4 Understanding the Architecture of Group Policy Processing

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    4 Understanding the Architecture of Group Policy Processing

    Section Topics

    Group Policy Components in AD DS

    Understanding the Group Policy Processing Sequence

    Modifying Group Policy Processing

    Section Objectives

    After completing this section, you will be able to:

    Describe the Active Directory components that you can use to deploy Group Policy

    Explain the order in which Group Policy is deployed in Active Directory

    Describe the methods that are available to modify Group Policy processing

    Section Overview

    Troubleshooting Group Policy involves more than knowing when to use which tool. You also

    eed to understand the Group Policy infrastructure, the GPO structure, and the Group Policy

    deployment order. This section describes the concepts that you must grasp in order to

    roubleshoot Group Policy. This section also describes the options that are available to change

    he standard Group Policy processing sequence.

    Group Policy Components in AD DS

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    igure 80: Group Policy Components in AD DS

    All domain controllers and computers that are members of the domain use certain Active

    irectory components to deploy Group Policy settings. Figure 80 lists these components.

    You must have access to the physical and logical network diagrams of your Active Network

    infrastructure to troubleshoot Group Policy.

    Sysvol Folder

    igure 81: Sysvol Folder

    The Sysvolfolder is a system folder located in the NTFSfile system of every Active

    irectory domain controller in %System Root%\ Sysvol. This folder contains administrative

    emplates, security settings, applied scripts, and details about MSI packages that will be

    installed.

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    Sysvol Details

    The domain where the user account is located also contains the Group Policy settings of the

    authenticating user. These settings are stored in the Sysvolfolder on each domain controller

    and replicated throughout the domain using the FRS.

    The FRS monitors and updates the changes to Group Policy, startup and shutdown scripts,

    and logon and logoff scripts. If your Active Directory is made up of multiple sites (subnets),

    he location of your Sysvol folders will be separated by WAN links.

    f you have multiple sites, and each site contains multiple domain controllers, your network

    ap can get very complicated and much more dependent on the replication process.

    PDC Emulator

    igure 82: PDC Emulator

    One domain controller per domain is assigned the role of a PDC (primary domain controller)

    emulator. Only one domain controller can have this role per domain. The PDC emulator role

    is automatically assigned to the first domain controller in an Active Directory domain.

    hen Group Policy settings are first created or modified using the Active Directory Users and

    Computers console, the current live Group Policy settings are pulled from the domain

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    controller in the domain that is the PDC emulator.

    You can use a variety of tools and utilities to find out which domain controller is currently the

    DC emulator. One of the most helpful methods is using the Netdom support tool with the

    ollowing syntax at the command prompt:

    \> netdom query fsmo

    Another support tool is Addiag, which can tell you if all the domain controllers in the domain

    now who the current PDC emulator is.

    ote

    You can use the Dcgpofix command-line tool to restore the Default Domain

    olicy and Default Domain Controllers OU policy to their original state. This tool works only

    in Windows 2003 or later domains.

    Client-Side Extensions

    Although the components of each GPO are stored in Active Directory, the client itself

    rocesses each linked GPO using client-side extensions. Client-side extensions are a

    collection of local DLLs that have one specific job task: to process all enabled GPOs found on

    he server at logon or at a specific processing time.

    The available policy settings are grouped into specific categories including administrative

    emplates, security, folder redirection, wireless, IPSec, EFS, and software installation. After

    he client determines which GPOs to apply, each GPO is passed to the client-side extensions.

    The following topic describes registry client-side extensions, which apply the settings from

    ithin the Administrative Templatessection to a client computer.

    egistry Client-Side Extensions

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    egistry client-side extensions deal with the Group Policy settings contained in the

    dministrative Templates section. Note that some settings are hidden by default; these

    idden settings are defined as true policies. The settings that are available and loaded by

    default are called preferences and are listed in Figure 83.

