Windows Tip Sheet
It's GPO Time
Another nifty command line management tool, the Group Policy Time Utility, from the GPO Guy.
- By Jeffery Hicks
- 01/17/2007
Last week, I discussed how to remotely force a GPO refresh using RGPRefresh.exe from the GPO Guy, Darren Mar-Elia. Darren has another command line GPO management tool that I’m also fond of called
GPTime.exe. The Group Policy Time Utility returns information about recent Group Policy processing for the computer and every user who has ever logged on to that machine. You can also find out how long processing took, which makes it a handy GPO performance monitoring tool.
Tech Help—Just An
E-Mail Away |
|
Got a Windows, Exchange or virtualization question
or need troubleshooting help? Or maybe you want a better
explanation than provided in the manuals? Describe
your dilemma in an e-mail to the MCPmag.com editors
at [email protected];
the best questions get answered in this column and garner
the questioner with a nifty Redmond T-shirt.
When you send your questions, please include your
full first and last name, location, certifications (if
any) with your message. (If you prefer to remain anonymous,
specify this in your message, but submit the requested
information for verification purposes.) |
|
|
By default, GPTime.exe processes information for the local computer simply by running GPTime.
C:\public>gptime
Computer Group Policy processing cycle:
STARTED: 21:17:19 on 11/17/2006
FINISHED: 21:17:19 on 11/17/2006
Total elapsed processing time: 0 hours, 0 minutes, 0 seconds and 47 msec.
User Account: jdoe Group Policy processing cycle:
STARTED: 18:13:59 on 4/29/2004
FINISHED: 18:14:0 on 4/29/2004
Total elapsed processing time: 0 hours, 0 minutes, 0 seconds and 890 msec.
User Account: jhicks Group Policy processing cycle:
STARTED: 20:31:19 on 11/17/2006
FINISHED: 20:31:19 on 11/17/2006
Total elapsed processing time: 0 hours, 0 minutes, 0 seconds and 31 msec.
User Account: Administrator Group Policy processing cycle:
STARTED: 18:47:26 on 5/31/2006
FINISHED: 18:47:26 on 5/31/2006
Total elapsed processing time: 0 hours, 0 minutes, 0 seconds and 47 msec.
C:\public>
You can specify a computer name as a runtime parameter and the utility will remotely get Group Policy processing information. The target computer must be running Windows XP or Windows 2003.
About the Author
Jeffery Hicks is an IT veteran with over 25 years of experience, much of it spent as an IT infrastructure consultant specializing in Microsoft server technologies with an emphasis in automation and efficiency. He is a multi-year recipient of the Microsoft MVP Award in Windows PowerShell. He works today as an independent author, trainer and consultant. Jeff has written for numerous online sites and print publications, is a contributing editor at Petri.com, and a frequent speaker at technology conferences and user groups.