Backing Up and Restoring Domain GPOs
Backing
up GPOs is a task that should be performed regularly. This section
contains step-by-step instructions to back up and restore domain group
policies.
Backing Up All Domain GPOs
To back up all of the domain GPOs, perform the following steps:
1. | Log on to a designated Windows Server 2008 R2 administrative system.
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2. | Open the Group Policy Management Console.
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3. | Expand the domain to expose the Group Policy Objects container and select it.
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4. | Right-click the Group Policy Objects container and select the Back Up All button.
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5. | Specify
the folder location in which to store the backup, enter a description
of the backup, and click the Back Up button to back up the domain group
policies.
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6. | In the Backup window, review the status of the backup and click OK when the backup completes.
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Backing Up a Single Domain GPO
To back up a single domain GPO, perform the following steps:
1. | Log on to a designated Windows Server 2008 R2 administrative system.
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2. | Open the Group Policy Management Console.
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3. | Expand the domain to expose the Group Policy Objects container and expand it.
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4. | Select the desired GPO, right-click it, and click the Back Up button.
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5. | Specify
the folder location in which to store the backup, enter a description
of the backup, and click the Back Up button to back up the domain group
policy.
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6. | In the Backup window, review the status of the backup and click OK when the backup completes.
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Restoring a Domain GPO
Restoring a domain GPO can be
performed to revert a GPO to a previously backed-up state or to recover
from a domain GPO deletion.
To restore a deleted domain GPO, perform the following steps:
1. | Log on to a designated Windows Server 2008 R2 administrative workstation.
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2. | Open the Group Policy Management Console.
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3. | Expand the domain to expose the Group Policy Objects container and select it.
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4. | Right-click the Group Policy Objects container, and select Manage Backups.
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5. | Browse to or specify the domain GPO backup location to load the GPO backup set.
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6. | Select the desired GPO object.
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7. | If a filtered view is desired, select the Show Only the Latest Version of Each GPO check box.
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8. | To
view the settings of a particular backed-up GPO, select the desired
GPO, and click the View Settings button. Close the browser window after
the settings are reviewed.
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9. | After the desired GPO is determined, select the GPO and click the Restore button.
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10. | Click OK in the Restore confirmation dialog box to restore the GPO.
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11. | Review the GPO restore progress, and click OK when it is finished.
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12. | After all the necessary GPOs are restored, close the Manage Backups window.
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Note
Restoring a domain GPO from a
backup does not re-create or restore any links previously associated
with that GPO. GPO links must be re-created and reconfigured manually.
To change an existing domain GPO to a previously backed-up version, perform the following steps:
1. | Log on to a designated Windows Server 2008 R2 administrative system.
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2. | Open the Group Policy Management Console.
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3. | Expand the domain to expose the Group Policy Objects container and select it.
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4. | Locate and right-click the desired domain GPO, and select Restore from Backup.
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5. | In the Restore Group Policy Object Wizard window, click Next on the Welcome page.
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6. | On the next page, browse to or specify the domain GPO backup location and click Next.
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7. | To
view the settings of a particular backed-up GPO, select the desired
GPO, and click the View Settings button. Close the browser window after
the settings are reviewed.
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8. | After the desired GPO is determined, select the GPO, and click Next.
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9. | Review the settings summary on the Completing the Restore GPO Wizard page, and click Finish to start the restore process.
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10. | Review the GPO restore progress, and click OK when it is finished. |
