4. Managing the Desktop

1. 4. Managing the Desktop Thomas Lee Chief Technologist – QA plc

2. Agenda • Definitions • History • Local/Group/System Policy • Admin Pack

3. Definitions • User Profiles • User Data and Settings… • Outlook settings • Local/Group/System Policy • Allows administrative control of settings • Local Policy • Windows XP workstations • Group Policy • Windows 2000/.Net Domains • System Policy • NT4 Domains

4. History And Motivation • Default user data • Hard to deploy customized app • Used empirical methods to find reg keys • Mandatory user data • Lots of settings with no policies • Confusion about default policies • Multiple user scenario • Setup only writes user data for the user who installed the app • Registry Tattooing

5. New Policy Architecture • Office apps always write to their own areas - never to Policies hive • Policy templates write to HKCU\Software\Policies hive • Differences from System Polices in NT4/WIn9x • Policies can be undone • Policy reapplied at each app boot • Policy reapplied without user logon • Policy reapplied while user is logged on

6. Extending Policy with ADM files • ADM files describe polices • Template policies result in registry settings • Registry settings automatically applied to user environment • Applications that understand the policies can look for these settings

7. ADM files • Reside in %systemroot%\inf • Simple structure - user Extensible CLASS MACHINE CATEGORY !!WindowsComponents CATEGORY !!WindowsUpdateCat POLICY !!ImmediateInstall_Title KEYNAME "Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU" #if version >= 4 SUPPORTED !!SUPPORTED_WindowXPSP1 #endif VALUENAME "AutoInstallMinorUpdates" VALUEON NUMERIC 1 VALUEOFF NUMERIC 0 END POLICY [strings] WindowsComponents="Windows Components" WindowsUpdateCat="Windows Update“ ImmediateInstall_Title="Allow Automatic Updates immediate installation"

8. Domain Tree Domain Domain Domain Domain Objects Domain Domain GC Domain OU Organizational Unit OU OU Forest Active Directory Structure • Domain • Tree • Forest • Objects • Attributes • OU

9. Policy Inside AD • Domain/OU/Site objects • Have GPLINK property which points to… • Policy Container • Contains all the policies for the domain which points to… • Sysvol on DCs • Contain the actual policy

10. Policy in Two Parts • Computer • Only affects Computer objects in an OU • User • Only affects User objects in an OU • Polices can affect one or both

11. What can Policy do? • Enforce Security • Deploy Software • Enforce Settings

12. Disabling Features • Disable menus and tool buttons • Disabled items are gray in UI • Tool tip is customizable • Predefined are easy • Any command bar item can be disabled.

13. Local Group Policy Application • Secedit can be used to configure local group policy for: • Account and local policies • Event log • Restricted groups • File system, registry, system services • For administrative & application template settings: • configure one machine manually • Copy%systemroot%\system32\GroupPolicy to new machines

14. GPMC Feature Summary • New UI for managing Group Policy • Reporting • Search • Resultant Set of Policy (RSoP) integration • Backup/Restore • Copy/Paste and Import • Scripting of GPO operations (not settings)

15. Managing GPO Scope and Inheritance • GPO Scope is managed by • Linking GPOs to an Active Directory Container (Sites, Domains and OUs) • Adding Security Filters to a GPO • Adding WMI Filters to a GPO • Group Policy inheritance can be altered by • Changing GPO link order • Enforce (previously No Override) • Block Inheritance

16. Admin Pack (adminpak.msi) • Windows 2000 Admin Pack will not work with Windows XP • Windows 2003 Admin Pack does  • Requires XP SP1 (or see KB 329357) • Get download from: http://tinyurl.com/ab7q

17. Show me… • Local Policy • ADM files • Policy architecture inside AD • Managing Scope

18. Group Policy Management Console • Manages Active Directory Group Policy • Free download • Used in Windows 2000 and Windows 2003 domains • Runs on Windows XP SP1 and Windows 2003 Server • GPMC Rocks 

19. GPMC Feature Summary • New UI for managing Group Policy • Reporting • Search • Resultant Set of Policy (RSoP) integration • Backup/Restore • Copy/Paste and Export/Import • Scripting of GPO operations

20. Resultant Set Of Policy (RSoP) • Shows conflict resolution of policy settings • Example • Both GPO A and GPO B apply to same user • GPO A sets Wallpaper = Red Moon Desert • GPO B sets Wallpaper = Bliss • RSoP data tells you • Which setting ultimately “wins” • Which GPO set that winning setting • Precedence info (the “losing” GPOs) • Allows you to more easily plan and troubleshoot Group Policy deployments

21. Show me… • GPMC User Interface • Backup/Restore of Policies • RSOP

22. General GP Guidelines • Limit who can create and modify GPOs • Use Enforce/Block Inheritance and Deny sparingly • Consider loopback for some scenarios • Applies user settings based on the location of the computer (not just the user) • Example: Exchange admin logging on to an Exchange server – don’t want user assigned applications to be applied • Consider for closely managed environments such as labs, servers (Exchange, IIS, etc) and terminal servers

23. Performance GP Considerations • Fewer GPOs per user/computer is better - but GPO contents are more important • Avoid cross-domain GPO linking • Use WMI Filters sparingly

24. GP Deployment • Stage policy deployments prior to production deployment • Staging domain is easy to build using GPMC • Roll out major changes to Group Policy incrementally

25. Best Practices • Plan carefully • Policy design can drive OU design • OU design can drive policy design • Test, test, test • Use GPMC

26. Resources • Group Policy Web sites • www.microsoft.com/grouppolicy • www.microsoft.com/technet/grouppolicy • GPMC Web site www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/gpmc/ • Scripting resources • 32 sample scripts included with the product • %programfiles%\gpmc\scripts • GPMC SDK • %programfiles%\gpmc\scripts\gpmc.chm • Also in Platform SDK • Newsgroup • microsoft.public.windows.group_policy

27. Questions