Group Policy Blog by Darren Mar-Elia (The “GPOGUY”)
It’s 2016– And the future of Group Policy Is …?
For my first post of the new year, I thought I'd go big and talk about some existential questions facing Windows configuration management. First, whither Group Policy? Second, how do we think about all this here at SDM Software--as we consider ourselves more than just...
Group Policy to Desired State Configuration
Group Policy has been a bit of a comfort for many of us for the past 15 years. It is a technology that is full of promise and capability. It is sufficiently complex, and incredibly powerful. As PowerShell has evolved to embrace configuration with Desired State...
What’s New in Group Policy in Windows 10?
With each new version of Windows, I try to write up something to summarize what's new in Group Policy from the last version. As those of you who follow me know, I've noted that the list of "What's Changed" in Group Policy has grown shorter and shorter with each...
PowerShell ISE Tip
Just a quick tip. I found this a bit too cool not to share. I was working in the PowerShell ISE building up a demo script for our Group Policy Automation Engine. If you are not familiar with it you should be! Anyway, as I built it up I used some variable names that...
Administrative Template files for Office 2016 Now Available
Just wanted to drop a quick note to let folks know that Microsoft has made the ADMX files for Office 2016 available for download! As always when you get a new set of ADMX files, you can deploy them for use by either copying them up to your PolicyDefinitions folder...
Azure AD Domain Services
Darren Mar-Elia was kind enough to take some time to walk through and share his thoughts on the Azure AD Domain Services. Microsoft recently released a preview and Darren jumped right in there picking it apart and helping us make sense out of the new capabilities....
Helping with a SQL CE challenge using Here-Strings
While working through a challenge I stumbled through a few interesting items that are worth jotting down. I've used both of these constructs before but I had to re-search for some assistance. This created the realization that I need the answers closer at hand, so why...
Move Azure VM from One Subnet to Another
I was needing to test something on an unpatched 2008 R2 box and in my Azure lab the subnet that machine was pointed to was all full up! So, how to fix it? Of course PowerShell to the rescue. I wrote up a quick walkthrough of what I did to move the machine. Check it...
A Peek Inside Registry.pol
Hello everyone! I posted a quick video on polviewer.exe. The tool called 'Registry.pol Reader' is a free tool Darren Mar-Elia built to solve a pretty important issue. And because he's a great guy, there is that! The need for the tool is pretty obvious to those of us...
Troubleshooting GP Processing tip
Troubleshooting is a bit of an art form. It requires creativity but that creativity needs to be expressed inside certain parameters. Those parameters depend on what is being troubleshot. (Is that really a word?) There is a TechNet article that has been around for...