How to apply Local Group Policy settings silently using the ImportRegPol.exe and Apply_lgpo_delta.exe utilities.

Reference: http://supportishere.com/ How-to-apply-local-group-policy-settings-silently-using-the-importregpol-exe-and-apply_lgpo_ delta-exe-utilities/

In many organizations, the AD support team is separated from the team in charge of Imaging. The AD team naturally is protective with their setup and fight any GPO setting this would result in + responsibility to  Their staff.  So, leaves us in some occasions have to turn to Local Group Policy to apply the settings we want.  I ' ve recently come across some great tools provided by Microsoft (very quietly) for government usage. These tools allow you to basically back up your LGPO settings to a TXT file and apply them on demand with a script silentl Y.

MS link:http://blogs.technet.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-components-postattachments/00-03-05-16-48/ Lgpo_2d00_utilities.zip
BackUp link:https://panaconsulting.egnyte.com/h-s/20120118/077e07ba18c74413

How to use:

2. Apply desired settings on a Windows 7 test machine, using the Gpedit.msc MMC snap-in.
4. Run the "ImportRegPol.exe" with the/parseonly and/log-to-pull settings and save-to-a specified log file.
   User settings and machine settings need to be captured separately:
   
   Capture User Example
   Importregpol.exe/u C:\windows\system32\grouppolicy\user\registry.pol/parseonly/log <PathToSettingsFile>. Log
   
   Capture Machine Settings Example:
   importregpol.exe/m C:\windows\system32\grouppolicy\machine\registry.pol/parseonly/log <PathToSettingsFile> . log
6. Use the Apply_lgpo_delta.exe utility to Apply the settings silently. On restart the settings would take effect.
   Apply_lgpo_delta.exe <pathtosettingsfile>.log/log <pathtologfile>.log
8. This can easily is added to a SCCM or MDT Task Sequence and tied to logic to ensure the correct settings get pushed to th e appropriate target systems/users.

Command line Help for LGPO Tools:

apply_lgpo_delta.exe inputfile0 [inputfile1 ...] [/log LogFile] [/error ErrorLogFile] [/boot]

inputfileN   One or more input files specifying the changes to make.  Input files must be security template files, or registry-based policy files using a custom file format described below.  Apply_lgpo_delta automatically determines whether a file is a custom policy file or a security template. Security templates can be created using the "Security templates" MMC snap-in.

/log           LogFile  Writes detailed results to a log file. If This option was not specified, output was not logged nor displayed.

/error   ErrorLogFile  Writes error information to a log file. If This option isn't specified, error information is displayed in a message box dialog.

/ Boot Reboots the computer when done.

ImportRegPol.exe –m|-u Path\registry.pol [/parseonly] [/log LogFile] [/error errorlogfile] [/boot]

- m Path\registry.pol [For Computer Configuration] or

- u path\registry.pol [For User configuration]

PATH\REGISTRY.POL specifies the absolute or relative path to the input registry policy file (which does isn't need to be Nam Ed "Registry.pol").

/parseonly  Reads and validates the input file but does do changes to local Group Policy. In conjunction with THE/LOG option, can is used to convert a registry policy file to an input file for Apply_lgpo_delta.

/log           LogFile  Writes detailed results to a log file.  If This option was not specified, output was not logged nor displayed. The logged results for the registry policy settings can is used as input for Apply_lgpo_delta.

/error   ErrorLogFile  Writes error information to a log file. If This option isn't specified, error information is displayed in a message box dialog.

/ Boot Reboots the computer when done.

How to apply Local Group Policy settings silently using the ImportRegPol.exe and Apply_lgpo_delta.exe utilities.