Group Policy

Jeremy Moskowitz, Group Policy MVP, is the founder of GPanswers.com and PolicyPak Software. He is a nationally recognized authority on Windows Server, Active Directory, Group Policy, and other Windows management topics. Jeremy is one of fewer than a dozen Microsoft MVPs in Group Policy. He runs the GPanswers.com, ranked by ComputerWorld as a "Top 20 Resource for Microsoft IT Professionals." Jeremy is a sought-after speaker at many industry conferences and, in his training workshops, helps thousands of administrators every year do more with Group Policy. Contact Jeremy by visiting GPanswers.com.

Introduction xxv Chapter 1 Group Policy Essentials 1 Getting Ready to Use This Book 2 Getting Started with Group Policy 7 Group Policy Entities and Policy Settings 7 The Categories of Group Policy 9 Active Directory and Local Group Policy 13 Understanding Local Group Policy 14 Group Policy and Active Directory 17 Linking Group Policy Objects 20 Final Thoughts on Local GPOs 25 An Example of Group Policy Application 26 Examining the Resultant Set of Policy 27 At the Site Level 28 At the Domain Level 29 At the OU Level 29 Bringing It All Together 29 Group Policy, Active Directory, and the GPMC 31 Implementing the GPMC on Your Management Station 32 Creating a One-Stop-Shop MMC 36 Group Policy 101 and Active Directory 38 Active Directory Users and Computers vs. GPMC 38 Adjusting the View within the GPMC 39 The GPMC-centric View 41 Our Own Group Policy Examples 43 More about Linking and the Group Policy Objects Container 44 Applying a Group Policy Object to the Site Level 47 Applying Group Policy Objects to the Domain Level 50 Applying Group Policy Objects to the OU Level 52 Testing Your Delegation of Group Policy Management 58 Understanding Group Policy Object Linking Delegation 59 Granting OU Admins Access to Create New Group Policy Objects 61 Creating and Linking Group Policy Objects at the OU Level 61 Creating a New Group Policy Object Affecting Computers in an OU 66 Moving Computers into the Human Resources Computers OU 67 Verifying Your Cumulative Changes 69 Final Thoughts 71 Chapter 2 Managing Group Policy with the GPMC 73 Common Procedures with the GPMC 74 Raising or Lowering the Precedence of Multiple Group Policy Objects 78 Understanding GPMC s Link Warning 79 Stopping Group Policy Objects from Applying 80 Block Inheritance 87 The Enforced Function 88 Security Filtering and Delegation with the GPMC 90 Filtering the Scope of Group Policy Objects with Security 91 User Permissions on Group Policy Objects 100 Granting Group Policy Object Creation Rights in the Domain 102 Special Group Policy Operation Delegations 103 Who Can Create and Use WMI Filters? 104 Performing RSoP Calculations with the GPMC 106 What s-Going-On Calculations with Group Policy Results 107 What-If Calculations with Group Policy Modeling 113 Searching and Commenting Group Policy Objects and Policy Settings 116 Searching for GPO Characteristics 116 Filtering Inside a GPO for Policy Settings 118 Comments for GPOs and Policy Settings 129 Starter GPOs 135 Creating a Starter GPO 136 Editing a Starter GPO 136 Leveraging a Starter GPO 137 Delegating Control of Starter GPOs 139 Wrapping Up and Sending Starter GPOs 140 Should You Use Microsoft s Pre-created Starter GPOs? 141 Back Up and Restore for Group Policy 142 Backing Up Group Policy Objects 143 Restoring Group Policy Objects 146 Backing Up and Restoring Starter GPOs 148 Backing Up and Restoring WMI Filters 148 Backing Up and Restoring IPsec Filters 149 Migrating Group Policy Objects between Domains 150 Basic Interdomain Copy and Import 150 Copy and Import with Migration Tables 157 GPMC At-a-Glance Icon View 160 Final Thoughts 160 Chapter 3 Group Policy Processing Behavior Essentials 163 Group Policy Processing Principles 164 Don t Get Lost 165 Initial Policy Processing 166 Background Refresh Policy Processing 168 Security Background Refresh Processing 182 Special Case: Moving a User or a Computer Object 187 Windows 8 and Group Policy: Subtle Differences 188 Policy Application via Remote Access, Slow Links, and after Hibernation 189 Windows XP Group Policy over Slow Network Connections 190 Windows 8 Group Policy over Slow Network Connections 190 What Is Processed over a Slow Network Connection? 