Deploying Privilege Guard with NetIQ GPA

Avecto Privilege Guard (Edit: now Defendpoint) is implemented as a Group Policy Extension, which allows it to integrate seamlessly with solutions that enable advanced management of Group Policy. This includes Microsoft’s Advanced Group Policy Management (AGPM), which is part of the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP), but other vendors have solutions in this space too, such as NetIQ with their Group Policy Administrator (GPA).

NetIQ GPA is an enterprise class change control solution that enables an organization to version control GPOs and edit them offline. The workflow within NetIQ GPA enables GPOs to be checked out, checked in, approved and then deployed to the live Active Directory. This avoids the problems that can occur when making live edits to GPOs and it enforces good practice by putting an approval process in place.

Privilege Guard Polices can be edited from within NetIQ GPA, in a similar manner to using Microsoft’s Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) in a live Active Directory.

To edit the Privilege Guard Policies in a version controlled GPO:

1. Launch NetIQ GPA.
2. Select the GPO that you would like to edit.
3. Select “Check Out” from the Action menu, which should launch the NetIQ Group Policy Management Editor (nqGPME).
4. Edit the Privilege Guard Policies in the Computer Configuration or User Configuration nodes in the same way you would in a live GPO in GPMC (see screenshot below).
5. Close the NetIQ GPME.
6. Select “Check In” from the Action menu in NetIQ GPA, which will check in the modified GPO.

You are now in a position to approve and deploy the GPO to the live Active Directory using the “Approve Version” and “Export to AD” menu options respectively in NetIQ GPA.

In step 4, instead of editing the Privilege Guard Policies you could simply import the Privilege Guard Polices from an XML file that has previously been exported from a Privilege Guard console. Select the “Import Privilege Guard Policies…” menu option from the Privilege Guard Policies node to import policies from an XML file. You can also select “Export Privilege Guard Polices…” to export the policies to an XML file.