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If your Azure VMs are joined to your domain and you're seeing the GPO settings being applied in the gpresult /r output but not reflecting on the VMs, there could be a few potential reasons for this behavior. Here's a checklist of things to investigate that would help to narrow down the issue:
- Permissions and Security Filtering:
- GPO Security Filtering: Ensure that the GPO is not being filtered by security groups or permissions that might prevent certain users or computers from fully applying the GPO. Check the security settings of the GPO to make sure that the VM accounts or users have the correct permissions to apply the GPO.
- Replication Issues:
- Domain Controller Replication: If you have multipledomain controllers, ensure that AD replication is functioning properly. Sometimes, the changes to GPOs might not have propagated to the domain controller that the VM is authenticating against. You can force replication or check for any replication issues using
repadmin /showrepl.
- Timing of GPO Application:
- Startup vs. User Login GPOs: Some GPO's, like time zone changes or folder creation, may need to be applied during system startup rather than at user login. If the GPOs are configured to apply at login but need system-level permissions, they might not work properly. You can also configure GPOs to apply during system startup or use computer-based GPO settings rather than user-based ones.
- Slow Link Detection:
- Slow Network Link Detection: Sometimes, VMs might detect the network connection as a "slow link," which can prevent some GPO settings (like folder creation) from applying. You can disable slow link detection by setting the policy “Group Policy slow link detection” in the Computer Configuration under
Administrative Templates > System > Group Policy.
- GPO Application Order:
- Conflicting GPOs: Ensure that there are no conflicting GPOs being applied. You can check the order of GPO application using
gpresult /h report.htmlto generate a more detailed report, which might indicate conflicting settings or misapplied GPOs.
- GPO Caching on Azure VMs:
- Group Policy Caching in Azure: Sometimes, GPOs may not apply immediately if the VM is part of Azure AD-joined scenarios or due to network latency issues. You can clear the Group Policy cache on the VM and restart it to force the policies to reapply from scratch. The GPO cache is located at
C:\Windows\System32\GroupPolicy\MachineandC:\Windows\System32\GroupPolicy\User. Clear these folders and rungpupdate /forceagain.
- VM-Specific Network or Firewall Settings:
- Firewall or Network Settings on the VM: Make sure that your VM's firewall or network settings are not preventing proper communication with the domain controller, which might prevent GPOs from being fully applied. Also, verify that the necessary ports (esp., for Active Directory and Group Policy) are open and not blocked by the VM's firewall.
- Time Synchronization Issues:
- Time Sync Settings: Since you're trying to set time zone and date format via GPO, check if the VM is synchronizing time correctly with the domain or Azure's time service. Incorrect time synchronization could cause issues with policy application, especially those related to time settings.
- RSoP (Resultant Set of Policy):
- Run RSoP: Running the Resultant Set of Policy (RSoP) snap-in (
rsop.msc) on the VM may provide more granular insight into what policies are being applied and why specific settings might not be applying as expected.
If the above steps don't resolve the issue, you might want to try testing with a different VM or even removing and rejoining the problematic VM to the domain to ensure it receives policies properly.
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