192 Using Group Policy to Affect Group Policy 197 Affecting the User Settings of Group Policy 197 Affecting the Computer Settings of Group Policy 199 The Missing Group Policy Preferences Policy Settings 211 Final Thoughts 212 Chapter 4 Advanced Group Policy Processing 215 WMI Filters: Fine-Tuning When and Where Group Policy Applies 215 Tools (and References) of the WMI Trade 217 WMI Filter Syntax 218 Creating and Using a WMI Filter 219 WMI Performance Impact 220 Group Policy Loopback Processing 221 Reviewing Normal Group Policy Processing 222 Group Policy Loopback Merge Mode 223 Group Policy Loopback Replace Mode 223 Group Policy with Cross-Forest Trusts 229 What Happens When Logging onto Different Clients across a Cross-Forest Trust? 229 Disabling Loopback Processing When Using Cross-Forest Trusts 232 Understanding Cross-Forest Trust Permissions 232 Final Thoughts 234 Chapter 5 Group Policy Preferences 235 Powers of the Group Policy Preferences 237 Computer Configuration a Preferences 238 User Configuration a Preferences 249 Group Policy Preferences Concepts 258 Preference vs. Policy 259 The Overlap of Group Policy vs. Group Policy Preferences and Associated Issues 261 The Lines and Circles and the CRUD Action Modes 275 Common Tab 282 Group Policy Preferences Tips, Tricks, and Troubleshooting 294 Quick Copy, Drag and Drop, Cut and Paste, and Sharing of Settings 294 Multiple Preference Items at a Level 296 Temporarily Disabling a Single Preference Item or Extension Root 298 Environment Variables 298 Managing Group Policy Preferences: Hiding Extensions from Use 301 Troubleshooting: Reporting, Logging, and Tracing 302 Final Thoughts 310 Chapter 6 Managing Applications and Settings Using Group Policy 311 Administrative Templates: A History and Policy vs. Preferences 312 Administrative Templates: Then and Now 312 Policy vs. Preference 313 ADM vs. ADMX and ADML Files 318 ADM File Introduction 318 Updated GPMC s ADMX and ADML Files 318 ADM vs. ADMX Files At a Glance 320 ADMX and ADML Files: What They Do and the Problems They Solve 321 Problem and Solution 1: Tackling SYSVOL Bloat 321 Problem 2: How Do We Deal with Multiple Languages? 321 Problem 3: How Do We Deal with Write Overlaps ? 323 Problem 4: How Do We Distribute Updated Definitions to All Our Administrators? 324 The Central Store 325 The Windows ADMX/ADML Central Store 327 Creating and Editing GPOs in a Mixed Environment 331 Scenario 1: Start by Creating and Editing a GPO Using the Older GPMC. Edit Using Another Older GPMC Management Station. 331 Scenario 2: Start by Creating and Editing a GPO with the Older GPMC. Edit Using the Updated GPMC. 332 Scenario 3: Start by Creating and Editing a GPO Using the Updated GPMC. Edit Using Another Updated GPMC Management Station. 334 Scenario 4: Start by Creating and Editing a GPO Using an Updated GPMC Management Station. Edit Using an Older GPMC Management Station. 334 ADM and ADMX Templates from Other Sources 334 Using ADM Templates with the Updated GPMC 335 Using ADMX Templates from Other Sources 337 ADMX Migrator and ADMX Editor Tools 338 ADMX Migrator 339 ADMX Creation and Editor Tools 341 PolicyPak Community Edition and PolicyPak Professional 341 PolicyPak Concepts and Installation 344 PolicyPak Pregame Setup 344 PolicyPak Quick Installation 345 Getting Started Immediately with PolicyPak s Preconfigured Paks 346 PolicyPak Final Thoughts and Wrap-Up 352 Final Thoughts 353 Chapter 7 Troubleshooting Group Policy 355 Under the Hood of Group Policy 357 Inside Local Group Policy 357 Inside Active Directory Group Policy Objects 360 The Birth, Life, and Death of a GPO 362 How Group Policy Objects Are Born 362 How a GPO Lives 364 Death of a GPO 391 How Client Systems Get Group Policy Objects 392 The Steps to Group Policy Processing 392 Client-Side Extensions 395 Where Are Administrative Templates Registry Settings Stored? 