Windows Server® 2012 Unleashed

Creating a GPO Central Store

Starting with Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, administrators can now manually create a folder on the Active Directory domain controller that contains all the necessary ADMX and ADML files. This folder is referred to as the GPO central store and has to be created and managed manually. The GPO central store can be created in a domain that contains at least Windows Server 2003 domain controllers or later.

By default, with Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and later OSs, when a GPO is opened for editing the system first checks the domain controller for the existence of a GPO central store. If the central store exists, the GPO loads the templates located in the central store. If the central store does not exist, ...