Group Policy Deployment to Windows 10 Enterprise PC

[Admaine]

Hi All,

 

 

I am currently testing a Windows 10 Enterprise PC to see how it performs with our companies internal applications as we are looking to upgrade to the new operating system in the future. One snag I have come across is Group Policy, we don't utilise this probably as much as we should, however we do use it to deploy logon scripts which quite simply map 3 network drives which everyone in the business has access to and additionally copies Company Handbooks, Health & Safety manual etc to users desktops. These same two tasks aren't running on the Windows 10 PC, therefore when I login there are no mapped drives and no documents on the desktop. I am no expert on GPO so really could do with some help, if I run the scripts manually (by navigating to \\domain_name\SYSVOL\domain_name\Policies\{Policy ID}\USER\Scripts\Logon) the network drives map, the documents that should copy to the desktop don't.

 

 

I have been reading up as much as possible with regards to the administration templates, however I'm not entirely sure we use them (as when I browse to \\domain_name\SYSVOL\domain_name\Policies\{Policy ID}) there is only the following folders visible:

- Group Policy

- Machine

- User

- GPT (configuration settings)

 

 

I'm after any real guidance that could help get this (hopefully simple task) up and running for the Windows 10 PC. All our other PC's\Laptop run Windows 7 and the scripts work as they should.

 

 

Many thanks in advance ,

 

 

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[Admaine]

OK, I have managed to get the documents to appear on the desktop at Logon which is one of my two goals achieved however there is still no mapped drives. Can anyone possibly shed some light on this? Do the drive mappings deploy differently to Win 10 PCs?

 

Thanks again,

 

Ad

[3s-gtech]

Copy the Windows 10 ADMX and ADML files to C:\Windows\SYSVOL\sysvol\domain.com\Policies\PolicyDefinitions

 

We haven't used scripts to map network drives for many years here, we use Group Policy Preferences (under User Configuration/Windows Settings/Drive Maps) which works well. The Files dialog under the same tree also allows you to copy files to defined areas.

[Admaine]

Hi,

 

Thank you for your reply. To expand a little on our setup which will hopefully help our situation, we use Win 7 Enterprise throughout the business, all PC's\Laptops run a logon script which firstly maps 3 network drives using the standard command below:

 

net use P: \\Server\Share /persistent:yes

net use R: \\Server\Share /persistent:yes

net use H: \\Server\Share\%username% /persistent:yes

net config server /autodisconnect:-1

 

All these work as they should, however this same command is not running for the Windows 10 Enterprise PC that I'm testing.

 

This script is located in USER CONFIGURATION\WINDOWS SETTINGS\SCRIPTS (LOGON\LOGOFF)\LOGON

 

This same script also includes 4 lines which copies company PDF's (from a network location) to users desktops, this part of the script is working on the Windows 10 PC, it's just not mapping the drives. Does this basic script still require me to copy the ADMX and ADML files into the location you posted?

 

Hope this adds to a further explanation of my problem.

 

All help is much appreciated.

 

Ad

[3s-gtech]

No, it shouldn't need you to do so. It will give you greater management of your Windows 10 machines and the users though.

 

The syntax of your script should work fine on Windows 10, can't see an issue that would cause them to not map. Can you map them manually to check that there are no permissions/share problems?

[Admaine]

Yes I can map them manually no problem. If I locate the logon script (on the Win 10 PC) via \\domain_name\SYSVOL\domain_name\Policies\{Policy ID}\USER\Scripts\Logon and run this batch file the drives map fine, it just doesn't do when a user logs on.

 

Any other ideas at all?

 

Thanks

[3s-gtech]

Can you try a GPP drive alongside it? Very simple to set up and test one, might help to rule out a couple of things. You can leave the existing policy in place.

[Admaine]

OK I've just figured this out although I still don't fully understand it. At the time I was logged on as my personal account which I'd manually given Admin access to due to not wanting to enter my local admin UAC credentials for every install (you know how frustrating it is). Having just logged in as one of the standard AD users it automatically mapped them, at which point I removed my admin access and logged back in which then mapped them as it should. Unsure as to why the admin access matter though?

[localzuk]

I would seriously recommend moving away from using scripts for mapping drives and copying files - there simply isn't any need any more. Use GPP instead:

 

Using Group Policy Preferences to Map Drives Based on Group Membership - Ask the Directory Services Team - Site Home - TechNet Blogs

Using Group Policy Preferences for copying files

 

If you're looking to move to a new OS, you should really move to the new ways of doing these things too.

[Arthur]

You should definitely consider using GPP for mapping drives (as @localzuk mentioned above) since they aren't logon blocking from Windows 8.1 onwards.

 

http://blogs.technet.com/b/askpfeplat/archive/2015/04/27/the-startup-script-is-dead.aspx

 

For mapping drives, settings registry values, etc. consider Group Policy Preferences

GPP is old news, but can’t be ignored in this discussion. For many client-centric startup and logon script scenarios there are alternatives like GPP: Registry, GPP: Environment, and so on. The rarely discussed advantage of GPP is that (for the most part) it doesn’t have to block your logon waiting for the network during boot. GPP items can run in the background during the day when the machine is stable and online. Starting with Windows 8.1 even GPP: Drive Maps can run asynchronously (not logon blocking).

[Admaine]

Thanks a lot guys, I will look at making the switch to GPP