403 Why Isn t Group Policy Applying? 405 Reviewing the Basics 406 Advanced Inspection 408 Client-Side Troubleshooting 418 RSoP for Windows Clients 419 Advanced Group Policy Troubleshooting with Log Files 428 Using the Event Viewer 428 Turning On Verbose Logging 429 Group Policy Processing Performance 443 Final Thoughts 444 Chapter 8 Implementing Security with Group Policy 447 The Two Default Group Policy Objects 448 GPOs Linked at the Domain Level 449 Group Policy Objects Linked to the Domain Controllers OU 453 Oops, the Default Domain Policy GPO and/or Default Domain Controllers Policy GPO Got Screwed Up! 455 The Strange Life of Password Policy 456 What Happens When You Set Password Settings at an OU Level 457 Fine-Grained Password Policy 458 Inside Auditing with and without Group Policy 463 Auditable Events Using Group Policy 464 Auditing File Access 470 Auditing Group Policy Object Changes 470 Advanced Audit Policy Configuration 475 Restricted Groups 480 Strictly Controlling Active Directory Groups 481 Strictly Applying Group Nesting 484 Which Groups Can Go into Which Other Groups via Restricted Groups? 484 Restrict Software: Software Restriction Policy and AppLocker 485 Inside Software Restriction Policies 486 Software Restriction Policies Philosophies 487 Software Restriction Policies Rules 488 Restricting Software Using AppLocker 495 Controlling User Account Control with Group Policy 514 Just Who Will See the UAC Prompts, Anyway? 517 Understanding the Group Policy Controls for UAC 521 UAC Policy Setting Suggestions 530 Wireless (802.3) and Wired Network (802.11) Policies 534 802.11 Wireless Policy for Windows XP 534 802.11 Wireless Policy and 802.3 Wired Policy for Windows 8 536 Configuring Windows Firewall with Group Policy 537 Manipulating the Windows XP Firewall 539 Windows Firewall with Advanced Security (for Windows 8) WFAS 542 IPsec (Now in Windows Firewall with Advanced Security) 551 How Windows Firewall Rules Are Ultimately Calculated 556 Final Thoughts 560 Chapter 9 Profiles: Local, Roaming, and Mandatory 561 What Is a User Profile? 562 The NTUSER.DAT File 562 Profile Folders for Type 1 Computers (Windows XP and Windows 2003 Server) 563 Profile Folders for Type 2 Computers (Windows Vista and Later) 565 The Default Local User Profile 570 The Default Network User Profile 573 Roaming Profiles 578 Setting Up Roaming Profiles 579 Testing Roaming Profiles 583 Roaming and Nonroaming Folders 586 Managing Roaming Profiles 590 Manipulating Roaming Profiles with Computer Group Policy Settings 592 Manipulating Roaming Profiles with User Group Policy Settings 604 Mandatory Profiles 609 Establishing Mandatory Profiles for Windows XP 610 Establishing Mandatory Profiles for Windows 8 612 Mandatory Profiles Finishing Touches 612 Forced Mandatory Profiles (Super-Mandatory) 613 Final Thoughts 615 Chapter 10 Implementing a Managed Desktop, Part 1: Redirected Folders, Offline Files, and the Synchronization Manager 617 Overview of Change and Configuration Management 618 Redirected Folders 620 Available Folders to Redirect 620 Redirected Documents/My Documents 621 Redirecting the Start Menu and the Desktop 639 Redirecting the Application Data Folder 641 Group Policy Setting for Folder Redirection 641 Troubleshooting Redirected Folders 644 Offline Files and Synchronization 646 Making Offline Files Available 647 Inside Windows 8 File Synchronization 650 Handling Conflicts 658 Client Configuration of Offline Files 659 Using Folder Redirection and Offline Files over Slow Links 668 