GPO administrative templates

These provide the basis for registry-based policy. As the name implies, the settings you configure are used to make changes to the registry; deploying configurations, apps, and software in this way is often the most efficient approach for centralized deployments.

Templates have the following settings that can be configured:

• Computer-related: The settings defined here will edit the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE registry hive
• User-related: The settings defined here will edit the HKEY_CURRENT_USER registry hive

If settings conflict, the computer settings registry changes take precedence.

Templates are located under the Administrative Templates node of the GPOs Computer Configuration and User Configuration nodes, as seen in the following screenshot:

Figure 3.5 – Administrative templates

The administrative template is made up of two file types, as follows:

• .admx file: This specifies the group policy settings...