    GUID Group Policy Component

    25537BA6-77A8-11D2-9B6C 0000F8080861 Folder redirection

    3610EDA5-77EF-11D2-8DC5-00C04FA31A66 Disk quota

    42B5FAAE-6536-11D2-AE5A-0000F87571E3 Scripts

    827D319E-6EAC-11D2-A4EA-00C04F79F83A Security

    B1BE8D72-6EAC-11D2-A4EA-00C04F79F83A EFS recovery

    C6DC5466-785A-11D2-84D0-00C04FB169F7 Application management

    A2E30F80-D7DE-11d2-BBDE-00C04F86AE3B Internet Explorer settings

    35378EAC-683F-11D2-A89A-00C04FBBCFA2 Registry settings

    e437bc1c-aa7d-11d2-a382-00c04f991e27 IP Security

    igure 83: Registry Client-Side Extensions

    Group Policy Container

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    igure 84: Group Policy Container

    The policy setting information for a GPO is stored in the GPC (Group Policy container) and

    he GPT. The GPC stores the details of every GPO that is created in Active Directory. The

    GPC contains the version number of each GPO, its current status, and the installed

    components.

    A portion of the GPO is stored in Active Directory and you can view it by using the Active

    irectory Users and Computers console. The GPC Active Directory object is created from an

    Active Directory class called the groupPolicyContainer.

    ach created GPO creates a separate GPC and corresponding component in Active Directory.

    You can link each GPO to other OUs in the same or remote domains. You can also create

    links to sites or other domain roots.

    The GPC is used by user and computer accounts within the Active Directory database to

    rocess the GPO policies that will be applied.

    ach GPO is assigned a unique 128-bit GUID. The GUID can be helpful in locating a policyobject when the friendly name of the policy is not displayed, such as when browsing for the

    olicy files in the Sysvoldirectory structure.

    Group Policy Template

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    igure 85: Group Policy Template

    The GPT (Group Policy template) is also used to store policy settings. The GPT stores the

    iles that are created by the GPO in the Sysvol folder. It stores these files on the PDC

    emulator for each domain. The GPT stores the computer and user scripts, the GPO template

    iles, and the Registry.pol files. The GPT is assigned a version number that tracks changes

    hat are made to the policy.

    The GPT and GPC are linked through the same GUID that is assigned to the GPO.

    n order for group processing to properly process a computer and user, the contents of both

    he GPC and the GPT must be synchronized. Figure 86 lists the details of the essential Group

    olicy components and their location in Active Directory.

    Active Directory Location Contents Active Directory

    Container

    Active Directory Binary and string information GPC

    Sysvol\Policies\GUID\User or

    Machine\registry.pol

    Policy settings for user and computer GPT

    Sysvol\Policies\GUID\User or

    Machine\CustomFolder\Custom File(s)

    Policy related files and data GPT

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    igure 86: Group Policy Components

    GPO Versioning

    igure 87: GPO Versioning

    The number displayed on the properties of a GPO is not a version number; it is instead a

    evision number listing the number of changes to the User or Computer sections.

    The version number of the GPO is calculated based on the total user and computer changes,

    and it is applied to both the GPC and the GPT.

    f the version numbers of the GPT and GPC for a particular GPO are not the same, the GPO

    ill not be processed until the version numbers match or are in sync. For the GPO to sync,

    he version numbers of both the GPT and the GPC must be identical on each domain

    controller in the domain.

    ote

    You can use the Replication Monitor to display the sync status of all GPOs usinghe Show Group Policy Object Status context menu option.

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    The following topic describes how the GPO version information is used once the GPO has

    een created.

    ow Version Information Is Used

    After the GPOs have been created, the respective site, domain, or OUs link to the created

    GPOs using the Active Directory attribute found on each container object that references the

    GUID of each site, domain, or OU.

    After a policy is linked to a site, domain, or OU, the DN of the policy is entered into the

    PLink property on the selected site, domain, or OU.

    A Windows client then uses the GetGPOList API to discover which GPOs it should process

    on the client. It also uses the computer name and IP address to identify the site that the user is

    in, determining which GPOs to associate with the computer system. In addition, the Windows

    client also uses the domain and OU location of the computer system to build the master list of

    hich GPOs to apply.

    ext, the version information and other GPO options (disabled, no override, and block

    olicy inheritance) are read to determine what, if any, processing will take place. By default,

    if the current GPO settings have already been deployed, no reprocessing will be done unless

    andated.