Synchronizing over Slow Links with Redirected My Documents 669 Synchronizing over Slow Links with Regular Shares 670 Teaching Windows 7 and Windows 8 How to React to Slow Links 671 Using Group Policy to Configure Offline Files (User and Computer Node) 675 Troubleshooting Sync Center 683 Turning Off Folder Redirection s Automatic Offline Caching for Desktops 685 Final Thoughts 695 Chapter 11 The Managed Desktop, Part 2: Software Deployment via Group Policy 697 Group Policy Software Installation (GPSI) Overview 697 The Windows Installer Service 699 Understanding .MSI Packages 700 Utilizing an Existing .MSI Package 700 Assigning and Publishing Applications 705 Assigning Applications 705 Publishing Applications 706 Rules of Deployment 707 Package-Targeting Strategy 708 Advanced Published or Assigned 717 The General Tab 717 The Deployment Tab 718 The Upgrades Tab 722 The Categories Tab 724 The Modifications Tab 724 The Security Tab 725 Default Group Policy Software Installation Properties 726 The General Tab 726 The Advanced Tab 727 The File Extensions Tab 728 The Categories Tab 728 Removing Applications 729 Users Can Manually Change or Remove Applications 729 Automatically Removing Assigned or Published .MSI Applications 729 Forcibly Removing Assigned or Published .MSI Applications 730 Using Group Policy Software Installation over Slow Links 732 MSI, the Windows Installer and Group Policy 735 Inside the MSIEXEC Tool 735 Patching a Distribution Point 736 Affecting Windows Installer with Group Policy 738 Deploying Office 2010 and Office 2013 Using Group Policy 741 Steps to Office 2010/2013 Deployment Using Group Policy 742 Result of Your Office Deploying Using Group Policy 751 Systems Center Configuration Manager vs. Group Policy 753 GPSI and Configuration Manager Coexistence 755 Final Thoughts 756 Chapter 12 Finishing Touches with Group Policy: Scripts, Internet Explorer, Hardware Control, and Printer Deployment 757 Scripts: Logon, Logoff, Startup, and Shutdown 757 Non-PowerShell-Based Scripts 758 Deploying PowerShell Scripts to Windows 7 and Later Clients 761 Managing Internet Explorer with Group Policy 762 Internet Explorer Maintenance Where Is It? 763 Managing Internet Explorer with Group Policy Preferences 765 Internet Explorer s Group Policy Settings 765 Managing Internet Explorer using the IEAK 766 Restricting Access to Hardware via Group Policy 768 Group Policy Preferences Devices Extension 769 Restricting Driver Access with Policy Settings for Windows Vista and Later 773 Getting a Handle on Classes and IDs 774 Restricting or Allowing Your Hardware via Group Policy 777 Understanding the Remaining Policy Settings for Hardware Restrictions 778 Assigning Printers via Group Policy 780 Zapping Down Printers to Users and Computers (a Refresher) 780 Final Thoughts for This Chapter and for the Book 789 Appendix A Group Policy and VDI 791 Why Is VDI Different? 792 Tuning Your Images for VDI 793 Specific Functions to Turn Off for VDI Machines 794 Group Policy Settings to Set and Avoid for Maximum VDI Performance 795 Group Policy Tweaks for Fast VDI Video 796 Tweaking RDP Using Group Policy for VDI 797 Tweaking RemoteFX using Group Policy for VDI 798 Managing and Locking Down Desktop UI Tweaks 799 Final Thoughts for VDI and Group Policy 801 Appendix B Security Configuration Manager 803 SCM: Installation 805 SCM: Getting Around 806 SCM: Usual Use Case 807 Importing Existing GPOs 814 Comparing and Merging Baselines 814 LocalGPO Tool 816 Installing SCM s LocalGPO Tool 817 Using SCM s LocalGPO 817 Final Thoughts on LocalGPO and SCM 823 Appendix C Windows Intune (And What It Means to Group Policy Admins) 825 Getting Started with Windows Intune 826 Using Windows Intune 829 Setting Up Windows Intune Groups 829 Setting Up Policies Using Windows Intune 830 Windows Intune and Group Policy Conflicts 831 Final Thoughts on Windows Intune 832 Index 835