How to Manage Your Servers with Group Policy

Why Group Policy
Matters (For Servers)
White Paper
Written by Jeremy Moskowitz with NetIQ
Contents July, 2007
Introduction ............................1 Group Policy is gaining a foothold in corporations as the "one-About the Authors..................2 stop shop" to configure desktops. However, Group Policy has additional power to ensure that your servers are managed as Why Manage Your Servers well. with Group Policy? ................3 In this whitepaper you will learn why Group Policy matters for more than just users and workstations, but for servers as well. In Group Policy for Servers.......4 addition, you will discover the Group Policy functions that work best for servers, how to use the Security Configuration Wizard to Leveraging Sameness.............6 develop a crafted server security policy and new policy settings for servers that will become available with Windows Server Effectively Managing Group 2008 (aka Longhorn!). Policy .....................................11 Additionally, we will provide best practices on how to Key Takeaways from Jeremy successfully extend your deployment of Group Policy to your Moskowitz and NetIQ..........14 s e r vers by implementing end-to-end management of this pervasive technology, including advanced offline management along with real-time monitoring of authorized and unauthorized changes.
NETIQ CORPORATION PROVIDES THIS DOCUMENT AND THE SOFTWARE DESCRIBED IN THIS DOCUMENT "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW DISCLAIMERS OF EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES IN CERTAIN TRANSACTIONS; THEREFORE, THIS STATEMENT MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. This document and the software described in this document may not be lent, sold, or given away without the prior written permission of NetIQ Corporation, except as otherwise permitted by law. Except as expressly set forth in such license agreement or non-disclosure agreement, no part of this document or the software described in this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, or otherwise, without the prior written consent of NetIQ Corporation. Some companies, names, and data in this document are used for illustration purposes and may not represent real companies, individuals, or data. This document could include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Changes are periodically made to the information herein. These changes may be incorporated in new editions of this document. NetIQ Corporation may make improvements in or changes to the software described in this document at any time. © 1995-2007 NetIQ Corporation, all rights reserved. U.S. Government Restricted Rights: If the software and documentation are being acquired by or on behalf of the U.S. Government or by a U.S. Government prime contractor or subcontractor (at any tier), in accordance with 48 C.F.R. 227.7202-4 (for Department of Defense (DOD) acquisitions) and 48 C.F.R. 2.101 and 12.212 (for non-DOD acquisitions), the government's rights in the software and documentation, including its rights to use, modify, reproduce, release, perform, display or disclose the software or documentation, will be subject in all respects to the commercial license rights and restrictions provided in the license agreement. Check Point, FireWall-1, Provider-1, SiteManager-1, and VPN-1 are trademarks or registered trademarks of Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. ActiveAgent, ActiveAnalytics, ActiveAudit, ActiveReporting, ADcheck, AppAnalyzer, AppManager, the cube logo design, Directory and Resource Administrator, Directory Security Administrator, Domain Migration Administrator, Exchange Administrator, File Security Administrator, IntelliPolicy, Knowing is Everything, Knowledge Scripts, Mission Critical Software for E-Business, MP3check, NetConnect, NetIQ, the NetIQ logo, NetIQ Change Administrator, NetIQ Change Guardian, NetIQ Compliance Suite, NetIQ Group Policy Administrator, NetIQ Group Policy Guardian, NetIQ Group Policy Suite, the NetIQ Partner Network design, NetIQ Patch Manager, NetIQ Risk and Compliance Center, NetIQ Security Administration Suite, NetIQ Security Analyzer, NetIQ Security Manager, NetIQ Vulnerability Manager, PSAudit, PSDetect, PSPasswordManager, PSSecure, S... [download for more]