    The needed client-side extension DLLs then swing into processing mode and apply their

    associated GPO settings.

    FRS Replication

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    igure 88: FRS Replication

    The process of replication is usually thought to dictate the movement of all changes in Active

    irectory.

    owever, the changes to Group Policy are replicated to the other domain controllers within

    he domain using the FRS (File Replication Service). The process is:

    1. When changes are made to Group Policy, the PDC emulator is located and the settings

    are read from itsSysvol folder into cache.

    2. After changes have been made, the Group Policy settings are saved back to the Sysvol

    folder on the PDC emulator. These changes signal the FRS to replicate the changes.

    3. At the allotted replication time (up to 15 minutes), the FRS replicates the settings to theother domain controllers throughout the domain.

    DFS-R

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    igure 89: DFS-R

    FS-R was introduced with Windows Server 2008 as a more efficient alternative to FRS.

    FS-R only replicates the changes inside a file, instead of replicating an entire file each time a

    change occurs.

    n order to use DFS-R for Sysvol replication, you must go through a step-by-step migration

    rocess to convert from FRS to DFS-R.

    This process is thoroughly detailed in the following TechNet article:

    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd640019(v=ws.10).aspx

    f you have installed a new Windows Server 2012 Domain, the DFS-R replication process will

    e enabled automatically.

    Understanding the Group Policy Processing Sequence

    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd640019(v=ws.10).aspx
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    igure 90: Understanding the Group Policy Deployment Order

    Group Policy is deployed in the following order:

    1. Local Group Policy settings are deployed first: Local administrators or administrators

    can configure local policies from the domain. Local policies can always be overridden by

    conflicting options from other levels and, therefore, have the least amount of precedence.

    2. Site policies are applied next: Enterprise administrators can configure site policies.

    These policies apply to the subnet IDs that match the site that the computer or user is

    located within. This allows for location-based GPO deployment.

    3. Domain policies are applied after the site policies: Enterprise administrators and

    domain administrators can configure domain policies. These policies apply to all users

    and computers in the same domain. A Default Domain policy already exists at thislevel. Additional policies can be applied to the domain; however, they should be limited

    because they can impact such a large portion of the environment.

    . OU policies are applied last: All Administrators and any users that have been delegated

    permissions to the OU can configure OU policies. OU policies apply to all users and

    computers in the OU that the policy is linked to. Assigning policies to OUs provides more

    granularity and flexibility when it comes to determining the users and computers for

    which the policies should be effective.

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    Local Computer System

    emember that any local Group Policy settings deployed using the Gpedit.msclocal policy

    editor or through the Local Security Policy console in the Administrative Toolmenu will be

    deployed first, before any other network-based policy settings. The local Group Policy choices

    are pulled from the local Windows\System32\Group Policyfolder.

    t may be helpful to remember that the local registry hives, the logged in user profile

    (NTUSER.DAT), and the Secedit.sdb security database are where all Group Policy settings

    are eventually deployed to, even if the settings are deployed from the site, domain, or OU. In

    he Local Security Policy console, the Effective Settingsand Local Settingscolumns in the

    details pane indicate where the setting was applied.

    f you, as a client, have read access to the local GPO, the settings apply to you even if you are

    he local administrator. Setting the read access to no accessresults in the local GPO not being

    applied to the local administrator.

    Site GPOs

    A GPO created within a site applies to all users and computers in the site. A site is one or

    ultiple subnets joined together under an Active Directory site name.

    Any Group Policy settings deployed at the Active Directory site level that are different from

    any previously applied local Group Policy overwrite the previously applied local settings. For

    example, if you enable a local setting to remove the Settingstab from the properties of the

    isplayicon in Control Panel, it is deployed first.

    f the exact same setting at the site level GPO is set to Not Configured, the end result at this

    oint of the deployment cycle is that the Settingtab is now available.

