MCTS Guide to Configuring Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

1. MCTS Guide to Configuring Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Active Directory Chapter 7: Configuring Group Policy

2. Describe the architecture and processing of GPOs Configure group policy settings Work with security templates Manage and monitor group policies Configure group policy preferences Objectives MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory 2

3. Group Policy Architecture Group policy architecture and function involve the following components: GPOs An object containing policy settings that affect user and computer operating environments and security; can be local or AD objects Replication Ensures that all domain controllers have a current copy of each GPO Scope and inheritance The scope of a group policy defines which users and computers are affected by its settings Creating and linking GPOs are created in the Group Policy management console and can be linked to one or more AD containers MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

4. Group Policy Objects (GPOs) A GPO contains policy settings for managing many aspects of domain controllers, member servers, member computers, and users Two main types of GPOs Local GPOs Domain GPOs MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

5. Local GPOs Local GPOs are stored on local computers and are edited via the Group Policy Object Editor snap-in Settings in local GPOs that are inherited from domain GPOs can’t be changed on the local computer Only settings that are undefined or not configured by domain GPOs can be edited locally MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

6. New Local GPOs in Windows Vista and Server 2008 New policies allow setting of different policies depending on who logs on to the computer Local Administrators GPO Local Non-Administrators GPO User-specific GPO If these policies are used, they are processed in the above order, especially for conflict resolution (last policy setting takes precedence) MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

7. Domain GPOs Domain GPOs are stored in Active Directory on domain controllers Consists of two separate parts: a group policy template (GPT) and a group policy container (GPC) GPT and GPC have naming structure and folder structure as common traits Knowing GPO structure is important for resolving issues MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

8. Group Policy Templates A group policy template contains all the policy settings that make up a GPO as well as related files, such as scripts, and is contained in the Sysvol share on a domain controller Upon creation of a GPO, several files and subfolders are created (exact number may vary), but each GPT folder will contain at least three items GPT.ini Machine User MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

9. Group Policy Containers Stored in the System\Policies folder Contains GPO properties and status information but no policy settings Similar to GPT in that it uses a GPO’s GUID for a folder name Information contained in a GPC Name of the GPO File path to GPT Version Status MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

10. Group Policy Containers (cont.) MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

11. Group Policy Replication GPCs are replicated with Active Directory GPTs are replicated by one of the following methods: File Replication Service (FRS) Used when running in a mixed environment of differing Windows Server operating systems Distributed File System Replication (DFSR) Used when all DCs are running Windows Server 2008 DFSR is more efficient and reliable GPC and GPT can become out of sync Replication problems can be diagnosed with Gpotool.exe MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

12. Creating and Linking GPOs Primary tools for managing, creating, and editing GPOs are Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) and Group Policy Management Editor (GPME) If editing a GPO that is already linked to a container, changes in policy settings take effect as soon as clients download them Before introducing multiple policy changes at once, test them individually MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

13. Editing an Existing GPO To edit, right-click the GPO in GPMC and click Edit, which will open the GPO in GPME It is possible to make changes to the Default Domain Policy, but not advisable Recommended method for making changes to domain policies is creating a new GPO and linking it to the domain GPOs are applied to objects in reverse of the specified link order MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

14. Creating a New GPO Two ways to create a new GPO with the GPMC Right-click the container you’re linking the GPO to and select “Create a GPO in this domain, and Link it here” Right-click the Group Policy Objects folder and click New Best practice is to create GPOs that focus on a category of settings and then name the GPO accordingly MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

15. Using Starter GPOs A Starter GPO is a template for creating GPOs (not a GPT) New GPO wizard includes option to use a Starter GPO Stored in the Starter GPOs folder in GPMC To use a Starter GPO, select one in the Source Starter GPO list box in the New GPO Wizard or right-click a starter GPO in the starter GPOs folder and click New GPO from Starter GPO To create a Starter GPO, right-click the Starter GPOs folder and click New MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

16. Group Policy Scope and Inheritance The scope of a group policy defines which objects in AD are affected by settings in the policy If two GPOs are applied to an object and a setting is configured on one GPO but not the other, the configured setting is applied Policies are applied in the following order: Local policies Site-linked GPOs Domain-linked GPOs OU-linked GPOs MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

17. Understanding Site-Linked GPOs GPOs linked to a site object affect all users and computers physically located at the site Can be used to set up different policies for mobile users In a singular site and domain environment, it is better to use domain GPOs Site GPOs can be confusing for mobile users if policy changes are drastic enough between sites MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

18. Understanding Domain-Linked GPOs GPOs at domain level should contain settings that apply to all objects in the domain Account policies can be defined only at the domain level Best practices suggest setting account policies and a few critical security policies at the domain level MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

