Tools used in .net Framework at a glance

· ASP.NET IIS Registration Tool (Aspnet_regiis.exe)
Allows an administrator or installation program to update the scriptmaps for an ASP.NET application to point to the ASP.NET ISAPI version associated with the tool. You can also use the tool to perform other ASP.NET configuration operations.

· Assembly Cache Viewer (Shfusion.dll)
Allows you to view and manipulate the contents of the global assembly cache by using Windows Explorer.

· Assembly Linker (Al.exe)
Generates a file with an assembly manifest from one or more files that are either resource files or Microsoft intermediate language (MSIL) files.

· Assembly Registration Tool (Regasm.exe)
Reads the metadata within an assembly and adds the necessary entries to the registry, which allows COM clients to create .NET Framework classes transparently.

· Global Assembly Cache Tool (Gacutil.exe)
Allows you to view and manipulate the contents of the global assembly cache and download cache. While Shfusion.dll provides similar functionality, you can use Gacutil.exe from build scripts, makefile files, and batch files.

· Installer Tool (Installutil.exe)
Allows you to install and uninstall server resources by executing the installer components of a specified assembly.

· Manifest Tool (Mt.exe)
Allows you to generate and merge unmanaged winSxS component manifests, and managed assembly manifests.

· Native Image Generator Tool (Ngen.exe)
Creates a native image from a managed assembly and installs it into the native image cache on the local computer.

· Soapsuds Tool (Soapsuds.exe)
Helps you compile client applications that communicate with XML Web services by using a technique called remoting.

· Type Library Exporter (Tlbexp.exe)
Generates a type library from a common language runtime assembly.

· Type Library Importer (Tlbimp.exe)
Converts the type definitions found within a COM type library into equivalent definitions in managed metadata format.

· Web Services Description Language Tool (Wsdl.exe)
Generates code for XML Web services and XML Web services clients from Web Services Description Language (WSDL) contract files, XML Schema Definition (XSD) schema files, and .discomap discovery documents.

· Web Services Discovery Tool (Disco.exe)
Discovers the URLs of XML Web services located on a Web server, and saves documents related to each XML Web service on a local disk.

· Microsoft CLR Debugger (DbgCLR.exe)
Provides debugging services with a graphical interface to help application developers find and fix bugs in programs that target the runtime. For more information, see The CLR Debugger topic in the .NET Framework SDK documentation.

· Managed Code Debugger (Mdbg.exe)
Provides command-line debugging services to help application developers find and fix bugs in programs written using the .NET Framework. Use this tool to find and fix bugs in programs that target the runtime.

· Certificate Creation Tool (Makecert.exe)
Generates X.509 certificates for testing purposes only.

· Certificate Manager Tool (Certmgr.exe)
Manages certificates, certificate trust lists (CTLs), and certificate revocation lists (CRLs)

· Code Access Security Policy Tool (Caspol.exe)
Allows you to examine and modify machine, user, and enterprise-level code access security policies.

· PEVerify Tool (PEverify.exe)
Performs MSIL type safety verification checks and metadata validation checks on a specified assembly.

· Strong Name Tool (Sn.exe)
Helps create assemblies with strong names. Sn.exe provides options for key management, signature generation, and signature verification.

· License Compiler (Lc.exe)
Reads text files that contain licensing information and produces a .licenses file that can be embedded in a common language runtime executable.

· MSIL Assembler (Ilasm.exe)
Generates a PE file from Microsoft intermediate language (MSIL). You can run the resulting executable, which contains MSIL code and the required metadata, to determine whether the MSIL code performs as expected.

· MSIL Disassembler (Ildasm.exe)
Takes a PE file that contains MSIL code and creates a text file suitable as input to the MSIL Assembler (Ilasm.exe).

· Resource File Generator Tool (Resgen.exe)
Converts text files and .resx (XML-based resource format) files to .NET common language runtime binary .resources files that can be embedded in a runtime binary executable or compiled into satellite assemblies.