Windows IT Pro is the leading independent community for IT professionals deploying Microsoft Windows server and client applications and technologies.
  
  
  Advanced Search 


June 16, 2003

Access Denied: Backing Up GPOs

RSS
Subscribe to Windows IT Pro | See More Backup and Recovery Articles Here | Reprints | Or get the Monthly Online Pass—only $5.95 a month!

Can you tell me how to back up or at least print the settings in a Group Policy Object (GPO) so that I can rebuild it if someone inadvertently deletes it or it becomes corrupted? A backup function would be nice, but I'd settle for a print option.

Recently, Microsoft released the new Group Policy Management Console (GPMC). GPMC lets you manage all GPOs for an entire forest from one place. The console helps you see how GPOs will be applied and does a much better job of exposing GPO options, such as GPO permissions and status, than the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) Active Directory Users and Computers and Group Policy Editor snap-ins do.

More relevant to your question, though, GPMC includes support for backing up GPOs and for saving them as an HTML report. Figure 2 shows the Settings tab of a GPO, on which you can view all of a GPO's policy settings on one report that you can print or save to an HTML file.

To use GPMC, you need a Windows Server 2003 computer or Windows XP workstation with Service Pack 1 (SP1) and the Windows .NET Framework installed. You can download GPMC and a white paper about the tool at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/gpmc/gpmcintro.mspx.

End of Article



Reader Comments

You must be a registered user or online subscriber to comment on this article. Please log on before posting a comment. Are you a new visitor? Register now




Top Viewed ArticlesView all articles
Anti-Virus Vendors Prepare for War with Microsoft ... Again

When Microsoft announced its Windows Live OneCare security and PC health product over five years (as MSN OneCare), Symantec, McAfee, and the other consumer-oriented security vendors reacted with stunning vigor. ...

What You Need to Know About Microsoft's x64 Server Product Plans

What do Longhorn Server, Windows Compute Cluster Server, and Windows Vista have in common? The x64 platform. ...

Command Prompt Tricks

One reader shares his tip for setting up the command prompt to reflect a remote path. ...


Related Articles Advanced Group Policy Management Extends Group Policy Management Console

Security Whitepapers Sustainable Compliance: How to reconnect compliance, security and business goals

The Impact of Messaging and Web Threats

Why SaaS is the Right Solution for Log Management

Related Events WinConnections and Microsoft® Exchange Connections

Security Summit

Check out our list of Free Email Newsletters!

Security eBooks Spam Fighting and Email Security for the 21st Century

Understanding and Leveraging Code Signing Technologies

A Guide to Windows Certification and Public Keys

Related Security Resources Introducing Left-Brain.com, the online IT bookstore
Looking for books, CDs, toolkits, eBooks? Prime your mind at Left-Brain.com

Discover Windows IT Pro eLearning Series!
Clear & detailed technical information and helpful how-to's, all in our trademark no-nonsense format

Test Drive IT Solutions and Get Free Music Downloads
Solve your toughest IT problems with these free downloads and receive 5 free music downloads!


Windows IT Pro Home Register FAQ for Windows WinInfo News
Europe Edition About Us Contact Us/Customer Service Media Kit Affiliates / Licensing  
SQL Server Magazine Office & SharePoint Pro DevProConnections IT Job Hound ITTV
IT Library Technology Resource Directory Connected Home asp.netPRO Windows SuperSite 
 
 Windows IT Pro is a Division of Penton Media Inc.
 © 2009 Penton Media, Inc. Terms of Use | Privacy Statement | Reprints and Licensing