19. Understanding OU-Linked GPOs Fine-tuning of group policies should be done at the OU level Users and computers with similar policy requirements should be located in the same OU Since OUs can be nested, so can GPOs GPOs applied to nested OUs should be used for exceptions to policies set at a higher level MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

20. Changing Default GPO Inheritance Behavior GPO inheritance is enabled by default To see where policies are inherited from, select a container in the left pane of GPMC and click the Group Policy Inheritance tab in the right pane There are several ways to affect GPO inheritance Blocking inheritance Enforcing inheritance GPO filtering Loopback policy processing MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

21. Blocking GPO Inheritance Prevents GPOs linked to parent containers from affecting child containers To block GPO inheritance, in GPMC, right-click the child domain or OU and click Block Inheritance If blocking is enabled, the OU or domain object is displayed with a blue exclamation point Frequent blocking implies a possible flawed OU design MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

22. Enforcing GPO Inheritance Forcing GPO inheritance overrides any conflicting configurations at a deeper level If multiple GPOs are enforced, the GPO at the highest level is enforced in a conflict Example: If a GPO linked to an OU and a GPO linked to a domain are both set to be enforced, the GPO linked to the domain takes stronger precedence MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

23. GPO Filtering GPO filtering allows changing inheritance on an object-by-object basis Two types of GPO filtering Security filtering Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) filtering Security filtering uses permissions to restrict objects from accessing a GPO WMI filtering uses queries to select a group of computers based on certain attributes and then applies or doesn’t apply policies based on the query’s results MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

24. Loopback Policy Processing Normally, the policies that affect user settings follow users to whichever computer they log on to Loopback policy processing allows settings in the User Configuration node of the GPO to be applied to all users who log on to the computer To use, enable the “User group policy loopback processing mode” policy in the Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\System\Group Policy node MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

25. Group Policy Settings Settings in Computer configuration take precedence over settings in User Configuration, should there be a conflict Three folders under the Policies folder Software Settings Windows Settings Administrative Templates Policy settings can be managed or unmanaged Managed policies reset to ‘not configured’ when the object falls outside of the policy’s scope Unmanaged policies are persistent MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

26. Policies in the Computer Configuration Node Applies to computers regardless of who logs on to the computer Contains most of the security-related settings in the Account Policies, User Rights Assignment, Audit Policy, and Security Options nodes Computer configuration policies are uploaded to a computer when the OS starts and are updated every 90 minutes thereafter Some policy changes may require a restart MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

27. Computer Configuration: Software Settings Contains the Software Installation extension, which can be configured to install software packages remotely Applications are deployed with the Windows Installer service, which uses MSI files Software packages are assigned to target computers, making installation mandatory the next time the computer starts MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

28. Advanced Application Deployment Options When deploying applications, click the Advanced option button in the Deploy Software dialog box; this will open a Properties box with the following tabs: Deployment tab Upgrades tab Categories tab Modifications tab If changes are made to a package, it is not installed again by default; however, the package can easily be redeployed MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

29. Computer Configuration: Windows Settings The Windows Settings folder contains four subnodes Scripts (Startup/Shutdown) Allows the creation of scripts to be run during startup or shutdown Deployed Printers Can deploy printers to computer by specifying the UNC path to a shared printer Security Settings Contains nodes for setting security policies, such as those related to accounts Policy-based QoS Enables administrators to manage the use of network bandwidth MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

30. Security Settings Subnode: Account Policies Account policies must be linked to the domain to have any effect Account Policies contains three subnodes Password Policy Enforce password history Maximum password age Minimum password age Minimum password length Password must meet complexity requirements Store passwords using reversible encryption Account lockout policy Account lockout duration Account lockout threshold Reset account lockout counter after Kerberos Policy Kerberos policy MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

31. Security Settings Subnode: Local Policies Applies to what users can and can’t do on the local computer to which they log on Usually defined in GPOs linked to OUs containing computer accounts Three subnodes of Local Policies Audit Policy User Rights Assignment Security Options MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

32. Auditing Object Access Two steps for auditing objects Enable the Audit object access policy for success, failure, or both Enable auditing on target objects for success, failure, or both Auditing involves considerable overhead; a single object access can create several log entries Windows Server 2008 logs successful logon events and certain other events by default, even if auditing is off MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

33. Fine-Grained Password Policies Fine-grained password policies allow setting different password and account lockout policies for targeted users and groups Created by defining a Password Settings Object (PSO) in the Password Settings Container (PSC) Two tools can be used to create a PSO ADSI Edit LDIFDE MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

