Routing and Remote Access Service

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Netsh Command-Line Tool

Netsh is a command-line and scripting tool for Windows 2000 networking components for local or remote computers. Netsh is supplied with Windows 2000. Netsh also provides the ability to save a configuration script in a text file for archival purposes or for configuring other servers.

Netsh is a shell that can support multiple Windows 2000 components through the addition of Netsh helper DLLs. A Netsh helper DLL extends Netsh functionality by providing additional commands to monitor or configure a specific Windows 2000 networking component. Each Netsh helper DLL provides a context (a group of commands for a specific networking component). Within each context, subcontexts can exist. For example, within the routing context, the subcontexts ip and ipx exist to group IP routing and IPX routing commands together.

Netsh command-line options include the following:

–a AliasFile   Specifies that an alias file be used. An alias file contains a list of Netsh commands and an aliased version so that the aliased command line can be used in place of the Netsh command. Alias files can be used to map commands to the appropriate Netsh command that might be more familiar in other platforms.

–c Context   Specifies the context of the command corresponding to an installed helper DLL.

Command   Specifies the Netsh command to carry out.

–f ScriptFile   Specifies that all of the Netsh commands in the file ScriptFile be run.

–r Remote Computer Name or IP Address   Specifies that Netsh commands are run on the remote computer specified by its name or IP address.

Commands can be abbreviated to the shortest unambiguous string. For example, issuing the command ro ip sh int is equivalent to issuing routing ip show interface. Netsh commands can be either global or context specific. Global commands can be issued in any context and are used for general Netsh functions. Context-specific commands vary according to the context.

Table 2.2 lists the netsh global commands.

Table 2.2 Global Netsh Commands

Command Description
.. Moves up one context level.
? or help Displays command-line Help.
add helper Add a Netsh helper DLL.
delete helper Removes a Netsh helper DLL.
show helper Displays the installed Netsh helper DLLs.
online Sets the current mode to online.
offline Sets the current mode to offline.
set mode Sets the current mode to online or offline.
show mode Displays the current mode.
flush Discards any changes in offline mode.
commit Commits changes made in offline mode.
show machine Displays the computer on which the Netsh commands are carried out.
exec Executes a script file containing Netsh commands.
quit or bye or exit Exits Netsh.
add alias Adds an alias to an existing command.
delete alias Deletes an alias from an existing command.
show alias Displays all defined aliases.
dump Writes configuration.
popd A scripting command that pops a context from the stack.
pushd A scripting command that pushes the current context on the stack.

Netsh has the following command modes:

You can also run a script (a text file with a list of Netsh commands) by using either the –f command-line option or by issuing the exec global command at a Netsh command prompt.

To create a script of the current configuration, use the global dump command. The dump command generates

the current running configuration in terms of Netsh commands. You can then use the script created by this command to configure a new server or to reconfigure the existing server. If you are making extensive changes to the configuration of a component, it is recommended to begin the configuration session with the dump command, in case you need to restore the configuration prior to changes being made.

For the Routing and Remote Access service, Netsh has the following contexts:

For more information about context-specific commands, see Windows 2000 Server Help and the help provided by the Netsh tool.

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