The Introducing the Group Policy Management Console page contains:
The Microsoft Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) is the new solution for Group Policy management that helps you manage your enterprise more cost-effectively. It consists of a new Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in and a set of scriptable interfaces for managing Group Policy. GPMC is planned to be available as a separate component by the time Windows Server 2003 is launched.
Purpose of GPMC
GPMC is designed to:
- Simplify the management of Group Policy by providing a single place for managing core aspects of Group Policy. You can think of GPMC as a "one-stop shopping location" for managing Group Policy.
- Address top Group Policy deployment requirements, as requested by customers, by providing:
- A user interface (UI) that makes Group Policy much easier to use.
- Backup/restore of Group Policy objects (GPOs).
- Import/export and copy/paste of GPOs and Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) filters.
- Simplified management of Group Policy–related security.
- HTML reporting for GPO settings and Resultant Set of Policy (RSoP) data.
- Scripting of GPO operations that are exposed within this tool—but not scripting of settings with a GPO.
Prior to GPMC, administrators were required to use several Microsoft tools to manage Group Policy. GPMC integrates the existing Group Policy functionality exposed in these tools into a single, unified console, along with the new capabilities listed above.
Managing Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003 Domains
GPMC will be able to manage both Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003–based domains with the Active Directory® service. In either case, the administrative computer on which the tool itself runs must be running one of the following:
- Windows Server 2003.
- Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 1 (SP1), plus an additional post-SP1 hotfix, and the Microsoft .NET Framework.
JSI NOTE: If the required hotfix is not installed, the installation of GPMC will install it for you.
