Wednesday 24 September 2008

Windows Server 2008 GPO ADMX Files Released

An associate (ex-softie) alerted me to the release of the Windows Server 2008 Group Policy Administrator pack this morning. 

These Active Directory Group Policy packs contain all of the registry settings required to manage Windows 2008 servers through Microsoft's Active Directory.  Effectively, these Administrator packs include all of the configuration information require to set and maintain your server preferences and security settings

These GPO Administrative  template files in Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista are text based and divided into ADMX (language-neutral) and ADML (language-specific) files. ADML files are XML-based ADM language files that are stored in a language-specific folder. By default, the %Systemroot%\PolicyDefinitions folder on a local computer stores all ADMX files, and ADML files for all languages that are enabled on the computer.

These files are an important requisite tool for understanding how to deploy and manage Windows Server 2008 and can be found here; 

To find out more about managing Windows 2008 servers through Active Directory and GPO settings, you can refer to the following Microsoft documentation;

Microsoft Group Policy Preferences: Getting Started Guide

Best Practices for Authoring ADMX Files

If you are like me, you may find these packs hard to read, especially if you are looking for specific registry settings as a deployment or debugging effort.  Therefore, you may find the Microsoft Excel format (XLS) more helpful. This Excel file clearly lists all of the registry settings required for configuring your Windows 2008 server and can be found here:

Group Policy Settings Reference for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista SP1



No comments: