Where should I reference Microsoft.ManagementConsole.dll from?

Question

I'm trying to follow the instructions located at How-To Create a Hello World Snap-in using Visual Studio 2010 and it tells me I need to reference Micorosft.MagamentConsole.dll which can be found in the MMC 3.0 SDK, which is in turn part of the Windows SDK.

My problem is that I already have the Windows SDK installed (specifically the Microsoft Windows SDK for Windows 7, both versions 7.0 and 7.1 (I'm not sure what the difference is)) however I cant find the required Microsoft.ManagementConsole.dll assembly anywhere:

• Its not listed in the .Net tab of the Add reference... dialog in Visual Studio (even if I change the project target framework to .Net v2.0)
• Its not in any of the Microsoft SDKs\Windows folders in either the Program Files or Program Files (x86) directories
• Its also not in the Visual Studio 2010 installation directory
• And its also not in c:\Windows\System32 (as one guide I found on the internet suggested that it might be)

Where can I / should I reference this assembly from?

Answer 1

On my system it is located in %ProgramFiles%\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\MMC\v3.0. That location, "reference assemblies", also suggests it is the place you should include it from.

Answer 2

This worked for me

project -> Add Reference -> Browse -> paste this value C:\Windows\assembly\GAC_MSIL\microsoft.managementconsole\3.0.0.0__31bf3856ad364e35\microsoft.managementconsole.dll

Notes:

1. You can not browse to the above location using windows explorer
2. However you can go to the above path in command line