    Domain GPOs

    A GPO created at the domain properties is applied to all users and computers in the domain,

    and to all users and computers in all child OUs and user containers.

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    f a conflict occurs with a previously applied local or site setting, the domain settings overwrite

    he local and site settings.

    Organizational Unit

    The OU settings are deployed next, potentially overwriting the local, site, and domain settingsif a conflict occurs with a previously applied setting.

    Child OU

    f you use multiple OUs in your Active Directory design, any Group Policy settings deployed

    at the top of an OU tree flow down through the OU child domains, similar to the

    enforcement of permissions on an NTFS partition.

    f you have multiple Group Policy settings applied from multiple sources, you have an

    effective Group Policy built from the multiple GPOs applied to your network.

    ote

    For Group Policy to operate properly, the three key components that must be

    orking are: Active Directory, DNS, and the FRS. Each Active Directory client uses the

    QDN to attach to the domain controller and read the GPO.

    Modifying Group Policy Processing

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    igure 91: Modifying Group Policy Processing

    The standard group policy processing behavior is based upon inheritance. Policies

    implemented at higher levels of the OU structure are inherited down the OU tree structure.

    Using Group Policy Inheritance

    igure 92: Using Group Policy Inheritance

    To manage group policies most effectively, you must have a good foundation to apply them

    o.

    This foundation normally exists as a hierarchy of OUs within the domain environment. Group

    olicies certainly can be applied to the site and the domain levels, but the real power of Group

    olicy is in being able to apply it in a granular fashion.

    hen you apply a GPO to an OU structure, remember that a policy applied at a parent OU

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    ill automatically be inherited by all child and grandchild OUs. Leverage this default behavior

    so that settings that really should apply to a broad range of users and computers are applied at

    a higher parent level, while settings that should affect only a subset of accounts are applied at

    a child OU.

    Structuring the OUs appropriately can make this process much easier.

    An example of a useful corporate standard GPO is: Only authorized users can access the

    command prompt or the registry editor. One way to define this GPO is to set the Prevent

    access to the command prompt, and Prevent access to registry editing toolspolicy

    settings and link these settings to an OU, for example Domain_User_Accounts OU. This

    action will result in these settings being applied to all users in the Domain_User_Accounts OU.

    Then create a GPO, such as an Administrator_Policy GPO, which explicitly allows

    administrators access to the command prompt and registry editing through a security group

    ilter applied to the Administrator_Policy GPO. Therefore, the GPO linked to the

    Administrator_Policy GPO will override the settings configured in the Standard User Policy

    GPO.

    f another group of users requires access to the command prompt, but not the registry, youcan create another child GPO that allows access. Access to the registry editing tools is still

    denied because the new GPO does not override the registry tools setting made in the

    omain_User_Accounts GPO.

    hen you set the default values for security-related settings, such as restricted group

    embership and file system access and registry access permissions, remember that these

    settings work on a last-write-wins principle; the settings in this case are not merged.

    Changes to a GPO are saved immediately and, therefore, could be applied prematurely if a

    client computer refreshes its policies. It is a good idea to keep the GPO unlinked from its

    roduction location (site, domain, or OU) until you have fully tested the policy. While you are

    developing the GPO, keep it either unlinked or linked to a test OU.

    Sometimes, the default processing is not desired, and can therefore be disrupted using several

    echanisms. The following topics discuss ways to modify Group Policy processing.

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    Using the Block Inheritance and Enforce Options

    igure 93: Using Block Inheritance and Enforce Options

    Sometimes this normal inheritance process can be limiting. For that reason, you can disrupt

    he inheritance of higher-level policies in three different ways:

    Contradictory settings: If a child OU has the need to opt out of a particular Group Policy

    setting, you can create a new GPO at that level that has the opposite setting. The last policy

    applied in the processing sequence wins.

    Block inheritance: When a large number of settings are configured at a higher level and

    many of them should not apply to a child OU, you can enable the Block Inheritance

    attribute on the OU so that no policies from above will apply.

