Entries tagged with group policy - TechNet Edge

Install and Configure Hosted BranchCache for Web Services - SRV311 Part 4 of 5

Kevin Remde — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 07:01:00 GMT

This is part 4 of a 5 part series of demos from the TechNet Webcast: How Windows Server 2008 R2 Affects Your IT Infrastructure.

BranchCache is a new capability available as a part of Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7. BranchCache helps increase the network responsiveness of applications, giving users in remote offices an experience more like working in the head office. When accessing content stored on Windows Server 2008 R2, users in a branch office don't need to wait as long to download files from headquarters. When IT enables BranchCache, a copy of data accessed from an intranet website or a file server is cached locally within the branch office. When another user on the same network requests the file, the user gets access to the content almost immediately as it is downloaded from the local cache rather than over a limited bandwidth connection back to headquarters.

In this demonstration I configure and demonstrate the "Hosted Cache" option, and use it to cache content coming from a web server.

You'll find a complete list of and links to all of the demos, plus links to the webcast and related resources here:
http://blogs.technet.com/kevinremde/archive/2009/09/04/check-out-my-5-new-windows-server-2008-r2-screencasts.aspx

Administering Server Core - SRV311 Part 3 of 5

Kevin Remde — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:00:00 GMT

This is part 3 of a 5 part series of demos from the TechNet Webcast: How Windows Server 2008 R2 Affects Your IT Infrastructure.

This demo explores the Server Core installation option of Windows Server 2008 R2 and some useful, new options for configuring and administering an core installation of Windows Server 2008 R2.

You'll find a complete list of and links to all of the demos, plus links to the webcast and related resources here:
http://blogs.technet.com/kevinremde/archive/2009/09/04/check-out-my-5-new-windows-server-2008-r2-screencasts.aspx

Configuring Granular Password Settings - SRV311 Part 2 of 5

Kevin Remde — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 19:34:00 GMT

This is part 2 of a 5 part series of demos from the TechNet Webcast: How Windows Server 2008 R2 Affects Your IT Infrastructure.

In this demo we explore and demonstrate a new ability that came with Windows Server 2008 and is improved in Windows Server 2008 R2; the ability to set password policy settings at a more granular level than just one set of policies at the domain level.

You'll find a complete list of and links to all of the demos, plus links to the webcast and related resources here:
http://blogs.technet.com/kevinremde/archive/2009/09/04/check-out-my-5-new-windows-server-2008-r2-screencasts.aspx

Install and Configure Distributed BranchCache for File Services - SRV311 Part 5 of 5

Kevin Remde — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 19:37:00 GMT

This is part 5 of a 5 part series of demos from the TechNet Webcast: How Windows Server 2008 R2 Affects Your IT Infrastructure.

In this demonstration I configure and demonstrate the "Distributed Cache" option, and use it to cache content coming from a file server.

You'll find a complete list of and links to all of the demos, plus links to the webcast and related resources here:
http://blogs.technet.com/kevinremde/archive/2009/09/04/check-out-my-5-new-windows-server-2008-r2-screencasts.aspx

Power Management and Troubleshooting Group Policy

Adam Bomb — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:04:00 GMT

I sat down with Michael Kleef and Mark Gray in the Group Policy team to talk about the kind of settings in Windows 7 that can be controlled by policy.
Mark also gives us a primer on how to troubleshoot group policy issues by turning on GP logging on the client.
Find out the latest about Group Policy by following the team blog.

Using Group Policy to set default printers in Windows 7

Adam Bomb — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 07:01:00 GMT

In a recent visit with the Group Policy program managers, Michael explained the challenges that used to be involved in setting printers via group policy, and Lilia walks through the steps to easily do so today.
You can follow Michaels blog at http://blogs.technet.com/mkleef, and Lilia contributes to the Group Policy team blog.

What's new in Group Policy for Windows 7?

Adam Bomb — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 07:01:00 GMT

I recently visited again with Lilia and Michael in the Group Policy team, and they showed me a couple of the improvements coming for group policy management - the UI has been improved now so it's much easier now to see all the information available about a particular setting.
For all things Group Policy, check out the Tech Center on Technet.
You can follow Michael and Lilia from the Group Policy blog, and Michael's TechNet blog.

What's New in Group Policy?

