Creating Group Policy Objects

In Windows AD, GPO allows you to define computer and user configuration settings that AD applies to each system/user. GPOs ensure a system remains configured per policy. Each time a domain-joined computer starts up or a domain user logs in, the local Group Policy agent on your computer obtains the group policy settings from AD and ensures they are applied. Additionally, the group policy client re-applies policies at regular intervals.

In this recipe, you start by creating a group policy object within Active Directory. You then configure the GPO, enabling computers in the IT organizational unit to use PowerShell scripts on those systems or set a specific screen saver.

You can configure thousands of settings for a user or computer through group policy. Microsoft has created a spreadsheet that lists the policy settings, which you can download from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/101451. At the time of writing, the spreadsheet covers the...