Executables in the 12 Hive
When I run a search on *.exe in the 12 folder, I get:
-
HCINSTAL.exe – This appears to be the executable that will install the Help Collection. It is sometimes an issue when language packs are installed as noted here.
-
MSSDMN.exe – This is a process related to populating full text indexes as noted here.
-
MSSEARCH.exe – Also related to indexing on SQL Server but can also be used for Exchange.
-
OWSTIMER.exe – This is the program that tracks SharePoint's "to do" list. It is critical for alerts and use logs. There's a pretty good description here.
-
PRESCAN.exe – This is a program that analyzes your site to identify issues before you upgrade a site. Technet has a good description here.
-
PSCONFIGUI.exe – The only references to this executable I found are in hotfix description on Microsoft.com. I think it's the configuration wizard.
-
SPWRITER.exe – This is the volume shadow copy service (VSS) reference writer and most of the references we find are discussion about hotfixes from Microsoft.
-
STSADM.exe – This is the admin command line console.
-
WSSADMIN.exe – This is the service that runs the various administrative functions.
-
WSSTRACING.exe – Not sure what this one does. Jose says it logs records out to the diagnostic log file.
Jose's post is actually a very good description of baseline MOSS performance indicators. If you've got better links or explanations, I'd love for you to share them.
-robot