How to use the Group Policy Migration utility to migrate Windows NT System Policy settings to Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 (317367)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
  • Microsoft Windows NT Advanced Server 4.0
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0
This article was previously published under Q317367

IN THIS TASK

SUMMARY

This step-by-step article describes how use the Group Policy Migration utility (Gpolmig.exe) to migrate a Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 System Policy setting to Windows 2000. Gpolmig.exe is available in Microsoft Windows 2000 Resource Kit (an updated version of Gpolmig.exe is also available in Microsoft Windows 2000 Resource Kit: Supplement 1).

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Overview of Gpolmig.exe

Gpolmig.exe uses the following syntax:

gpolmig policy_file_path [/list] [/listgpo] [/migrate] [object_type] [name] [gpo]

You can use the following parameters with Gpolmig.exe.
  • /list: Use this parameter to list the policy settings in a System Policy file by object type.
  • /listgpo: Use this parameter to list Group Policy objects (GPO) that are open and available for you to import to. You can only migrate the Windows NT System Policy settings to an available GPO.

    NOTE: Open the GPO to which you want to migrate the Windows NT System Policy settings in Group Policy Object Editor before you migrate Windows NT System Policy settings.
  • /migrate: Use this parameter to migrate the specified Windows NT System Policy setting. To successfully run this command, you must specify the following parameters:
    • object_type: Use this parameter to specify the type of object that you want to migrate from the Windows NT System Policy setting. You can specify the following objects types:
      • user
      • computer
      • group

    • name: Use this parameter to specify the name of the Windows NT System Policy object that you want to migrate, for example, default user.
    • gpo: Use this parameter to specify the GPO to which you want to migrate the Windows NT System Policy settings. You must include the 32-character hexadecimal Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) of the GPO in this parameter.
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How to Use Gpolmig.exe to Migrate a Windows NT System Policy Setting to Windows 2000

How to Create a GPO

To create a GPO in which to migrate the Windows NT System Policy setting:
  1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Users and Computers.
  2. In the console tree, right-click either your domain or the organizational unit in which you want to create the GPO, and then click Properties.
  3. Click the Group Policy tab, and then click New.
  4. Type the name for this policy setting (for example, windows policy migration), and then press ENTER.
  5. Click the policy setting that you just created, click Properties, and then click the Security tab.
  6. Click to clear the Apply Group Policy check box for the security groups to which you do not want to apply this policy setting.
  7. Click to select the Apply Group Policy check box for the groups to which you want to apply this policy setting, and then click OK.

    NOTE: Make sure that the users and groups have both the Read and the Apply Group Policy permissions.
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How to Open the GPO

To open the GPO to which you want to migrate the Windows NT System Policy setting:
  1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Users and Computers.
  2. In the console tree, right-click either your domain or the organizational unit in which you want to open the group policy, and then click Properties.
  3. Click the Group Policy tab, click the GPO that you want open, and then click Edit.
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How to List the Available GPOs

  1. Click Start, and then click Run.
  2. In the Open box, type cmd, and then click OK.
  3. Type the following command (where policyfilepath is the path to the Windows NT 4.0 policy [.pol] file that you want to migrate), and then press ENTER.

    gpolmig policyfilepath\ntconfig.pol /listgpo

    For example, if you type gpolmig c:\policies\ntconfig.pol /listgpo, and then press ENTER, the following text is displayed:

    Using Downlevel policy file: c:\policies\ntconfig.pol
Processing GPOs currently being edited...

