Group Policy Preference ( GPP ) : GPP Is Not Working, There Are Red and Green Dots / circle At The Settings

Group Policy Processing has been introduced since Server 2008, and Microsoft recommends to use GPP instead of normal GPO. To me, I prefer to use GPP as well, as it is more convenience to configure and troubleshoot. 

However, in some cases, the configuration may not get reflected, no matter how many times you perform gpupdate (gpupdate /force as well), or even reboot the machines. Your settings are all good, linked enabled to appropriate OU, Block Inheritance already enabled (to ensure policies assigned to parent OU not conflicting with your policies, just in case), there were no similar setting in Site and Domain policies, policies already being enforced (oh wait, do you really need to enforce?). 

What else could it be then? Oh wait, just before you planned to kill someone, you realized there were red dots / circles at the configurations, and those configurations (with red dots / circles ) were the one who drove you crazy! Configurations with green straight lines / circles were working as expected! 

So yes, it is how GPP works, actually. To simplify things, Microsoft (by default) disabled some configurations, so Administrators won't accidentally make changes. They need to enable those changes first, before the changes working as expected. In order to enable / disable those changes, one need to press :

• F5 - Enable all configurations
• F6 - Enable that specific configuration 
• F7 - Disable that specific configuration 
• F8 - Disable all configurations

To demonstrate some examples :

This is default configurations, some are enabled, some are not.

You pressed F5 (all enabled with green straight lines)

You pressed F8 (all enabled with red dots)

You clicked at some setting, and pressed F6 or F7 (pressing F6 will enable it, F7 will disable it)

Now we go to Advanced setting, to see on green / red circles.

We pressed F8.

We pressed F6 on some settings.

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How To Do : Microsoft Office Excel - Compare 2 Sets of Data

A bit different thing today, a simple task but greatly helps me in getting my jobs done fast. I am in the middle of housekeeping our Citrix licenses as it needs to be renewed. Due to the fact that we are using User/Device model, some users who are already left the Company might have their ID still utilizing the licenses. By freeing up the licenses, it will help the Company to reduce Operational costs and assign the licenses to the other users. Well, it is almost year end, and everybody is coming up with their plan for performance review, why shouldn't I? ^__^!

Description :

To compare 2 sets of data (Data 01 : all users who are utilizing the licenses, Data 02 : all disabled users id AD). I there are match, it means the users can be removed and the licenses can be released.

How To Do :

1. Launch MS Excel, put the first group of data in Column A
   
   
   
2. Put the second group of data in Column C
   
   
   
3. Put the following formula in Cell B1:
   Syntax : =IF(ISERROR(MATCH(A1,$C$1:$C$5,0)),"",A1)
   
   
   
4. Change the formula a bit so data in Column A could be compared against all data in Column B. In my case as I have 10 data, I changed from $C$5 to $C$10.
   
   
   
5. Next, copy the formula in B1 to B10 (in may case, yours might be more / lesser than that).
   

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How To : StoreFront Factory Reset / Rejoin Citrix StoreFront to Server Group

In some situations, you may need to unjoin a StoreFront server from an existing server group, and join the server to a different server group. However, after you remove it, there is no option to add it back. You will see this screen at your StoreFront server.

So, what it The easiest way? Reinstall StoreFront!. 

However, there is another cool way to do this, especially if you want to show off in front of your customers (no, I have never done this), or if you want to flaunt your expertise in front of your juniors (never done this as well).

Description :
StoreFront Factory Reset / Rejoin Citrix StoreFront to Server Group


How To Do :

1.  Close all opened / active Storefront consoles. You will get error if there is active session. Launch PowerShell as Administrator.
   
   
   
   
   
2.  Type asnp Citrix*
   
   
   
   
   
3.  Browse to %Program Files%\Citrix\Receiver StoreFront\Scripts
   
   
   
   
4.  Run ImportModules.ps1
   
   
   
   
5.   Modules imported
   
   
   
   
6. Run this command : Clear-DSConfiguration
   
   
   
   
7. Command completed.
   
   
   
   
8.  Close PowerShell, and launch StoreFront. You will get the option to join to existing server group back.
   

Reference :

• http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX200239

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How To Change NetBIOS Name of A Computer

So yes... After 4 months without new contents, so I started with this. It looks easier to do (well, it is), but before you do that, you may want to read this to understand the difference between hostname and netBIOS, then starts to explore on when to use them, their limitations etc etc. I won't discuss here (or maybe not today). So let's back to the topic.

