Group Policy Management

Quest Group Policy Manager for Windows

Security management is becoming paramount for enterprises globally. Within Active Directory (AD), Group Policy Objects (GPOs) are at the forefront of an organization's ability to roll out functional security for their business. Core aspects such as password policies, logon hours, software distribution, and other crucial security settings are handled through GPOs. Organizations need methods to control the settings of these GPOs and to confidently deploy GPOs in a meaningful and safe manner. Since GPOs are so important to the proper operation of Active Directory, organizations also need methods to restore GPOs when they are either incorrectly updated or corrupt.

Windows Group Policy is powerful but difficult to manage. Uncontrolled changes can have disastrous consequences for the management of Windows systems. For example, unplanned effects of a GPO change could prohibit hundreds of users from logging on, exclude access to critical software applications, or expose system settings. The Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) from Microsoft is a useful tool for the individual administrator, but additional functionality—such as GPO check in/check out, change control, and rollback—is needed to effectively manage GPOs across the enterprise.

Quest's award – winning Group Policy Manager offers a mechanism to control this highly important component of Active Directory. With Group Policy Manager GPOs are backed up in a secure, distributed manner and then placed under version control. When changes are made, a backup of the GPO is also created. Changes are then managed from the Version Control system, requiring approval for changes. The stored GPO can be retrieved if the current GPO in the directory is not valid for any reason. This means that GPOs are managed and deployed with a sense of security. If issues do arise, lag between the discovery of an issue with GPO and the resolution by restoring to a previous version of the GPO is dramatically reduced.

Extended Group Policy Management Console

Quest Group Policy Manager provides a Group Policy change management solution that may be better poised to meet the needs of administrators who have a need to create:

• A more comprehensive and flexible group management console that provides administration of not only GPOs,  but also Scope of Managements (SOM), WMI Filters, and Templates in the widest range of AD deployment scenarios including multi-domain/multi-forest environments (trusted or non-trusted).

• A granular and comprehensive delegation model with a multi-level approval workflow. 

• A user-friendly (drag-and-drop) method of transitioning GPOs from one domain/forest to another.

• Advanced difference reporting to compare multiple versions of the same GPO, Scopes of Management, WMI Filter, and Templates.

• Solutions to leverage and complement native Microsoft security technology, including the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC), to strengthen infrastructure investments

• An archive for all GPO settings into a reliable, scalable data store

• A way to quickly roll back to a backup of GPOs, Links, WMI Filters, and Templates, in the event a change has unexpected results

• Automated Group Policy Management tasks leveraging the Microsoft Windows PowerShell

Getting Started

• Review the Group Policy Manager Datasheet