    Enforce: You can apply the Enforceoption at higher levels of the policy architecture to

    ensure that certain policies cannot be overridden or blocked. The Enforceoption is applied

    to an individual GPO. Some GPOs can be overridden or blocked while others can be

    mandatory, so to speak. The Enforceoption always wins.

    Using Security Filtering

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    igure 94: Using Security Filtering

    n order for a GPO to apply to a given user or computer, that user or computer must have

    oth readand apply Group Policypermissions on the GPO. By default, authenticated users

    ave both readand apply Group Policypermissions set to Allow. If you want only a subset

    of users within an OU to receive a GPO, remove the authenticated users from the ACL on the

    desired GPO.

    ext, add a new group with the security filtering permissions that contains the subset of usersho are to receive the GPO. Only members of this group that are within the site, domain, or

    OU where the GPO is linked receive the GPO; members of the group in other sites, domains,

    or OUs will not receive the GPO.

    solating Administrators

    You might want to prevent certain Group Policy settings from applying to the Administrator

    roup. To accomplish this, you can do one of the following:

    Create a separate OU for administrators and keep this OU out of the user infrastructure.

    In this case, administrators will not receive most of the settings that you provide for

    managed users. If this separate OU is a direct child of the domain, the only settings that

    administrators possibly receive are settings from GPOs linked either to the domain or the

    site.

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    Because only broadly applicable settings should be linked here, it might be acceptable to let

    the administrators receive these settings; otherwise, you can set the Block Inheritance

    option on the AdministratorsOU.

    ave administrators use separate administrative accounts only when administrative tasks are

    eing carried out. Therefore, when not performing administrative tasks, they would still be

    anaged by the applied Group Policy settings.

    Implementing WMI Filters

    igure 95: Implementing WMI Filters

    Although you can filter the applied settings of GPOs by modifying the ACLs for the policy

    links (security group filtering), there might be times that you want to apply a policy based onspecific attributes of an individual client computer. In such situations, you would use WMI

    (Windows Management Instrumentation) filtering.

    MI provides a mechanism to collect various details of a computers configuration through a

    rogrammatic interface. In many respects, WMI is similar to SNMP.WMI runs on Windows

    2000 and later platforms.

    A WMI filter is a collection of one or more queries (really conditions) written in WQL. A

    query might specify, for example that a computer be running at least a Pentium III processor,

    or have a minimum OS version number. When you build a WMI filter and apply it to a GPO,

    he GPO will apply only if the queries in the filter are all satisfied.

    So, for example, you could create a GPO that would apply only to computers with at least a

    entium III CPU. That sort of capability could come in handy, for example, when you are

    hinking of deploying a processor-intensive application.

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    MI is powerful, but is not appropriate in every situation. To help you create WMI filters,

    ou can obtain the free WBEMTest tool from Microsoft. Once you have created the WMI

    ilter, you must link it to a GPO.

    estrictions

    MI filtering has many conditions associated with it, making it unsuitable at present for

    deployment in mixed-mode networks. Here is what you should know:

    Windows 2000 Professional clients (and earlier) ignore WMI filters and always apply

    policies just as if the WMI filter did not exist.

    Only Windows Server 2003 and later domains that have been prepped via the adprep

    /domainprepcommand support WMI filters.

    WMI filters are domain-local in scope; that is, you cannot link a WMI filter to a GPO in a

    different domain.

    Any given GPO can have only one associated WMI filter. (That is not too much of a

    restriction when you consider that a filter might have a long list of queries contained within

    it.)

    sing the WBEMTest Tool

    igure 96: Using the WBEMTest Tool

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    You can use the WBEMTest tool to become familiar with the structure of WMI. The GPMC

    does not provide any method to browse the WMI repository. The WBEMTest tool can be

    sed to display the WMI structure as a reference to build a filter from.

    Viewing WMI Classes

    A good way to become familiar with the WMI classes is to use the graphical WBEMTest tool,

    hich you can run from a command prompt.

    You will need to specify the namespace via the Open Namespacebutton, if it is anything

    other than root\cimv2.