 Description :
Changing NetBIOS Name of A Computer.

ComputerName :

NetBIOS :

How To Do :

1.  Go to Start > Run, and type REGEDIT
2.  Browse to Computer > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > CurrentControlSet > Control > ComputerName > ComputerName
   
   
   
3. At the right side, double click at ComputerName string, and put correct Value data. Press OK.
   
4.  Then you will get this
   
5. Reboot your computer / VM.
6. Once it is up, double check your netBIOS name. New name shall be reflected
   

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Adding AD User Groups Into Computer Local Groups (Microsoft Server 2003)

Description :
There are multiple ways to do add AD user groups into computer local groups - manual way or using GPO. To me, it is always GPO way - it is easier (sort of) as the configuration will be persistent across all servers where the GPO being applied to.

How To Do :

1.  At your GPO, right click at it, and choose Edit...
   
   
   
2.  Expand to Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Restricted Groups. Right click at it, and choose Add Group...
   
   
   
3.  Click at Browse... as we want to choose the AD user Group.
   
   
   
4.  Type your AD User Group
   
   
   
5.   Click at Check Names to ensure the group is correct. Once it is confirmed, click at OK.
   
   
   
6. The User group will be listed here. You can choose as many user groups as you want, it will be listed here. Press OK again.
   
   
   
7.  In here, click at the Add button under This group is a member of: option.
   
   
   
8.  Click at Browse to choose the local group to be assigned to.
   
   
   
9.  Type your desired local group name. In this example, I chose Remote Desktop User. As always, press Check Names, and OK once confirmed.
   
   
   
10.  Press OK.
    
    
    
11.  So the local group will be listed here. Press Apply and OK.
    
    
    
12.  You can see a new entry listed in Restricted Groups option.
    
    
    
13.  To ensure the policy enforced to the servers, RDP to the servers and run GPUPDATE /FORCE command
    
    
    
14. You can see the AD user group will be listed in local Group.
    

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How To Totally Remove GPO

Assuming you mistakenly created a GPO and want to delete it before your boss hammerring your head (huh?).. Okay, too much drama, so let's change it. You want to housekeep your GPO (again?), and there are some GPOs need to be deleted. You right click at it, press Delete, and this message box prompted. 

Do you want to delete this link? 

This will not delete the GPO itself.

So, are you doing it right? The answer is no. Deleting it from the OU structure will not totally remove the GPO, it only unlink the OG from the GPO.

Description :
Put Citrix servers out of Citrix load (some sort of private mode / maintenance mode).



How To Do :

1.  Within Group Policy Management Console, Go to Group Polcy Objects node. Right clik at the target GPO, and choose Delete
   
   
   
   
   

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How To Enable / Disable Time Zone Redirection

There will be situation where Business wants users' Citrix sessions to reflect server time zone, especially when the datacenter location and users' locations are at different time zones. These steps are also applicable to provide local time zone to Citrix / TS users.

Description :
To provide server / local time zone to users' Citrix sessions.


How To Do :

1.  Launch Citrix AppCenter, and go to Policies node.
   
   
   
   
2. From there, click at Users tab.
   
   
   
   
3.  Depending whether to create a new policy or edit current one, choose the option accordingly. In this case, we create a new one.
   
   
   
   
4.  Configure policy name
   
   
   
   
5.  Browse to All Settings > ICA > Time Zone Control
   
   
   
   
6.   Add Use local time of client policy
   
   
   
   
7.  Choose desired option, whether to use server time or local time, then press OK
   
   
   
   
8.  Press Next to proceed
   
   
   
   
9.  Configure filtering accordingly.
   
   
   
   
10.  Enable and create the Citrix policy.
    
    
    
    
11. Go to Group Policy Management Console, and create a new policy or edit current policy. In this case, we edit current policy.
    
    
    
    
12.  Browse to User Configuration > Policies > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Remote Desktop Services > Remote Destop Session Host > Device and Resource Redirection
    
    
    
    
13.  Right click at Allow time zone redirection, and press Edit
    
    
    
    
14.  Choose to enable or disable time zone redirection accordingly. Press Apply and OK.
    
    
    
    
15.  This is the outcomes. 
    
    
    
    

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