Administrative Templates are a feature of Group Policy, a Microsoft technology for centralized management of machines and users in an Active Directory environment.
Administrative Templates facilitate the management of registry-based policy. An ADM file is used to describe both the user interface presented to the Group Policy administrator and the registry keys that should be updated on the target machines. An ADM file is a text file with a specific syntax which describes both the interface and the registry values which will be changed if the policy is enabled or disabled.
ADM files are consumed by the Group Policy Object Editor (GPEdit). Windows XP Service Pack 2 shipped with five ADM files (system.adm, inetres.adm, wmplayer.adm, conf.adm and wuau.adm). These are merged into a unified "namespace" in GPEdit and presented to the administrator under the Administrative Templates node (for both machine and user policy).
CLASS MACHINE CATEGORY "Wikipedia Apps" POLICY "Wikipedia" KEYNAME "Software\WikiSoft\Preferences" EXPLAIN "Configures WikiSoft Preferences" VALUENAME "SharingEnabled" VALUEON "Yes" VALUEOFF "No" END POLICY END CATEGORY
A valid ADM file must have the following keywords:
Class - either MACHINE or USER
Category - Defines organizational structure of ADM and where it will be displayed in the GPEdit window.
Policy - Groups definitions into one node and configuration screen of the GPEdit tree
Optional keywords used include:
Keyname - used to define what registry key will be affected
View Filtering must be turned off in order to see custom preference settings (such as this example) in the Group Policy Editor.
ADM files across different platformsedit
It is important to note that ADM files shipped with Microsoft operating systems include descriptions of policy settings for not just that platform but for all other platforms on which Group Policy is supported. For example, the Windows XP Service Pack 2 ADM files described policy settings not just for this platform but also for Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003. This approach allows management of machines that are running an operating system other than that on which GPEdit is used.
Managing ADM filesedit
By default, ADM files are stored in each GPO, within Sysvol on domain controllers. This creates a simple and effective model for replicating ADM files across domain controllers (which is handled by the File Replication Service). However, in some instances this can cause operational issues. To this end, various policy settings are available to manage the manner in which ADM files are read and stored. These are described in Microsoft's KB article 816662.
External linksedit
Important information about Windows XP Service Pack 2 ADM Files (KB 842933)
Recommendations for managing Group Policy Administrative Templates (.ADM) Files (KB 816662)
January 01, 1970
administrative, template, this, article, does, cite, sources, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, july, 2010, learn, when,. This article does not cite any sources Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Administrative Template news newspapers books scholar JSTOR July 2010 Learn how and when to remove this message Administrative Templates are a feature of Group Policy a Microsoft technology for centralized management of machines and users in an Active Directory environment Administrative Templates facilitate the management of registry based policy An ADM file is used to describe both the user interface presented to the Group Policy administrator and the registry keys that should be updated on the target machines An ADM file is a text file with a specific syntax which describes both the interface and the registry values which will be changed if the policy is enabled or disabled ADM files are consumed by the Group Policy Object Editor GPEdit Windows XP Service Pack 2 shipped with five ADM files system adm inetres adm wmplayer adm conf adm and wuau adm These are merged into a unified namespace in GPEdit and presented to the administrator under the Administrative Templates node for both machine and user policy Contents 1 Syntax 2 ADM files across different platforms 3 Managing ADM files 4 External linksSyntax editA simple ADM example follows CLASS MACHINE CATEGORY Wikipedia Apps POLICY Wikipedia KEYNAME Software WikiSoft Preferences EXPLAIN Configures WikiSoft Preferences VALUENAME SharingEnabled VALUEON Yes VALUEOFF No END POLICY END CATEGORY A valid ADM file must have the following keywords Class either MACHINE or USER Category Defines organizational structure of ADM and where it will be displayed in the GPEdit window Policy Groups definitions into one node and configuration screen of the GPEdit tree Optional keywords used include Keyname used to define what registry key will be affected View Filtering must be turned off in order to see custom preference settings such as this example in the Group Policy Editor ADM files across different platforms editIt is important to note that ADM files shipped with Microsoft operating systems include descriptions of policy settings for not just that platform but for all other platforms on which Group Policy is supported For example the Windows XP Service Pack 2 ADM files described policy settings not just for this platform but also for Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003 This approach allows management of machines that are running an operating system other than that on which GPEdit is used Managing ADM files editBy default ADM files are stored in each GPO within Sysvol on domain controllers This creates a simple and effective model for replicating ADM files across domain controllers which is handled by the File Replication Service However in some instances this can cause operational issues To this end various policy settings are available to manage the manner in which ADM files are read and stored These are described in Microsoft s KB article 816662 External links editImportant information about Windows XP Service Pack 2 ADM Files KB 842933 Recommendations for managing Group Policy Administrative Templates ADM Files KB 816662 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Administrative Template amp oldid 1077538794, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
