Create and Apply Group Policies in Windows Server
Group Policies in Windows Server give administrators powerful tools for managing and configuring systems across the network. In this guide, we’ll break down how to use Group Policy on Windows Server.
Before we begin
Before we begin, there are some things to note. First, you should plan the policies you’re going to implement. Understand exactly what settings you want to control and why. This planning helps to prevent conflicts and ensures that your group policies work as they should. Additionally, testing your policies before deploying them network-wide is a smart move. By testing your policies, you’ll be able to troubleshoot and sidestep issues without affecting your users.
How to use Windows Server Group Policy
Working with Windows Server Group Policy can be complex. This guide will provide a focused example to demonstrate how it works. Specifically, we’ll go over how to use Windows Server Group Policy to enforce a specific wallpaper for users. It’s important to note that this example serves as a foundation, and you can adapt it to apply any policy you want within Group Policy.
To start, open up the Start menu in Windows Server. Once it’s open, type in “Group Policy Management.” Then, select “Group Policy Management” when it pops up in the search results. When the “Group Policy Management” app is open, find the left panel, and select your domain.
In the left-hand panel, expand your domain. Then, right-click on it. Upon right-clicking on your domain, select “Create a GPO in this domain, and Link it here…”
After choosing the “Create a GPO in this domain, and Link it here…” option, a “New GPO” window will appear. Name your new GPO “Desktop Wallpaper Policy.” Then, hit the “OK” button.
Upon clicking the “OK” button, your new policy will show up under your domain in the Group Policy Management tool. From here, right-click on “Desktop Wallpaper Policy,” and select the “Edit” option.
With “Edit” selected, the “Group Policy Management Editor” window will open up. Under “User Configuration,” click on the arrow next to “Policies,” then “Administrative Templates,” then “Desktop,” and finally “Desktop.”
Inside the “Group Policy Management Editor” tool, in the “Desktop” folder, locate “Desktop Wallpaper” and select it. Right-click on “Desktop Wallpaper,” and select the “Edit” option.
Upon selecting the “Edit” option for “Desktop Wallpaper,” select “Enabled.” Then, add the wallpaper you plan to use in the “Wallpaper name.” Once done, click the “OK” button to save your settings.
Verifying your implemented Group Policies
After implementing your group policy in Windows Server, you’ll want to verify it on your network to ensure it’s working as expected. To start, log into a client machine on your network that’s using your implemented group policies.
In this article’s example of setting up a group policy, we forced the setting of a specific wallpaper. To verify that this policy is working as intended, log into client machines on the network and check the wallpaper. If your policy is set up correctly, the client machine should display the specified wallpaper. If not, re-log into Windows Server and adjust your policy so that it works on client machines.
Other ways to verify your implemented group policies
If you’ve set up more advanced policies than just enforcing a certain wallpaper, simply logging in and looking at the desktop won’t cut it. You may need to use the GPResult Tool to verify if your policies are being applied.
Open up the command prompt on the client machine. Once it’s open, enter the following command. This command will provide you with detailed information about the group policies on the machine. You can run this on each machine on your network.
gpresult /r
After running the command above, Windows will generate a group policy report. Look for information about your policies under “Applied Group Policy Objects.”
More Group Policy information
In this guide, we covered the basics of setting up a group policy in Windows Server. We also covered how to verify that your policy is working. However, there is a lot to learn about group policy on Windows Server.
If you’d like to learn about the various advanced things you can implement with group policies on Windows Server, please check out Microsoft’s official documentation. It covers a lot of information about group policy, with a lot of detail and intricacy.