34. Additional Security Settings Subnodes 13 more subnodes under Security Settings Event Log Restricted Groups System Services Registry File System Wired Network (IEEE 802.3) Policies Windows Firewall with Advanced Security Network List Manager Policies Wireless Network (IEEE 802.11) Policies Public Key Policies Software Restriction Policies Network Access Protection IP Security Policies on Active Directory MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

35. Computer Configuration: Administrative Templates Affects the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE section of the computer’s registry Administrative template files are XML format files that define policies in the Administrative Templates Folder in a GPO Uses file format .admx or .adml for language specific All ADMX and ADML files are under %systemroot%\PolicyDefinitions Administrative Templates folder has the following subnodes: Control Panel Network Printers System Windows Components MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

36. Policies in the User Configuration Node Policies set under the User Configuration node follow a user wherever he or she logs on Lacks most of the security settings and account policies Policies under User Configuration node are more focused on the user’s environment, such as Windows features that can and can’t be accessed MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

37. User Configuration: Software Settings Performs the same function as in Computer Configuration, but with important differences in options and execution Software package can only be assigned to a computer, but there are two options Published Isn’t installed automatically; includes a link to the application in Programs and Features or Add/Remove Programs Assigned Applications are advertised as a link on the Start menu MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

38. User Configuration: Windows Settings Windows Settings contains seven subnodes Remote Installation Services Scripts (Logon/Logoff) Security Settings Folder Redirection Policy-based QoS Deployed Printers Internet Explorer Maintenance MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

39. Security Settings Subnode: Software Restriction Policies Designed to prevent users from running certain applications or to allow users to only be able to run specific applications Security Levels folder contains three rules Disallowed Basic User Unrestricted Additional rules folder is for exceptions and contains four ways to identify exceptions Hash Certificate Path Network zone Three policies can be configured Enforcement Designated File Types Trusted Publishers MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

40. The Folder Redirection Subnode Allows the redirection of one or more folders in a user’s profile directory Useful in ensuring that a user’s documents are backed up to a server with little to no intervention required from the user Can help decrease bandwidth usage when roaming profiles are in use MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

41. User Configuration: Administrative Templates Affects the HKEY_CURRENT_USER section of the computer’s registry Very similar to the Administrative Templates in the Computer Configuration node Contains the following additional subnodes: Desktop Shared Folders Start Menu and Taskbar MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

42. Using Security Templates Security templates are text files with an .inf extension that contain information to define policy settings in the Security Settings node Can be used to verify current security settings on a computer against the settings in a template Three tools for working with security templates Security Templates snap-in Security Configuration and Analysis snap-in Secedit.exe MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

43. Security Templates Snap-in Can be used to create security templates for use with computers that require different security settings, such as servers with different roles When a user creates a template, it is stored under the user’s Documents folder in Security\Templates MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

44. Security Templates Snap-in (cont.) MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

45. Security Configuration and Analysis Snap-in Useful for checking a computer’s existing security settings against the known settings in security template files Can also apply a security template to a computer Analyzing current security settings against a template creates a report; for each policy setting, there are five possible results An X in a red circle indicates a mismatch A check mark in green indicates a match A question mark in a white circle indicates that the policy wasn’t defined or the user doesn’t have permission to access the policy An exclamation point in a white circle indicates that the policy doesn’t exist on that computer No indicator indicates that the policy wasn’t defined in the template MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

46. Secedit.exe Command-line program that performs many of the same functions as the Security Configuration and Analysis snap-in Can be automated with scripts and batch files Can import or export some of or all of the settings between a security database and a template file Can compare settings between a security database and a computer’s current settings or apply a database to a computer MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

47. GPO Management with GPMC GPO Delegation: Eight possible permissions can be applied to GPOs and the container objects to which they’re linked through delegation Create GPOs Link GPOs Perform Group Policy Modeling analyses Read Group Policy Results data Read Read (from Security Filtering) Edit settings, delete, modify security Edit Settings MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

48. GPO Management with GPMC (cont.) After a GPO is created, it can be in one of the following states: Link status: unlinked Link status: enabled Link status: disabled GPO status: Enabled GPO status: User Configuration Settings Disabled GPO status: Computer Configuration Settings Disabled GPO status: All Settings Disabled MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

49. GPO Backup and Restore Backing up a GPO backs up policy settings but also backs up security filtering settings, delegation settings, and WMI filter links Does not back up WMI filter files, IPSec policies, and GPO container links The procedure for restoring a GPO varies depending on whether you wish to: Restore a previous version Restore a deleted GPO Import settings MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory

50. GPO Migration Migration is useful if multiple domains have similar policy requirements or if you wish to set up a test environment GPOs can be migrated across domains in the same or different forests by adding the domain to GPMC GPOs can also be migrated using the backup and import procedure MCTS Windows Server 2008 Active Directory