Preparing to Deploy AppLocker Policies
Applies To: Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012
This topic describes the preparation tasks that should be completed before you deploy AppLocker application control settings introduced in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7.
For most organizations, the deployment process means switching the AppLocker enforcement setting from Audit only to Enforce rules. Depending upon the needs of different business groups in your organization, you might be deploying different enforcement settings for linked GPOs. However, if you have set up the reference computer to replicate application usage for a particular business group, then policy deployment involves more steps.
Understanding your design decisions
Before deploying an AppLocker policy, you should have determined:
For each business group, which applications will be controlled and in what manner. For more information, see Creating the List of Applications Deployed to Each Business Group.
How to handle requests for application access. For information about what to consider when developing your support policies, see Planning for AppLocker Policy Management.
How to manage events, including forwarding events. For information about event management in AppLocker, see Monitoring Application Usage with AppLocker.
Your GPO structure, including how to include both Software Restriction Policies (SRP) policies and AppLocker policies. For more information, see Determining Group Policy Structure and Rule Enforcement.
For information about how AppLocker deployment is dependent upon design decisions, see Understanding AppLocker Policy Design Decisions.
AppLocker deployment methods
If you have configured a reference computer, you can create and update your AppLocker policies on this computer, test the policies, and then export the policies to the appropriate GPO for distribution. The other method is to create the policies in your test environment with the enforcement setting set to Audit only, observe the events generated, deploy the policies into the production environment with the enforcement setting set to Audit only, and then validate the effect of the policies.
Using a Reference Computer to Create and Maintain AppLocker Policies
This topic describes the steps to use an AppLocker reference computer to deploy application control policies by using Group Policy.
Deploying AppLocker Policies by Using the Enforce Rules Setting
This topic describes the steps to deploy the AppLocker policy by changing the enforcement setting from Audit only to Enforce rules.