Adam Bomb — Fri, 08 May 2009 07:01:00 GMT

The Group Policy team hasn't been sitting idly by, they've added a bunch of new features to Group Policy and Group Policy Preferences, and I sat down with Michael and Lilia to go over some of them.
They cover PowerShell integration, new functionality in Directory Services, Auditing, new policies to cover new features like Direct Access, and UI enhancements like the ability to filter policy.
They are very keen to hear from you on what else they should cover, so please let us know for future videos!
You can keep up with the adventures of Michael and Lilia at the Group Policy Blog.

Screencast: How-To Configure the Central ADMX Store

johnbake — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 06:58:00 GMT

Microsoft Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 introduce a new format for displaying registry-based policy settings. Registry-based policy settings (located under the Administrative Templates category in the Group Policy Object Editor) are defined using a standards-based, XML file format known as ADMX files. These new files replace legacy ADM files, which used their own proprietary markup language.

The Group Policy tools —Group Policy Object Editor and Group Policy Management Console—remain largely unchanged. In the majority of situations, you will not notice the presence of ADMX files during your day-to-day Group Policy administration tasks. Something to note however, the Group Policy tools will recognize ADMX files ONLY if you are using a Windows Vista–based or Windows Server 2008–based computer.

Unlike ADM files, ADMX files are not stored in individual GPOs. By default the ADMX files are stored locally in %systemroot%\policyDefinitions. For domain-based enterprises, administrators can create a central store location of ADMX files that is accessible by anyone with permission to create or edit GPOs.

This video demonstrates how to create the ADMX central store.

Active Directory Group Policy Object (GPO) Delegation and Approval Workflow With AGPM 3.0 in MDOP 2008 R2

yung — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 08:01:00 GMT

In the TechNet Webcast: Microsoft Solutions for Windows Vista Management (Level 300), I will demo a number of capabilities includnig Microsoft Advanced Group Policy Management (AGPM) 3.0 for managing Vista desktops and Windows environment in general. AGPM 3.0 is one of the 5 components in Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack for Software Assurance (MDOP) 2008 R2. AGPM enables the change-approval workflow of Group Policy Objects (GPOs) and is something I thought worth a special introduction here. Meanwhile I am also developing a screencast and will publish it here soon.

AGPM is to help customers better manage GPOs, particularly those with complex information technology (IT) environments. A robust delegation model, role-based administration, and change-request approval provide granular administrative control as described in the overview whitepaper and shown below.

For example, you can delegate Reviewer, Editor, and Approver roles to other administrators — even administrators who do not have access to production GPOs. The Editor role can edit GPOs but not deploy them; the Approver role can deploy GPO changes. AGPM also helps reduce the risk of widespread failures. You can use AGPM to edit GPOs offline, outside of the production environment, and then audit changes and easily find differences between GPO versions. In addition, AGPM supports effective change control by providing version tracking, history capture, and quick rollback of deployed GPO changes. It also supports a management workflow by allowing you to create GPO template libraries and send GPO change e-mail notifications. Step-by-Step and Operations Guides of AGM 3.0 are also readily available.

For those who are interested in finding more, MDOP 2008 R2 was RTM in September of 2008. Here are demos, more demos, and FAQ. Subscribers can download MDOP 2008 R2 from the TechNet and MSDN subscription sites. The availability of the components is as follows through Microsoft Volume Licensing Service (MVLS):

The official MDOP blog is the channel to get the latest.

Jeremy Moskowitz: GP troubleshooting

Joey Snow — Fri, 02 May 2008 16:39:00 GMT

Jeremy is the author of "Group Policy: Management, Troubleshooting and Security." We caught up with him after his session at MMS to talk about what's new for Vista policy management, troubleshooting GP Prefs, and a little bit about Application Virtualization.

Fine Grained Password Policy Screencast

Joey Snow — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 07:01:00 GMT

Have you ever wanted to setup different password policies for different users in the same domain? In this screencast, Corey Hynes takes us through the setup and configuration of the new fine grained password policy in Windows Server 2008. Corey utilizes a free tool from Special Operations Software called Specops Password Policy BASIC in this demo. For more information about their tool visit http://www.specopssoft.com/products/specopspasswordpolicy/.

Group Policy Preferences Screencast

Joey Snow — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 07:01:00 GMT

This week we've had an interview and a blog post showing how Group Policy preference items increase the manageability of Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, and Windows XP. Today MVP Corey Hynes demonstrates how to configure Group Policy Preferences including a really cool demonstration on how to configure filtering of Group Policy Preferences.

