Creating a Central Store for Group Policy Templates


The ADMX file format is one of the major improvements to group policy in Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista. This format replaces the traditional ADM format. One of the new features of this format is the use of a central store. Using a central store, you don’t have to worry with copying newly deployed administrative templates to every individual workstation. All you have to do is place these files in a single folder in the SYSVOL directory on the domain controllers in your network.

More specifically, you must create a folder on a domain controller that follows the format \\FQDN\SYSVOL\FQDN\policies\PolicyDefinitions. You would of course, replace FQDN with the Fully Qualified Domain Name of your network. At this point you can place ADMX files in this folder and they will be functional for all computers in the domain.

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Chris Sanders is a network consultant for KeeFORCE, one of the most popular network consulting firms in western Kentucky. Chris is the author of the book Practical Packet Analysis as well as several technical articles. His personal website at www.chrissanders.org contains a great deal of information, articles, and guides related to network administration, network security, packet analysis, and general information technology.

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