Windows Server Administrators Top 200 Question - Appendix B

 

Appendix B — Top 50 CMD Commands for Windows Server Administrators

1. Network Commands — 1 to 15

#	CMD Command	Purpose
1	ipconfig	Displays basic IP configuration
2	ipconfig /all	Displays detailed IP configuration
3	ipconfig /release	Releases the DHCP address
4	ipconfig /renew	Renews the DHCP address
5	ipconfig /flushdns	Clears the DNS resolver cache
6	ipconfig /displaydns	Displays cached DNS records
7	ping	Tests network connectivity
8	tracert	Traces the route to a destination
9	pathping	Tests route and packet loss
10	nslookup	Queries DNS
11	netstat -ano	Displays connections, ports, and PIDs
12	arp -a	Displays the ARP cache
13	route print	Displays the routing table
14	hostname	Displays the computer name
15	getmac	Displays MAC addresses

2. Domain and Active Directory Commands — 16 to 25

#	CMD Command	Purpose
16	whoami	Displays the current user
17	whoami /all	Displays user SID, groups, and privileges
18	net user	Lists local users
19	net user username /domain	Displays domain user information
20	net group	Lists domain groups
21	net localgroup	Lists local groups
22	netdom query fsmo	Displays FSMO role holders
23	nltest /dsgetdc:domain.com	Locates a Domain Controller
24	nltest /sc_verify:domain.com	Verifies the domain secure channel
25	dsquery user	Searches for AD users

3. Group Policy Commands — 26 to 30

#	CMD Command	Purpose
26	gpupdate /force	Forces a Group Policy refresh
27	gpresult /r	Displays applied GPO summary
28	gpresult /h report.html	Generates an HTML GPO report
29	rsop.msc	Opens Resultant Set of Policy
30	secedit /refreshpolicy	Legacy security-policy refresh command

4. System and Service Commands — 31 to 40

#	CMD Command	Purpose
31	systeminfo	Displays system information
32	tasklist	Lists running processes
33	taskkill /PID 1234 /F	Terminates a process by PID
34	sc query	Displays service status
35	net start	Lists or starts services
36	net stop	Stops a service
37	shutdown /r /t 0	Restarts the server
38	shutdown /s /t 0	Shuts down the server
39	sfc /scannow	Checks and repairs protected system files
40	DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth	Repairs the Windows component store

5. Disk, File and Troubleshooting Commands — 41 to 50

#	CMD Command	Purpose
41	diskpart	Opens the disk management command-line tool
42	chkdsk	Checks a disk for file-system errors
43	dir	Lists files and folders
44	robocopy	Performs advanced file copying
45	icacls	Displays or modifies NTFS permissions
46	net share	Displays or manages shared folders
47	net use	Maps or manages network connections
48	repadmin /replsummary	Displays AD replication summary
49	repadmin /showrepl	Displays detailed AD replication status
50	dcdiag	Diagnoses Domain Controller health

Most important CMD troubleshooting workflow

For a domain login or Active Directory issue, a Windows Server administrator commonly works through commands such as:

ipconfig /all
ping DC01
nslookup corp.local
nltest /dsgetdc:corp.local
nltest /sc_verify:corp.local
gpresult /r
repadmin /replsummary
dcdiag

For a network issue:

ipconfig /all
ping 127.0.0.1
ping <gateway-ip>
ping <remote-server-ip>
nslookup <server-name>
tracert <destination>
pathping <destination>
netstat -ano
route print

For a Group Policy issue:

gpupdate /force
gpresult /r
gpresult /h C:\Temp\GPOReport.html

For an Active Directory replication issue:

repadmin /replsummary
repadmin /showrepl
dcdiag