Resolution
How do ADM templates behave when checking out a GPO from the Group Policy Administrator (GPA) Repository?
goal
How does the Group Policy Administrator (GPA) Repository edit GPOs?
fact
NetIQ Group Policy Administrator 3.0
fact
NetIQ Group Policy Administrator 4.x
fact
NetIQ Group Policy Administrator 5.0
fix
The GPA console encapsulates the GPEdit tool when a GPO is checked out for modification. Therefore the behavior of the ADM templates is the same in GPA as it is in native tools. When you open GPEdit and look at a GPO, the time stamps of the ADM templates held in Sysvol are compared to the time stamps on the client computer running GPEdit. If the time stamp on the client computer is more current, then the ADM templates from the client computer are uploaded to Sysvol.
Two policy settings are available to help with the management of ADM files. These settings make it possible for the administrator to tune the use of ADM files for a specific environment. The first setting is Turn off automatic updates of ADM files, which is available under User Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Group Policy in Windows Server 2003, in Windows XP, and in Windows 2000. This setting may be applied to any Group Policy-enabled client. The second setting is Always use local ADM files for Group Policy Editor. This policy setting is available under Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Group Policy. This is a new policy setting that may be successfully applied only to Windows Server 2003 clients. The setting may be deployed to older clients, but it will have no effect on their behavior.
The following article details how ADM files are applied and the issues you may experience:
- Recommendations for Managing Group Policy Administrative Template (.adm) Files:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;816662