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GPOADmin 5.17 - User Guide

Introducing Quest GPOADmin Configuring GPOADmin Using GPOADmin
Connecting to the Version Control system Navigating the GPOADmin console Search folders Accessing the GPMC extension Configuring user preferences Working with the live environment Working with controlled objects (version control root)
Creating a custom container hierarchy Selecting security, levels of approval, and notification options Viewing the differences between objects Copying/pasting objects Proposing the creation of controlled objects Merging GPOs Restoring an object to a previous version Restoring links to a previous version Managing your links with search and replace Linking GPOs to multiple Scopes of Management Managing compliance issues automatically with remediation rules Validating GPOs Managing GPO revisions with lineage Setting when users can modify objects Working with registered objects Working with available objects Working with checked out objects Working with objects pending approval and deployment
Checking compliance Editing objects Synchronizing GPOs Exporting and importing
Creating Reports Appendix: Windows PowerShell Commands Appendix: GPOADmin Event Log Appendix: GPOADmin Backup and Recovery Procedures Appendix: Customizing your workflow Appendix: GPOADmin Silent Installation Commands Appendix: Configuring Gmail for Notifications Appendix: Registering GPOADmin for Office 365 Exchange Online Appendix: GPOADmin with SQL Replication About Us

Enhanced workflow approval

You have the option of implementing a further safeguard by designating and modifying multi-level approvers. With this option, the required approvals at all levels must be granted before an object becomes available for deployment in the live environment.

Not everyone in a named group has to approve, just the required number. For example there may be 10 members in Group B but we may require only 3 approvals from that group to satisfy our requirements.

When you create a role within GPOADmin, you now have the option of empowering that role with the Modify Approval Workflow permission.

To grant Modify Approval Workflow permission
1
Select the forest node, right-click and select Properties.
2
Open the Roles tab and select Add New Role.
3
Type the name of the new role and click Next.
4
Scroll down the list of permissions and select the Modify Approval Workflow check box.
5
Once you have granted all relevant permissions, click Finish, click Apply and then OK.
* 
NOTE: You can view an existing role’s rights by selecting the role, selecting View Role, opening the Rights tab, and noting the permissions that have been grated.

Use caution granting this permission. A user with this permission can add, modify or delete the approval workflow a requested change must follow before it modifies the live environment.

Changing the approval workflow

By default, approvals are processed in the order listed on the Approvals tab in the Container or Item Properties. Optionally, approvals can be performed base on count where the any approver can approve at any time. In this case, the item status will change to Pending Deployment once the total number of received approvals equals the total sum of the required approvals.

* 
NOTE: You can select the Override inherited work flow check box if you want the approvals process for a container to be different from its top level container.
To change an approval workflow
1
Select a version control container or object, right-click and select Properties.
2
Open the Approvals tab and select the workflow type you want to manage.
Approval workflows can be set for object creations, deletions, and modifications.
To add a level of approval
1
Click Add to select a user or group.
2
Use the arrow keys to the left of the dialog box to alter the order in which the approvals must take place.
If a group is selected, you must specify how many members of that group must approve the item before it can proceed to the next stage.
3
Once you have all steps added to the new workflow, click Apply, then OK.
To delete a level of approval
1
Click the "-" button to the right of the level of approval you do not want.
* 
NOTE: Be certain you want to remove the level as there is no step to ensure you have chosen the correct level - it is removed as soon as you click on the "-" button.
2
Use the arrow keys to the left of the dialog box to alter the order in which the approvals must take place.
3
Once you have all steps added to the new workflow, click Apply, then OK.
To modify a level of approval
1
Follow the steps above to add or delete steps in the workflow.
2
Where you have selected a group as part of the approval workflow, you can change the value in the Approval Count Window to modify the number of members of that group who must agree to the change before it proceeds to the next level of approval.
3
Use the arrow keys to the left of the dialog box to alter the order in which the approvals must take place.
The approvals will be handled from top to bottom of the displayed table.
4
Once you have modified the workflow, click Apply, then OK.

Withdrawing approval

Before the final approval has been made and the changes have been deployed, any approver has the right to withdraw their approval. When any approval is withdrawn, the process begins again from the start.

Approving and rejecting edits

Once an object has been checked in and the Approver has been notified that the offline changes are ready for approval, the changes are either approved or rejected.

* 
NOTE: Before the approval of a change takes effect, the Version Control system detects if an object was changed unknowingly or outside the scope of the system and prompts the approver with the appropriate action to take. They can choose to overwrite the object or leave it as is.
 
Table 16. Approving Changes
If the changes are approved and deployed
If the changes are rejected
•
The settings are applied to the live object and its major version number is incremented. (For example, v2.0)
•
The settings from the offline object are applied to the live object.
•
The next time a check out occurs, the process repeats of creating a new offline copy of the live group policy object.
•
Nothing happens and the status is set back to an available state so it can be checked out again.
NOTE: If the changes are only approved but not deployed, their status is changed to Pending Deployment and those GPOs can be seen in the Pending Deployment search folder.
To approve edits in the GPOADmin console
1
Expand the Version Control Root node, and the required container.
2
Right-click a controlled object in the Pending Approval state, and select Approve.
3
Enter a comment and click OK.
If you have the required permission, you can deploy the updates to the enterprise at this time. If not, the object will be set to the Pending Deployment state. For information on deploying objects, see Deploying objects (scheduling and associated items) .
To approve edits in the GPMC Extension
1
Click the GPO in the Pending Approval state, and click Workflow | Approve.
2
Enter a comment and click OK.
To approve or reject edits through email
1
If this option has been configured by the administrator (see Configuring the Version Control server), approvers will receive an email with the subject line “Approval Request Notification”.
The email contains a Settings report that you can review before making your decision.
2
Click to Approve or Reject and enter a comment as the body of the new email message to perform the selected action for the requested changes.
To reject edits in the GPOADmin console
1
Expand the Version Control Root node, and the required container.
2
Right-click a controlled object in the Pending Approval state, and select Reject.
3
Enter a comment, and click OK.
To reject edits in the GPMC Extension
1
Right-click the GPO in the Pending Approval state, and click Workflow | Reject.
2
Enter a comment, and click OK.
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