    To view all of the classes beneath a root namespace, click the Enum Classesbutton, select

    ecursive, and then click OK. You will see a dialog box like the one shown in Figure 97.

    The WBEMTest Query Result Dialog Box

    igure 97: WBEMTest Query Result Dialog Box

    Then, if you double-click the item and click the Instancesbutton, you can see the instances of

    objects of that class on the computer. For example, you would see that the Nameproperty of

    he Win32_BIOSclass on this computer is PhoenixBIOS 4.0 Release 6.0.3. Another way to

    express this is:

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    igure 98: Using PowerShell to Explore WMI (1)

    se PowerShell to output a listing of all WMI classes within the root\CIMv2 namespace by

    sing the following command:

    Get-WMIObject -list | Out-GridView

    This will output the list of objects to the GridView application which allows for convenient

    avigation of the hundreds of items returned.

    sing PowerShell to Explore WMI (2)

    igure 99: Using PowerShell to Explore WMI (2)

    se PowerShell to output a listing of the items within a class by using the following command:

    Get-WMIObject Win32_OperatingSystem

    This will display the properties of the object to the screen. This information can then be used

    o design the query you would like to use as a WMI Filter in a GPO.

    sing PowerShell to Explore WMI (3)

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    igure 100: Using PowerShell to Explore WMI (3)

    se PowerShell to test a WQL query before attempting to use it in a GPO. Write the

    command as follows:

    Get-WMIObject -query {Select * from Win32_OperatingSystem WHERE Version =

    '6.2.9200' AND ProductType = '2'}

    This command returns results only if the computer it is run against is version 6.2.9200 and the

    roduct type is 2. These are the attributes of a Windows Server 2012 machine.

    Creating a WMI Filter

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    igure 101: Creating a WMI Filter

    To create a new WMI filter:

    1. In the GPMC, right-click the WMI Filters node and select New.

    2. Name the filter, provide a description, and create your queries using WQL.

    3. Choose the WMI filter from the Scope tab of a GPO.

    ote

    WQL is similar to SQL, so if you are familiar with SQL, all you need are the

    specifics for the WMI data classes.

    Changing the GPO Link Order

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    igure 102: Changing the GPO Link Order

    The GPO link order controls the order in which GPOs are applied within each domain, site,

    and OU.

    To change the GPO link order, you can change the link order, moving each link up or down in

    he list to the appropriate location, by using the Upand Downbuttons.

    inks with the lowest number have higher precedence for a given site, domain, or OU. For

    example, if you add three GPOs, the GPO highest in the list has a link order of 1. This GPO

    ill be deployed last, and only after the other two GPOs have been deployed. Because it is

    deployed last, the settings contained in that policy have a higher priority and will override any

    identical settings defined in the other two GPOs.

    Using Loopback Processing

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    igure 103: Using Loopback Processing

    The User Group Policy loopback processing modepolicy setting applies the same user

    settings for all users who log on to the computer, based on the computer they log on to.

    hen you apply GPOs to users, normally the same set of user policy settings applies to those

    sers when they log on to any computer. By enabling the loopback processing policy setting in

    a GPO, you can configure user policy settings based on the computer location that they log on

    o.

    Those settings are applied regardless of which user logs on.

    You set the loopback policy inside each GPO by using the User Group Policy loopback

    rocessing modepolicy setting under Computer Settings\Administrative

    Settings\System\Group Policy. Two options are available:

    Merge: In this mode, the list of GPOs for the user is gathered during the logon process.

    First, the list of GPOs for the computer is gathered. Next, the list of GPOs for the computer

    is added to the end of the GPOs for the user. As a result, the GPOs of the computer have

    higher precedence than the GPOs of the user.

    Replace: In this mode, the list of GPOs for the user is not gathered. Instead, only the list of

    GPOs based on the computer object is used. The user configuration settings from this list

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    are applied to the user.

