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)

Link order precedence

We have already learned "on paper" that there is a hierarchical system to the way that Group Policy processes through GPO links. As a quick refresher, those tiers are (from first to last):

  1. Site level
  2. Domain level
  3. OU level
  4. Nested OU level

Since processing starts at the top of that list and finishes at the bottom, this means that for any conflicting settings that exist across the different tiers, the ones closer to the bottom will win. Domain policies beat site policies, OU-linked policies trump domain-linked policies, and so on. Within that hierarchy, I would like to briefly both prove this out so that you can see it with your own eyes, and also shed light on some of the more advanced options within these tiers so that you can prepare to handle conflicts in the future.

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