Merging GPOs

[mdrabble]

I have several small GPOs which havent changed in ages and I was thinking of merging them together so when GPOs are refreshed it doesnt have to go through a long list etc...

 

Anyone know of a way to Merge GPOs - other than manully going through them.

 

Cheers.

[chazzy2501]

I've never understood why many small GPOs would take any longer than a single large GPO. A large GPO has more chance of issues with increased complexity and would make troubleshooting more difficult.

[Diello]

We use this for merging GPOs - Not updated anymore, but not had any issues on W10 / Server 2016: https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/ashleymcglone/2015/06/11/updated-copy-and-merge-group-policies-gpos-with-powershell/

 

As for small vs. large GPOs - Best Practice discussed here: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/technet-magazine/cc137720(v=msdn.10)

 

Hope that helps.

[neonetman]

So reading that my understanindg would be that it could be worthwhile combining GPO's in a monolithic style, but keeping folder redirection, software installation and registry settings in seperat GPO's..... does that sound like a reasonable interpretation of the guide?

[fredbayker]

What I took from that article is that using separate GPOs would provide speed as well as administration advantages in most cases.

Making a change in a monolithic GPO means the version number will change and the whole GPO will have to be processed even though only one small change is made.

 

From an administrative perspective, I find it easier to locate and troubleshoot/test GPOs that are more modular. I used to prefer the modular approach but it became a real pain to locate settings eventually and I separated it all out.