Troubleshooting Group Policy

By Author: Mike Jones
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In order to maintain an effective Group Policy configuration, you must be able to MCTS troubleshoot Group Policy. Troubleshooting Group Policy involves using the Resultant Set Of Policy Wizard, the Gpresult and Gpupdate command-line tools, the Event Viewer, and log files to solve policy-related problems. This lesson shows you how to work with these tools to troubleshoot Group Policy for Active Directory.
Troubleshooting Group Policy
As an administrator, it will likely be your task to find solutions to problems with Group Policy. If problems occur, you might need to perform some tests to verify that your Group Policy configuration is working properly, such as the following:
Verify that GPOs apply to the appropriate users and computers.
Verify that folders configured for redirection are redirected to the appropriate location.
Verify that files and folders configured to be available offline are available when a computer is offline.
You will also need to be able to diagnoseWindows 7, Configuration and solve ...
... problems, including
GPOs are not applied.
GPOs cannot be accessed.
GPO inheritance issues cause unexpected results.
Folders are not redirected or are redirected to an unexpected location.
Files and folders are not available offline.
Files are not synchronized.
Windows Server 2003 provides the following Group Policy troubleshooting tools to assist you in verifying your configuration and in diagnosing and solving problems:
Resultant Set Of Policy Wizard
Gpresult
Gpupdate
Event Viewer
Log files
Troubleshooting Group Policy with the Resultant Set Of Policy Wizard and Gpresult
Recall that the Resultant Set Of Policy Wizard and the Gpresult command-line tool are both used to generate RSoP queries and provide the RSoPs for users and computers you specify. In Windows Server 2003, these tools can help you greatly reduce the amount of time you spend troubleshooting. Generating RSoP queries by using the a+ certification Resultant Set Of Policy Wizard and Gpresult was discussed in detail in Lesson 1.