    When you use the Replaceoption, you must ensure that both the computer and user

    portions of the GPO are enabled.

    cronyms

    The following acronyms are used in this section:

    ACL Access Control List

    ADSI Active Directory Service Interfaces

    API application programming interface

    IOS basic input/output system

    CD compact disc

    CPU central processing unit

    LL dynamic-link library

    N distinguished name

    NS Domain Name System

    FS Encrypting File System

    QDN fully qualified domain name

    RS File Replication Service

    GPC Group Policy container

    GPMC Group Policy Management Console

    GPO Group Policy object

    GPT Group Policy template

    GUID globally unique identifier

    P Internet Protocol

    PSec IP Security

    SI Microsoft Windows Installer

    TFS New Technology File System

    OS operating system

    OU organizational unitDC primary domain controller

    SNMP Simple Network Management Protocol

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    SQL Structured Query Language

    AN wide area network

    MI Windows Management

    Instrumentation

    QL WMI Query Language

    Section Review

    Summary

    Group Policy is based on the following components:

    Sysvol folder: A system folder that is located in the NTFSfile system of every Active

    Directory domain controller. It contains administrative templates, security settings,

    applied scripts, and details about MSI packages that will be installed.

    PDC emulator: A single domain controller per domain is assigned the role of a PDC

    emulator. This role is automatically assigned to the first domain controller in an Active

    Directory domain.

    Group Policy Container: Stores the policy setting information for a GPO. It stores the

    details of every GPO that is created in Active Directory. The GPC contains the version

    number of each GPO, its current status, and the installed components.

    Group Policy template: Stores the files that are created by the GPO in the Sysvol

    folder on the PDC emulator for each domain. It stores computer and user scripts, the

    GPO template files, and the Registry.polfiles.

    Group Policy is deployed in the following order:

    1. Local Group Policy settings

    2. Site policies

    3. Domain policies

    4. OU policies

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    The methods used to modify Group Policy processing are:

    Block Inheritance and Enforce Options: The Block Inheritanceattribute prevents

    higher-level policies from being applied to lower levels.

    Applied at higher levels of the policy architecture, the Enforceoption ensures that certain

    policies cannot be overridden or blocked. This option is applied to an individual GPO.

    Security Filtering: Sets the ACLs to prevent or allow policies from applying to specific

    users or groups.

    WMI Filters: Consist of a collection of one or more queries (conditions) written in

    WQL. When you build a WMI filter and apply it to a GPO, the GPO will apply only ifthe queries in the filter are all satisfied.

    GPO Link Order: Controls the order in which GPOs are applied within each domain,

    site, and OU.

    Loopback Processing: Configures the user policy settings based on the computer

    location that the users log on to.

    nowledge Check

    1. Which Active Directory component does the following text describe?

    A system folder that is located in the NTFSfile system of every Active Directory domain

    controller. It contains administrative templates, security settings, applied scripts, anddetails about MSI packages that will be installed.

    2. What is the Group Policy deployment order?

    3. Match each method used to modify Group Policy processing with its correct description.

    Write the letter of the description in the Answer column.

    Answer Method Description

    1.________

    GPO Link Order A.It prevents higher-level policies from being applied to lower levels.

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    2.________

    Security

    Filtering

    B.Controls the order in which GPOs are applied within each domain, site,

    or OU.

    3.________

    WMI Filters C.Configures the user policy settings based on the computer location that

    the users log on to.

    4.________

    BlockInheritance

    Option

    D.Consist of a collection of one or more queries (conditions) written inWQL.

    5.________

    Loopback

    Processing

    E.Sets the ACLs to prevent or allow policies from applying to specific

    users or groups.

    Knowledge Check Answer Key

    The correct answers to the Knowledge Check questions are bolded.

    1. Which Active Directory component does the following text describe?

    A system folder that is located in the NTFS file system of every Active Directory domain

    controller. It contains administrative templates, security settings, applied scripts, and

    details about MSI packages that will be installed.

    Sysvol folder

    2. What is the Group Policy deployment order?

    Local

    Site

    Domain

    OU

    3. Match each method used to modify Group Policy processing with its correct description.

    Write the letter of the description in the Answer column.

    Answer Method Description

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