A quick glance at Group Policy Preferences

Joey Snow — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 07:01:00 GMT

As a tool to manage end user desktops, Group Policy is very powerful, but how many times have you wanted to manage a users printer settings or drive mappings and not been able to do it outside of a script? How about the challenge of copying a set of files or a registry change for a set of computers? Again Group Policy isn’t the best answer and we are forced to scripting. Well let me introduce you to a new feature in Windows Server:

Windows Server 2008 Group Policy Preferences

Who’s it for? IT Professionals who manage desktop systems.

What is it? Group Policy Preferences allows IT Professionals to manage operating system and application settings via centralized Policy previously unavailable via Group Policy.

What can I do with Group Policy Preferences? There are too many items to list here (over 20 new policy extensions) but some of the items available for configuration are:

· Create, replace, update and delete files, folders, and .ini files on destination computers.

· Create, replace, update, and delete network drive mappings.

· Create, replace, update, and delete registry settings on multiple computers.

· Configure ODBC data sources! That’s right you can create, replace, update, and delete for both user and Computer ODBC data sources. This is one item that regular Group Policy lacks.

· Remote networking options such as VPN Connections and Dial Up Networking and then target the configuration specifically at mobile PC’s in your environment.

This sounds an awful lot like Group Policy. What’s the difference?

It really comes down to enforcement. Group policy strictly enforces policy settings. When Group Policy is processed settings are written to the policy areas of the registry and then secured via ACL that prevents users from changing them. If a user does change the setting, periodic policy refresh intervals reset the settings.

Group Policy Preferences do not strictly enforce preferences. Preferences are not written in the policy branches in the registry, they are written to the same locations in the registry that the setting would be written to if the user themselves made the change. Because of this model, preferences can support features and applications that are typically not Group Policy aware. Group Policy preference settings are also not secured via ACL’s that prevents the user from changing the setting. This allows you to set a particular preference one time and then allow the user to change it, or you can have the preference refreshed using the same interval used by Group Policy.

There are also significant differences in how you are able to filter or target Group Policy Preferences. In regular Group Policy you are limited to filtering using WMI and those filters determine whether the entire GPO (Group Policy Object) is applied. You cannot specify individual settings within a GPO. Group Policy Preferences support item-level targeting. Imagine a policy that has 50 settings and each setting can be targeted on criteria such as IP address, if that machine is a laptop or desktop, security group membership and so on. Group Policy Preferences then becomes a very powerful tool to manage desktops.

How do I get Group Policy Preferences? Group Policy Preferences are available in the GPMC on Windows Server 2008 systems and also available to run on Windows Vista with the release of the Remote Server Administration Tools.

What systems can I use Group Policy Preferences on? In order to take advantage of Group Policy Preferences, the following clients require the installation of the Client Side Extensions (CSE’s) that have been released as separate downloads (hyper link leads to the download site for the CSE). Windows Server 2008 ships with these extensions already installed.

· Windows XP 32 Bit

· Windows XP x64 Edition

· Windows Server 2003 32 Bit

· Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition

· Windows Vista 32 Bit

· Windows Vista x64 Edition

In closing: Group Policy Preferences comes at no added cost and are available to use with NO TRAINING to the IT Professional. A simple user interface allows for easy configuration of policy preferences helping to decrease the configuration errors that are common when deploying and managing desktop systems. With over 20 available settings with the flexibility to filter and apply settings to specific users, groups, computer types and more the IT Professional has a new tool that will help reduce the reliance on logon scripts and fine-tune settings for users and computers in users organizations.

Get started:

Check out the Edge screen cast here.

The essential resource for Group Policy Preferences is the Group Policy Preferences White Paper.

A FAQ is also available.

Remote Server Admin Tools (RSAT) with Jason Leznek

Adam Bomb — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 07:01:00 GMT

Jason looks after management in Vista, which makes him a busy guy. He was able to find time a quick 8 minutes for us between two meetings to give me a quick demo of the new RSAT tools for remote management of Windows Server 2003 and 2008. The new tool also includes support for Group Policy Preferences, which is a slick new feature that allows you to set defaults on a machine in the same way you'd set policy, but the user can later change them if they want to.
You can find more info at http://www.microsoft.com/grouppolicy