How are Group Policies applied?

Group Policies are utilized to manage and configure operating system settings, applications, and user environments. They are primarily applied to Active Directory (AD) entities like sites, domains, and organizational units (OUs) to control various aspects of user and computer behavior within an organization. Before enforcement, a Group Policy Object (GPO) must be created in AD and configured with the desired settings. Although multiple GPOs can be enforced at different levels, their precedence and inheritance determine which policies take priority and are applied first to the targeted object.

How to create a Group Policy in AD

Group Policies are typically created using the Group Policy Management Console, but this tool has its limitations, leading admins to seek alternatives for more efficient management within their AD environment. ADManager Plus, a GPO management tool, offers a solution with its intuitive UI and predefined actions, making GPO management more efficient and streamlined. With ADManager Plus, you can can quickly create and enforce GPOs across domains, OUs, or sites with ease.

Group Policy order of application

Group Policies are applied in a specific order, beginning with the local GPO, which exists on every computer. This local policy is the first to be applied, regardless of any AD settings. After the local policy, GPOs linked to the AD site are processed. These site-level GPOs typically reflect physical or network boundaries. Following site-level GPOs, domain-level GPOs are applied, affecting all users and computers within the domain unless more specific policies override them. Finally, GPOs linked to OUs are processed. OUs can be nested, and GPOs are applied in order from the parent OU down to the child OUs.

Precedence and inheritance play a crucial role in how GPOs are applied. GPOs that are processed later in the sequence can override settings from earlier ones. For instance, a GPO linked to an OU can overwrite conflicting settings from a domain-level GPO. GPOs linked to higher levels, such as the domain, are typically inherited by lower levels, like OUs. However, inheritance can be blocked to prevent higher-level GPOs from affecting specific OUs. In such cases, if a GPO is set to Enforced, it will apply its settings regardless of other GPOs, even if inheritance is blocked.

Using ADManager Plus, you can enforce GPOs, block inheritance, manage GPO links and link order, manage GPO application and processing in AD. Additionally, you can also gain insights into GPOs and their configurations using ADManager Plus' comprehensive GPO settings reports.