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
Get-WindowsFeature
NameDisplayName
RSATRemote Server Administration Tools
RSAT-Feature-ToolsFeature Administration Tools
RSAT-SMTPSMTP Server Tools
RSAT-Feature-Tools-BitLockerBitLocker Drive Encryption Administration Utilities
RSAT-Feature-Tools-BitLocker-RemoteAdminToolBitLocker Drive Encryption Tools
RSAT-Feature-Tools-BitLocker-BdeAducExtBitLocker Recovery Password Viewer
RSAT-Bits-ServerBITS Server Extensions Tools
RSAT-DataCenterBridging-LLDP-ToolsDataCenterBridging LLDP Tools
RSAT-ClusteringFailover Clustering Tools
RSAT-Clustering-MgmtFailover Cluster Management Tools
RSAT-Clustering-PowerShellFailover Cluster Module for Windows PowerShell
RSAT-Clustering-AutomationServerFailover Cluster Automation Server
RSAT-Clustering-CmdInterfaceFailover Cluster Command Interface
RSAT-NLBNetwork Load Balancing Tools
RSAT-Shielded-VM-ToolsShielded VM Tools
RSAT-SNMPSNMP Tools
RSAT-SMSStorage Migration Service Tools
RSAT-Storage-ReplicaStorage Replica Module for Windows PowerShell
RSAT-System-InsightsSystem Insights Module for Windows PowerShell
RSAT-WINSWINS Server Tools
RSAT-Role-ToolsRole Administration Tools
RSAT-AD-ToolsAD DS and AD LDS Tools
RSAT-AD-PowerShellActive Directory module for Windows PowerShell
RSAT-ADDSAD DS Tools
RSAT-AD-AdminCenterActive Directory Administrative Center
RSAT-ADDS-ToolsAD DS Snap-Ins and Command-Line Tools
RSAT-ADLDSAD LDS Snap-Ins and Command-Line Tools
RSAT-Hyper-V-ToolsHyper-V Management Tools
RSAT-RDS-ToolsRemote Desktop Services Tools
RSAT-RDS-GatewayRemote Desktop Gateway Tools
RSAT-RDS-Licensing-Diagnosis-UIRemote Desktop Licensing Diagnoser Tools
RSAT-ADCSActive Directory Certificate Services Tools
RSAT-ADCS-MgmtCertification Authority Management Tools
RSAT-Online-ResponderOnline Responder Tools
RSAT-ADRMSActive Directory Rights Management Services Tools
RSAT-DHCPDHCP Server Tools
RSAT-DNS-ServerDNS Server Tools
RSAT-FaxFax Server Tools
RSAT-File-ServicesFile Services Tools
RSAT-DFS-Mgmt-ConDFS Management Tools
RSAT-FSRM-MgmtFile Server Resource Manager Tools
RSAT-NFS-AdminServices for Network File System Management Tools
RSAT-NetworkControllerNetwork Controller Management Tools
RSAT-NPASNetwork Policy and Access Services Tools
RSAT-Print-ServicesPrint and Document Services Tools
RSAT-RemoteAccessRemote Access Management Tools
RSAT-RemoteAccess-MgmtRemote Access GUI and Command-Line Tools
RSAT-RemoteAccess-PowerShellRemote Access module for Windows PowerShell
RSAT-VA-ToolsVolume 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.

Add Roles and Features

On Add Roles and Features Wizard, select Next.

Before you begin

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.

Select installation type

On Server Selection page, click Next.

Select destination server

On Select server roles page, click Next.

Select server roles

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

AD DS and AD LDS Tools

On Confirm installation selections page, click Install to initiate the installation process.

Confirm installation selections

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

Windows Administrative Tools

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}

RSAT-AD-Tools

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
Install-WindowsFeature RSAT-AD-Tools

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
InstallRSATServer 12

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
InstallRSATServer 13