How to Apply System Policies to Terminal Server

ID: Q192794

The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0, Terminal Server Edition

SUMMARY

Windows NT system policies are designed to be used when a user logs on to a domain accounts database. With Windows Terminal Server, you may want to apply system policies to affect users who log on to the Terminal Server through the console or through the Terminal Server client.


MORE INFORMATION

To implement a system policy to affect all Terminal Server users who log on to the console or through the Terminal Server client, do the following:

  1. Start System Policy Editor (Poledit.exe) and make the changes for your policy.


  2. On the File menu, click Save As, and then save the policy file on your hard disk. For example, save the file as: 
    
      c:\ntconfig.pol


  3. On the File menu, click Open Registry.


  4. Double-click Local Computer, double-click Network, double-click System Policies Update, and then click the Remote Update check box to select it.


  5. In the Update Mode box, click Manual (Use Specific Path), type a path name in the Path for Manual Update dialog box (for example, c:\ntconfig.pol), and then click OK.


    6. NOTE: To display error messages if the policy file is not found when Windows NT starts, click the Display Error Message check box to select it.

  6. Save your policy to the location listed above as Ntconfig.pol, and then exit Policy Editor.


    7. NOTE: When using Manual Update, you may name the policy file anything you would like; just be sure to enter it into the path in step 5 above.

  7. Restart Windows NT for the changes in the policy to take effect.


TIP: Every person or computer that logs on after a policy is in place is subject to the policy. Therefore, it is a good idea to not edit the default user or computer until you are familiar with System Policies. A good idea to use is to make a test user/group account in "User Manager" and then make specific policy for this user/group in System Policy Editor. After you have the policy working properly, you can then transfer the policy to the production environment.

The settings above modify the
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Update
path in the registry.

Remote Update:
Category: Network
Subcategory: System Policies update
Selection: Remote update

Description: Controls how policies are applied to a Windows NT 4.0-based machine. With UpdateMode set to 1 (Automatic, the default), Windows NT makes a connection to the NETLOGON share of the validating domain controller in the user's context, and checks for the existence of the policy file, NTconfig.pol. With UpdateMode set to 2 (Manual), Windows NT reads the string specified in the NetworkPath value, and checks that path for the existence of the policy file (in this case, the policy file name should be included in the NetworkPath value). With UpdateMode set to 0 (Off), a policy file is not downloaded from any system, and therefore is not applied.
Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Update

Registry Value Registry Data Description
UpdateMode REG_DWORD Off = 0, Automatic=1; Manual=2
NetworkPath REG_SZ Text of UNC path for manual update
Verbose REG_DWORD Display error messages. Off = 0 or value not present; On = 1
LoadBalance REG_DWORD Off = 0 or value not present; On = 1

Keywords :
Version : WinNT:4.0
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbinfo


Last Reviewed: July 15, 1999
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