Overview:
All of the quotation marks in here are being used to actually quote a phrase or value.
Don't actually use them in any names during any of the stages as you may break something. The basic requirements for configuring the browsers through a group policy are:
1. An active directory domain with the clients you wish to be configured joined to it 2. An account that has privilages to create and edit group policy objects
This will work with any domain using any domain functional level (Windows 2000 – Windows 2012 R2 and it should support later versions).
To perform this on a Samba 4 (Active Directory) domain you will need to manage the GPO's from the client using the Remote Server Administration Tools for the respective version of the Windows Client ( but if you already have a copy of the “PolicyDefinitions” directory on the server then you can copy that locally.
When creating the group policy central store (By copying C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions to
\\domain.fqdn.name\SYSVOL\ domain.fqdn.name\Policies\PolicyDefinitions), do this from a client with the newest version of Windows that you have. For example, if you've got a Windows 8 client but most of your devices are running Windows 7, copy them from the device running Windows 8. Configuring the group policy central store:
Note:- If you don't plan on using Google Chrome you can skip this step, but it could come in handy in the future and it won't cause any issues if done correctly.
The group policy central store is used to store the group policy administrative templates in a central location instead of having them reside on the client as they do by default. This allows you to ensure all clients are using the same version of the templates as well as to roll out new templates without having to manually add them to every client.
Step 1:
Open Windows Explorer (Click on the Start button and then on “Computer”) and navigate to “C:\Windows” and scroll down until you see a directory named “PolicyDefinitions”.
Right click this folder and then click “Copy”.
After this, navigate to your domains SYSVOL share. To do this, press the Windows key and 'R' at the same time and then type “\\domain.name\SYSVOL\domain.name\Policies”, where
“domain.name” is your fully qualified domain name. Paste the “PolicyDefinitions” directory into there.
Step 2 (You only need to do this when working with Google Chrome): Download the Google Chrome administrative templates from the following link: http://dl.google.com/dl/edgedl/chrome/policy/policy_templates.zip
After they've downloaded, unzip the file by right-clicking on it and then “Extract All”.
Copy everything from the “Windows/admx” directory that has been extracted into the group policy central store (“\\domain.name\SYSVOL\domain.name\Policies\PolicyDefinitions”).
Creating a Group Policy Object for the settings to be contained in:
In this step we'll create a Group Policy Object) in order to store the settings for Bug Club in. Press the Windows key and the 'R' key together. This will open the “Run” prompt.
In this, the “GPMC.msc” and then click the box that says “OK”.
This will open the Group Policy Management Console.
From here, we're going to expand the “Forest: domain.name” branch, then the “Domains” branch and then finally the “domain.name” branch.
From here, right click on the “domain.name” branch and then click “Create a GPO in this domain, and Link it here...”.
A box will pop up asking for the “Name” and the “Source Starter GPO”.
Set the name to “Bug Club Browser Settings” - It doesn't have to have this name and if you want you can set it to something else. The source starter GPO should be set to “(none)”.
Editing the Group Policy Object to contain the browser settings for Bug Club:
Firstly, right click the Group Policy Object we just created (Bug Club Browser Settings) and then click “Edit”. This will open the group policy editor.
Firstly, we're going to edit the settings for chrome. If you're not using Google Chrome then you can skip this part.
Expand the following branches within the left hand pane: User Configuration
- Policies
- Administrative Templates - Google Chrome
- Content Settings
The, in the large right hand pane, locate “Allow popups on these sites” and then double click it.
Check the box saying “Enabled” and then in the pane below, click on the “Show” button. This will bring up a list.
To configure Internet Explorer, you'll need to add the site to both the trusted zone as well as the popup whitelist.
Expand the following branches within the left hand pane: User Configuration
- Policies
- Administrative Templates - Windows Components
- Internet Explorer
In here, find the option names “Pop-up allow list” and then double-click it.
Set the policy to enabled, and then in the pane below that, click the “Show...” button.
Add “https://www.activelearnprimary.co.uk” to this list, then click okay, and in the pane below, click “Apply” and then “OK”.
There is one more setting which needs to be added – We need to add Bug Club to the IE trusted sites zone. This can be done by going to:
User Configuration - Policies
- Administrative Templates - Windows Components
- Internet Explorer
- Internet Control Panel - Security Page from within the left hand pane.
From here, double click “Site to zone assignment list”. A window will pop up. Check the checkbox for enabled, and then in the plane below click on “Show...”. This will bring up a window with a table inside.
In the first (Left-hand) column of the first row, enter “https://www.activelearnprimary.co.uk” and then in the right hand column, enter a value of “2”.
From here, click “OK”, then in the window that pops up click “Apply” and then “OK”.
You are now done. You can close the Group Policy Mangement Console and proceed to test your clients.
Client Testing:
To test this on a device, go to a client using an account with privilages to view the internet control panel and the ability to run a manual group policy update.
To update the policies, press the Windows key and 'R' at the same time, and then in the box that pops up type “gpupdate /force” and then click “OK”.
This will initiate a group policy update. From here, a window with a black background and white text will pop up. If it asks any questions like “Do you want to reboot? (Y|N)” press the 'Y' key and thehn press the enter key.
Once it's completed, go to your internet control panel and then look in the trusted sites list. You can also test by seeing if you get popup windows when you browse to