Current Group Policy Objects Open
   (open the Properties of GPOs and locate the
   'Unique Name' to identify the Globally Unique
   Identifier, or GUID, that is displayed here)
---------------------------------------------
{F807FFEB-9850-4C37-93EA-750AEF8338E0}Machine
{F807FFEB-9850-4C37-93EA-750AEF8338E0}User

  4. Record the GUIDs for the "Machine" and "User" entries of the GPO.

    NOTE: In Microsoft Windows Server 2003, the domain name appears in front of the GUID in the output of the gpolmig \ntconfig.pol /listgpo command.
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How to List the Available System Policy Objects

  1. At the command prompt, type the following command (where policyfilepath is the path to the Windows NT 4.0 policy file that you want to migrate), and then press ENTER.

    gpolmig policyfilepath\ntconfig.pol /list

    For example, if you type gpolmig c:\policies\ntconfig.pol /list, and then press ENTER, the following text is displayed:
    Using Downlevel policy file: c:\policies\ntconfig.pol
Processing Computers and Users in the Policy File...
Computer Policies
-----------------
.default

User Policies
-------------
.default

User Group Policies
-------------------
Staff
  2. Record the policy setting name and the object type of the setting that you want to migrate. For example, if you want to migrate policy settings from the "Staff" group, record the following information:
    Objecttype - Group
Name       - Staff
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How to Migrate Policy Settings

At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER.

gpolmig policyfilepath\ntconfig.pol /migrate objecttype  objectname gpo

This command uses the following place holders:
  • policyfilepath is the path to the Windows NT 4.0 policy (.pol) file that you want to migrate.
  • objecttype is the type of object whose settings you want to migrate (computer, user, or group).
  • objectname is the name of the object whose settings you want to migrate.
For example, to migrate the computer settings that are applied to the Staff group in the example that is described in this article, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

gpolmig c:\policies\ntconfig.pol /migrate group staff {F807FFEB-9850-4C37-93EA-750AEF8338E0}machine

NOTE: You must open the GPO in Group Policy Object Editor for this command to run successfully. In Windows Server 2003, you must specify the domain name in the GUID when you migrate the GPO policy settings.

After you run this command, the following text is displayed: 

Using Downlevel policy file: c:\policies\ntconfig.pol
Correct number of parameters specified...
Opened the source policy...
Opened the destination policy...
Performing Migration...
The migration completed successfully.

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Troubleshooting

  • Ensure that the computer, user, or group whose policy settings you want to migrate exist in the Windows 2000 domain. For example, if you want to migrate policy settings for the Staff group, a Staff group must exist in the Windows 2000 domain.
  • To migrate Windows NT System Policy settings that have been created by using a custom template, you must first import the custom template to the Windows 2000 GPO to which you want to migrate the policy settings.
  • Ensure that the GPO to which you want to migrate the Windows NT System Policy settings is opened in Group Policy Object Editor when you attempt to migrate the settings.
  • You may notice that the Group Policy migration is reported as successful, but that the policy changes are not displayed in the GPO to which you migrated the settings.

    This behavior can occur if you try to migrate Windows NT System Policy settings to a GPO in which no other settings have been configured. To work around this issue, change a configuration setting in the GPO, and then migrate the Windows NT System Policy settings. When the Windows NT System Policy setting has been successfully migrated, reset the GPO to the configuration that you want to use.

    This behavior can also occur if you try to migrate a portion of the Windows NT System Policy setting to which no corresponding Group Policy settings exist. For example, you migrate a Windows NT System Policy setting that modifies settings in the User Configuration portion of the GPO, but you specify {gpo}machine in the Gpolmig.exe command line. To work around this issue, run the Gpolmig.exe command again, and specify the other section of the System Policy file, for example, specify {gpo}user.
  • In Windows Server 2003, you must make an arbitrary change to the policy after you import the GPO and before you close the policy to make the changes visible.
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REFERENCES

For more information about Windows 2000 Group Policy, visit the following Microsoft Web sites:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000serv/evaluate/featfunc/introgp.mspx

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/events/windows2000srv/tnq30002.mspx

For more information about Windows 2000 Resource Kit, visit the following Microsoft Web sites:

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/2000/server/reskit/en-us/default.asp

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Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:3/17/2006
Keywords:kbenv kbHOWTOmaster KB317367 kbAudITPro
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