Windows Networking Tool Pack netsh FAQ

Netsh is one of the most powerful tools in the Windows Networking Toolkit. The following describes some of the best uses of netsh in a variety of situations, explaining how to simplify network configuration, management, and file information.

What is 1:netsh?

Netsh is one of the most powerful but less known tools in Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003. It is installed by default and is located in the System32 folder in the system root directory. Windows XP also contains the Netsh tools.

Netsh helps you to display, modify, input, and output many elements of system network parameters. It can also remotely connect to other systems via remote machine parameters (-R).

2:netsh context

Context refers to the special factors of the network configuration that Netsh can manage. Commands and options in Netsh are context-sensitive, and the same commands may exist within multiple context areas, and the commands and results for each context are different. The following is a Netsh context area for Windows Server 2003:

Context--Description

aaaa– verification, authorization, auditing and auditing

DHCP–DHCP Server Management

Diag–os and Network Service parameters

Interface–nic configuration; including child context

IPSec – IP service parameters to choose from

netsh bridge– network bridge configuration

ras– Remote Access server configuration

routing– Routing Management (not RRAS)

rpc– Subnet and interface settings

Wins–windows Internet domain Name Service management

Now, the context may also have a child context, making the problem more complex. For example, the interface context has three child contexts: IP, IPv6, and portproxy. Netsh refers to these child contexts as context references, such as the Netshet interface IP context. Note that Windows XP has a different set of contexts. When using input and output operations in Non-interactive mode, you must specify the context or child context configuration.

3: Coordinate network change control with Netsh

You can use Netsh input and output network configuration. The use of Netsh for network change control is a typical example. If you want to install a system into another network, but you need to maintain a communication channel with other systems, the Netsh output will allow each system to agree to use various network settings. For example, the following is part of the interface context netsh output for a dump operation.

Set address name = "Teamed NIC" source = static Addr = 10.64.32.100 Mask = 255.255.252.0

Set address name = "Teamed NIC" gateway = 10.25.44.1 gwmetric = 1

Set DNS name = "teamed NIC" source = static Addr = 10.64.22.50

Add DNS name = "teamed NIC" addr = 10.95.61.22

Add DNS name = "teamed NIC" addr = 10.95.45.34

Set WINS name = "Teamed NIC" source = static Addr = 10.95.45.70

Add wins name = "Teamed NIC" addr = 10.95.45.25

Examining a Netsh output that includes each part ensures that the system is properly routed using the correct DNS, WINS, and subnet masks. The biggest advantage is that after you complete all the appropriate entries, you can enter the entire file into the Windows system and do not enter any error messages. This can be used only for interface contexts, and also for all other context scripts.