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Windows Commands

Although Windows sports a fancy graphical interface that makes it possible to perform most network management tasks by pointing and clicking, you can also do almost any network management task from a command prompt. Whether you choose to do so is largely a matter of personal style. Some network administrators pride themselves in being able to type Windows commands blindfolded and with two fingers from each hand tied behind their backs. Others have fully embraced the graphical user interface and think the command line is for administrators with Unix envy.

This tutorial begins with an overview of working from the command prompt. Then, it describes some of the more useful Windows commands. Finally, this tutorial introduces the fine (and almost lost) art of writing batch files.

Tip: Windows Server 2008 includes a brand-new command environment known as PowerShell. PowerShell is an advanced command processor that has many sophisticated features that are designed especially for creating powerful scripts. For more information, see Microsoft's PowerShell site at www.microsoft.com/powershell.

In this tutorial:

  1. Using a Command Window
  2. Special Command Tricks
  3. Networking Environment variables
  4. The EventCreate Command
  5. Net Commands
  6. The Net File command
  7. The Net Localgroup command
  8. The Net Print command
  9. The Net Start command
  10. The Net User command
  11. The RunAs Command