In any organization from a small business to a large enterprise, control over user’s access to various resources on the network is a key component of managing the corporate environment. Access to resources such as network shares and printers to things such as settings on local stations, are just some of the items an administrator wants to manage centrally and cohesively. A common method to manage domain resources like this is via Group Policy in Active Directory.
Another, common practice is to handle mass deployment and configuration of software to client machines on the network. This allows for a smooth roll-out of the necessary software to end-users and keep both administration and help desk calls for such things to a minimum.
For example, a company purchases a solution to allow the end users in the organization to reset their own Active Directory account passwords, thereby removing the helpdesk from needing to handle this all too common task.
The client package for the software installs on the local client machine, modifies the GINA or credential provider of the operating system, and the end user’s logon experience now provides a method for them to immediately reset their password should they forget it. Additionally, software wizards for enrolling in the product and resetting passwords are installed on the workstation so the end user can manage their own enrollment and usage of the product.
A product such as this needs certain parameters configured during the installation process:
- Domain information
- Product service location
- Default language
- End user password reset profile designation
- Etc
To streamline this installation, the network administrator can create a Group Policy Object (GPO) in the group policy interface for Active directory. Via this interface, he can define the parameters above, the location of the installation package, and then deploy this GPO to some or all users in the domain.
With that complete, the roll-out is seamless, especially from an end user perspective. The end user logs into their machine, the group policy is applied, and the new software is installed. The above and much more can be accomplished using group policies within an Active Directory domain.