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Blue Tongue
Asked: 2020-05-22 04:58:35 +0800 CST

What will happen if DCs have different ADMX templates (retrieved from local computer rather than central store)?

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I have a scenario where 2x DCs have ADMX templates pointing to their local computer. However, I found out that 1 ADMX templates are really old like 2013 while the other ADMX templates are very new like 2017.

So, if I create a new GPO using the later ADMX templates (using a function which is only available in the new template), what will happen when the GPO syncs to the other DC with the older templates? Will the GPO run properly on the client PCs?

Thanks in advance.

group-policy

2 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    Group Policy templates affect how you see and manage Group Policy settings. They don't affect the application of Group Policy for computers or users. If you're not using the Group Policy Central Store then some DC's may not see all of the settings in the GPO's, and will therefore be unable to manage those settings.

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  2. The ADMX templates are used only by the Group Policy Editor to show you the settings in a friendly way.

    When you close the Group Policy editor, the options that you chose in the GUI are stored as registry values (or various format depending on the plugin).

    So, nothing bad will happen when the policy syncs (data are in a "standalone" format, admx templates are not required by the clients to determine which settings should be applied).

    However, you won't be able to see/edit the settings in the GUI if you open the policy editor on the DC with the older templates, additionally, this warning will show up in the GPO HTML report if generated by this DC:

    Extra registry settings warning

    I strongly recommend creating a Central Store for GPO Administrative Templates, with the central store you don't need to updates ADMX templates on each DC/computers with the Group Policy management console

    The Central Store is a file location that is checked by the Group Policy tools by default. The Group Policy tools use all .admx files that are in the Central Store. The files that are in the Central Store are replicated to all domain controllers in the domain.

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