
RSAT-RDS-Tools | Remote Desktop Services Tools |
RSAT-RDS-Gateway | Remote Desktop Gateway Tools |
RSAT-RDS-Licensing-Diagnosis-UI | Remote Desktop Licensing Diagnoser Tools |
RSAT-ADCS | Active Directory Certificate Services Tools |
RSAT-ADCS-Mgmt | Certification Authority Management Tools |
RSAT-Online-Responder | Online Responder Tools |
RSAT-ADRMS | Active Directory Rights Management Services Tools |
RSAT-DHCP | DHCP Server Tools |
RSAT-DNS-Server | DNS Server Tools |
RSAT-Fax | Fax Server Tools |
RSAT-File-Services | File Services Tools |
RSAT-DFS-Mgmt-Con | DFS Management Tools |
RSAT-FSRM-Mgmt | File Server Resource Manager Tools |
RSAT-NFS-Admin | Services for Network File System Management Tools |
RSAT-NetworkController | Network Controller Management Tools |
RSAT-NPAS | Network Policy and Access Services Tools |
RSAT-Print-Services | Print and Document Services Tools |
RSAT-RemoteAccess | Remote Access Management Tools |
RSAT-RemoteAccess-Mgmt | Remote Access GUI and Command-Line Tools |
RSAT-RemoteAccess-PowerShell | Remote Access module for Windows PowerShell |
RSAT-VA-Tools | Volume Activation Tools |
Install RSAT on Windows Server 2019 / 2022
The process will remain same for on all Windows Server. Login to Windows Server and open Server Manager or type ServerManager.exe on windows + Run.
On Server Manager > Dashboard, click on Manage and select Add Roles and Features.
On Add Roles and Features Wizard, select Next.
On Select installation type page, select Role-based or feature-based installation if you are installing the roles & features manually or else select Remote Desktop Services Installation for remote install.
On Server Selection page, click Next.
On Select server roles page, click Next.
On Feature page, scroll down and select AD DS and AD LDS Tools which is under Remote Server Administration Tools > Role Administration Tools. Selecting this feature will automatically select other features required related to it:
Active Directory module for Windows PowerShell
Active Directory Administrative Center
AD DS Snap-Ins and Command-Line Tools
On Confirm installation selections page, click Install to initiate the installation process.
Once installation is done for RSAT program, we can see following Windows Administrative Tools installed :
Domain.msc : Active Directory Domains and Trusts
dsa.msc : Active Directory Users and Computers
dssite.msc : Active Directory Sites and Services
How to install Remote Server administration Tools (RSAT) on Windows Server using PowerShell
Previously we saw how to install RSAT on Server using Server Manager. However, if you want to expedite the process on multiple server with multiple components, PowerShell cmdlets can be used
Lets check the RSAT-AD-Tools component details. Run following PowerShell command which gives the result:
get-WindowsFeature | Where-Object {$_.Name -like "RSAT-AD-Tools"} | select *
Name : RSAT-AD-Tools
DisplayName : AD DS and AD LDS Tools
Description : Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) and Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS) Tools includes snap-ins and command-line tools for remotely managing AD DS and AD LDS.
Installed : False
InstallState : Available
FeatureType : Feature
Path : Remote Server Administration Tools\Role Administration Tools\AD DS and AD LDS Tools
Depth : 3
DependsOn : {}
Parent : RSAT-Role-Tools
ServerComponentDescriptor : ServerComponent_RSAT_AD_Tools
SubFeatures : {RSAT-AD-PowerShell, RSAT-ADDS, RSAT-ADLDS}
SystemService : {}
Notification : {}
BestPracticesModelId :
EventQuery :
PostConfigurationNeeded : False
AdditionalInfo : {MajorVersion, MinorVersion, NumericId, InstallName}
Install State is showing as Available and ready to install in next command.
Run another PowerShell Command:
get-WindowsFeature | Where-Object {$_.Name -like "RSAT-AD-Tools"} | Install-WindowsFeature
We can installation succeeded with Exit Code Success
Install other RSAT Components using PowerShell Command
I am sharing few other PowerShell command line which can be used to for installation of other RSAT Tools:
To install all default components under Remote Server Administration Tools:
Get-WindowsFeature | Where-Object {$_.Name -like "RSAT*"} | Install-WindowsFeature
To install all other components under selected component, use:
get-WindowsFeature | Where-Object {$_.Name -like "RSAT*"} -IncludeAllSubFeature | Install-WindowsFeature | Install-WindowsFeature -WhatIf
For Rest other Windows Server components to install using PowerShell:
DHCP Server Tools : Get-WindowsFeature | Where-Object {$_.Name -like "RSAT-DHCP"} DNS Server Tools : Get-WindowsFeature | Where-Object {$_.Name -like "RSAT-DNS-Server"} Hyper-V Management Tools : Get-WindowsFeature | Where-Object {$_.Name -like "RSAT-Hyper-V-Tools"} Remote Desktop Services Tools : Get-WindowsFeature | Where-Object {$_.Name -like "RSAT-RDS-Tools"} DFS Management Tools : Get-WindowsFeature | Where-Object {$_.Name -like "RSAT-DFS-Mgmt-Con"} Remote Access Management Tools : Get-WindowsFeature | Where-Object {$_.Name -like "RSAT-RemoteAccess"} Volume Activation Tools: Get-WindowsFeature | Where-Object {$_.Name -like "RSAT-RSAT-VA-Tools"}
For complete list of RSAT tools that can be installed, use following PowerShell Command: get-WindowsFeature | Where-Object {$_.Name -like "RSAT*"} | select name,displayname