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Link the GPO to the Domain

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Applies To: Windows 7, Windows Essential Business Server, Windows SBS 2003, Windows SBS 2008, Windows Server 2000, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista

After you create the GPO and configure it with security group filters and WMI filters, you must link the GPO to the container in Active Directory that contains all of the target computers.

If the filters comprehensively control the application of the GPO to only the correct computers, then you can link the GPO to the domain container. Alternatively, you can link the GPO to a site container or organizational unit if you want to limit application of the GPO to that subset of computers.

Administrative credentials

To complete this procedure, you must be a member of the Domain Admins group, or otherwise be delegated permissions to modify the GPOs.

  1. On a computer that has the Group Policy Management feature installed, click Start, click Administrative Tools, and then click Group Policy Management.

  2. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, confirm that the action it displays is what you want, and then click Continue.

  3. In the navigation pane, expand Forest: YourForestName, expand Domains, and then expand YourDomainName.

  4. Right-click YourDomainName, and then click Link an Existing GPO.

  5. In the Select GPO dialog box, select the GPO that you want to deploy, and then click OK.

  6. The GPO appears in the Linked Group Policy Objects tab in the details pane and as a linked item under the domain container in the navigation pane.

  7. You can adjust the order of the linked GPOs to ensure that the higher priority GPOs are processed last. Select a GPO and click the up or down arrows to move it. The GPOs are processed by the client computer from the highest link order number to the lowest.