Group Policy Templates (User Management)

Group Policy Templates

Overview

Administrative Template files are used by the Group Policy Templates object to describe security policy settings and where they are stored in the registry. Administrative templates include a policy category, policy options and registry settings for each policy contained within the template. Group Policies are rules that administrators can employ to enforce a specific desktop environment. Policies can apply to the entire domain or an individual computer or user. They are made up of a combination of one or more Registry keys.

There are several standard administrative templates that are installed with Windows 2008, 7, 8.1, 10, 2008 R2 2012, 2012 R2, 2016, and 2019. Additional Administrative templates are available in several of Microsoft's Resource kits, service packs and the Microsoft Download center. Templates can also be created from scratch or customized to meet specific needs. Custom templates are also available online for download from various sources.

Although Microsoft has its own built-in Group Policy editor, Desktop Authority lets you use existing Administrative templates providing a simpler interface for configuring the Group Policies contained within them. Using Desktop Authority's patented Validation Logic allows a policy to be configured to a granular level including OS, Class, Connection Type and more.

All Group Policies that are a part of the selected ADM/ADMX templates will be displayed within their defined categories in the Administrative Templates tree on the Settings tab. ADM Templates are displayed in the Classic Administrative Templates tree and are valid for operating systems prior to Microsoft Windows 7. ADMX Templates are used by Microsoft Windows 7 operating system and above. ADMX Templates are displayed in the Administrative Templates tree. Select a Policy category from the template tree. Once selected, the Policies within the category will be displayed in the Policy list to the right of the tree. Once the policy to be configured is selected, the Policy Setting and Explanation will be displayed.

Configure the Policy on the Policy Setting tab. Once configured, click Apply Changes to accept the changes for the current Group Policy element. Click Discard changes to undo the latest changes. Review a description on the Policy Explanation tab. To save the Group Policy element, click the Save toolbar button.

Settings

Administrative templates tree

The Classic Administrative Templates tree displays the categories for all policies within the selected ADM template files. Policies within the ADMX template files are shown in the Administrative Templates tree. Each category displays the policies available for configuration in a list to the right of the category.

Figure 63: Administrative Template Tree

Click the Hide Unused button to hide policies in the list that are not yet configured. If policies are hidden, click Show Unused button to display all policies, configured or not.

Policy list

The Policy list displays all policies for the category selected in the Administrative Template tree. Click on a policy to select it. Press the Edit button to edit the policy settings.

Policy configuration

Figure 64: Policy configuration dialog

The Policy configuration tab is where each Policy is configured. The setting is displayed along with its configuration state and options. Once the policy's options are set, click Confirm to accept the changes for the current Group Policy element. Click Cancel to undo the most recent changes.

Policy Explanation

The Policy explanation provides a complete description of the policy and its settings.

Add/Remove ADM files

Desktop Authority's Group Policy Templates object provides the ability to import Classic Administrative templates and deploy the policy settings contained within them.

Once a Group Policy Template element is added to the configuration list, administrative template settings can be configured. This requires that Administrative templates be imported into the system. By default, the Operations Master's %windir%\inf folder is scanned for existing ADM files. All ADM files that are found are imported into Desktop Authority and copied to the Group Policy folder. By default, CONF.ADM, INETRES.ADM, and SYSTEM.ADM are selected for use in the Group Policy element.

To add a new ADM template to the list, click Import template files. Browse to the ADM template file and select it. Click Select to confirm the selection. The template file will be automatically be imported and added to the list. All policies within the template file are immediately available for use in a Group Policy Templates element.

Select the template file(s) that will be used with this Group Policy Templates element (). Once template files have been selected, select the Settings tab to configure them.

Add/Remove ADMX files

Desktop Authority's Group Policy Templates object also provides support to import ADMX Administrative templates and deploy the policy settings contained within them.

Once a Group Policy Template element is added to the configuration list, administrative template settings can be configured. This requires the Administrative templates be imported into the system.

ADMX file location

The ADMX file location defines where Desktop Authority will hold the ADMX file to be used by the system. Upon import, the system makes a copy of the file and places it in the selected file location.

Select Use default location, to use the Desktop Authority default path for ADMX files. This path is %program files%/Quest\Desktop Authority/Desktop Authority 9.0/TemplateFiles. To select a custom path, choose Global location. The Global location path is set on the Global Settings (Global_System_Settings.htm) dialog.

Available ADMX template files

Import template files

To add a new ADMX template to the list, click Import template files. Browse to the ADMX template file and select it (multiple ADMX files can be selected). Click Open to confirm the selection. The template file(s) will be automatically be imported and added to the list. All policies within the template file are immediately available for use in an Group Policy Templates element. Select the template file(s) that will be used with this Group Policy Templates element (). Once template files have been selected, select the Settings tab.

Validation Logic

Select the Validation Logic tab to set the validation rules for this element.

Notes

Select the Notes tab to create any additional notes needed to document the profile element.

Description

When adding or modifying a profile object element, the description appears above the settings tab. Enter a description to annotate the element. The default value for new profile elements can be changed by going to the system Preferences.