Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista : Item-Level Targeting (part 3) - Environment Variable, Language, LDAP Query

Environment Variable

An Environment Variable targeting item, shown in Figure 8, allows a preference item to be applied to computers or users only if the Environment Variable and value specified in the targeting item are equal. The Value text box accepts preference processing variables. Press F3 to display the Select a Variable dialog box, which lists the system-defined variables from which you can select.

Figure 8. You can use an Environment Variable item in item-level targeting for Group Policy Preferences.

Best Practices

If you need to use a set of item-level targeting items for many Group Policy Preferences settings, you can replace the complex array of items with a single custom environment variable. To do so, create a custom Environment Variable preference item with a value of 1 on each computer where the complex array of item-level targeting items are all true. This allows you to use the new environment variable for the other Group Policy Preferences settings on which you want to use the complex array of targeting criteria. You can now use the single variable =, instead of configuring the array of multiple item-level targeting items for each Group Policy Preferences setting.

File Match

A File Match targeting item, shown in Figure 9, allows a preference item to be applied to computers or users only if the file or folder specified in the targeting item exists, or only if the file exists and is a version within the range specified in the targeting item. You can select the match to be a file, folder, or file version. If you select the Match File Version option, an additional set of text boxes will appear, allowing you to enter the version range.

Figure 9. You can use a File Match item in item-level targeting for Group Policy Preferences.

IP Address Range

An IP Address Range targeting item allows a preference item to be applied to computers or users only if the processing computer’s IP address is within the range specified in the targeting item. Range starting points and ending points are inclusive. You can specify a single address by typing the same value in both boxes.

Language

A Language targeting item, shown in Figure 10, allows a preference item to be applied to computers or users only if the locale specified in the targeting item is installed on the processing computer. Additional options allow you to restrict the targeting to the user’s or computer’s locale. Selecting the User check box will restrict the targeting of the item to include the user’s locale. (This option is available only for Group Policy Preferences settings that appear in the User Configuration section of the GPO.) Selecting the System check box will restrict the targeting of the item to include the locale of the operating system.

Figure 10. You can use a Language item in item-level targeting for Group Policy Preferences.

Selecting the Native check box will restrict the targeting of the item to include the specified locale of the NTDLL.DLL file. Selecting multiple check boxes will automatically select the OR logical operation to combine the targeted preference items together, allowing one of the languages to match that which is specified in the Language list.

LDAP Query

An LDAP Query targeting item, shown in Figure 11, allows a preference item to be applied to computers or users only if the LDAP query returns a value for the attribute specified in the targeting item. If the query returns any value, the LDAP Query item will process as true. The Binding configuration, such as LDAP:// CN=Employees,OU=HR,DC=contoso,DC=com, specifies where the search is performed. The Filter and Attribute configurations are optional, allowing you to narrow your criteria. The Environment Variable Name is optional and is the name of the environment variable to which the targeting item sets the value of the Attribute, if one is found.

Figure 11. You can use an LDAP Query item in item-level targeting for Group Policy Preferences.