Book Image

Mastering Windows Group Policy

By : Jordan Krause
5 (1)
Book Image

Mastering Windows Group Policy

5 (1)
By: Jordan Krause

Overview of this book

This book begins with a discussion of the core material any administrator needs to know in order to start working with Group Policy. Moving on, we will also walk through the process of building a lab environment to start testing Group Policy today. Next we will explore the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) and start using the powerful features available for us within that interface. Once you are well versed with using GPMC, you will learn to perform and manage the traditional core tasks inside Group Policy. Included in the book are many examples and walk-throughs of the different filtering options available for the application of Group Policy settings, as this is the real power that Group Policy holds within your network. You will also learn how you can use Group Policy to secure your Active Directory environment, and also understand how Group Policy preferences are different than policies, with the help of real-world examples. Finally we will spend some time on maintenance and troubleshooting common Group Policy-related issues so that you, as a directory administrator, will understand the diagnosing process for policy settings. By the end of the book, you will be able to jump right in and use Group Policy to its full potential.
Table of Contents (12 chapters)

Summary

This chapter was all about applying and filtering your GPOs. We explained link order precedence and showcased the areas of GPMC where link priority can be viewed and manipulated. We also discussed some need-to-know features such as blocking inheritance, and enforcement of GPO settings. Following discussion of the differences between user and computer settings inside the Group Policy Management Editor, we ran through some exercises of normal tasks associated with links and filtering. We wrapped things up with details on two very important options that exist for any GPO: security filtering and WMI filtering. After reading this chapter, you should be able to take any GPO in your environment and apply it with precision to only the computers or users to which it needs to apply.

Turn the page to continue exploring Group Policy functionality. In the next chapter, we will take...