Just a scary moment adding ADMX templates for Office 2013

[Jaan]

So long story short, i'm looking to deploy Office 2013 soon. I downloaded to ADMX files from M$ and tried the "add/remove templates" option from GP Management Editor.....It can't see the ADMX files.

 

After a little research i find i have to import the into our GP Polices central store.......However we didn't have this central store @ (\\domain\sysvol\domain\policies.

 

So after following a M$ guide i created a "PolicyDefinitions" folder at the above path and added the ADMX files here.

 

Boom!, could see them in GP Management Editor on the domain controller and via the admin tools on my workstation (8.1 with rsat installed).

 

However i noticed that all the other GPOs like;

 

Computer/User config----Polices----Admin templates----

 

were missing!

 

My heart stopped!

 

I couldn't see any of the policies i had set for the domain anywhere in any of my GPO Objects!

 

I removed the ADMX templates from \\domain\sysvol\domain\policies\PolicyDefinitions let the dcs replicate then deleted the "PolicyDefinitions"......

 

Everything was back to normal?

 

I'm totally confused....have i missed something?

 

Any help would be great here guys/gals.

 

Thanks in advance

 

8.1 64bit Workstation

Windows 7 64bit Clients

Server 2012 r2 site

 

 

Below is a screenshot of just some of the options that went missing;

 

[pleach85]

Sounds like you didn't copy the current ADMX templates from your DC (they should be in C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions\) to your new central store.

[3s-gtech]

Yeah, you have to copy the standard templates over too. You won't do any harm just putting the Office ones in, because the settings themselves aren't held in the Central Store, just the templates. When you put them all in, everything should just carry on working. C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions on Server 2012 R2 should contain all of the templates you'll need for various Windows versions, or you can grab them from a client OS etc.

[Arthur]

C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions on Server 2012 R2 should contain all of the templates you'll need for various Windows versions, or you can grab them from a client OS etc.

Neither folder provides the full set of Group Policy templates actually.

 

www.gpanswers.com/how-to-make-the-ultimate-admx-central-store

 

GPO definitions start out life on each operating system type. The newest (as of this writing is 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1).

 

You would EXPECT them to ship with the same Group Policy definitions, right?

 

Think again.

 

Well, I (Chris) did a quick WinDiff of the PolicyDefinitions folders on fresh 2012 R2 and Win 8.1 builds:

 

Default on clean install of both Windows 8.1 and 2012 R2 systems

• 167 common ADMX files (and their corresponding AMDL)
  

ADMX files which are only on a clean install of 8.1:

• deviceredirection
  
• enhancedstorage (Available on 2012 R2 via a Feature)
  
• sdiagschd
  
• search (Available on 2012 R2 via a Feature)
  
• shapecollector (Available on 2012 R2 via a Feature)
  
• winstoreui (Available on 2012 R2 via a Feature)
  

ADMX files which are only on a clean install of 2012 R2:

• grouppolicy-server
  
• grouppolicypreferences
  
• mmcsnapins2
  
• napxpqec
  
• pswdsync
  
• servermanager (available on Win 8.1 via RSAT)
  
• snis
  
• terminalserver-server
  
• windowsserver
  

ADMX files which you can get only on 2012 R2 Only, when you install a Role:

• fileservervssagent
  

ADMX files which you can get on either 2012 R2 and Win 8.1, when you install a Feature

• searchocr
  

 

Traditionally, Microsoft makes available a download of all the latest ADMX files all in one shot.

 

The basic rule of thumb would be to simply always overwrite what’s already in the Central Store *WITH* what Microsoft provides.

 

The latest templates can be downloaded from here...

 

1. Administrative Templates for Windows 8.1 Update and Windows Server 2012 R2 Update
   » Install the MSI, then copy files from %ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft Group Policy\Windows8.1-Update\PolicyDefinitions to \\YourDomain\sysvol\YourDomain\Policies\PolicyDefinitions. Delete any language subfolders you don't need (I just keep en-US and en-GB).
    
    
   
2. Administrative Templates for Internet Explorer
   » As part of the August 2014 Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer (KB2976627), the Internet Explorer administrative templates were updated with four new Group Policy settings to manage out-of-date ActiveX controls.
   » Unzip files from KB2841134.zip, delete inetres.adm and all of the language subfolders you don't need, then copy to your central store. Overwrite existing templates when prompted.
    
    
   
3. Office 2013 Administrative Template files
   » Download the 32-bit or 64-bit Office templates. Which one you choose depends upon the architecture of your Microsoft Office 2013 installation, not Windows.
   » After you have downloaded and extracted the appropriate templates, go into the \admx subfolder, delete the language subfolders you don't need, then copy everything to your central storage.
   

Edited January 30, 2015 by Arthur

[3s-gtech]

Hey - if you want to go *crazy* and Pokemon style - gotta add 'em all! Times are tight in Wales, we can't afford all of the policies. You rich english Southern types with your quilted trousers.

 

Or, ahem, I stand corrected.

[Jaan]

Cheers guys this helps a lot, i'm just gonna dump all the templates from my client (8.1 64bit) then into "policydefinitions" in sysvol.

 

I have a few custom gpos from the windows 7 gotya thread..... will i stall be able to access these with the new admx templates.

 

thanks again

[3s-gtech]

As long as your GP settings tie up with a template that is in PolicyDefinitions (which should be the case if you add them all as @Arthur linked) then you will still be able to access them. Don't go mad on adding new templates to PolicyDefinitions, and remember to turn off and delete any old templates when they're retired (such as for older versions of Office) to tidy things up. However, your Windows 8.1 templates should manage everything down to Windows 2000.

[Arthur]

I'm just gonna dump all the templates from my client (8.1 64bit) then into "policydefinitions" in sysvol.

That's fine, except you will be missing the latest IE ADMX that enables you control the new out-of-date ActiveX control blocking feature, the ability to manage Windows Server settings (if required?) and depending upon how up-to-date your Windows 8.1 clients are any settings that were added in Update 1 released April 2014.

 

Also if you don't have the latest Office 2013 Group Policy templates you won't be able to set the default UI theme. e.g. change the ribbon from white to dark or light grey. This setting is missing from earlier versions of the ADMXs.

 

At the very least I would use the three sets of templates linked to above.

[Jaan]

Ok Thanks, i'm gonna look at this today......we are using 32bit office here so i'll grab the 32bit versions. Just another question...... Cani use subfolders in "PolicyDefinitions".

 

For example, we are using office 2013 32bit.... so can i make a subfolder named office 2013 32bit, and one for office office 2013 64, one for IE, Chrome etc etc..... or does it all just get dumped in the root of "PolicyDefinitions"?

[3s-gtech]

The only subfolder you should have is the ADML folder 'en-US', they won't work if you put them into other subfolders.

[Jaan]

Thanks for the speedy reply.

[Arthur]

The only subfolder you should have is the ADML folder 'en-US'.

Some templates also include an 'en-GB' folder too. That's worth keeping.

Edited February 2, 2015 by Arthur

[Jaan]

Excellent Thanks alot guys all sorted now.

 

Added:

 

Office 2013 32bit

IE

server 2012/8.1

Chrome

 

and i can see my old changes also.

 

Cheers