Client-side Processing of Group Policy

Some Group Policy components include client-side extensions (dynamic-link libraries) that implement Group Policy at the client level.

The system loads the client-side extensions as needed when a client computer processes policy.

The following is a list of events that can occur:

  • The client computer retrieves a list of GPOs. Typically, a service acting on behalf of the computer does this by calling the GetGPOList function.
  • The system checks each client-side extension to determine whether the extension has stored policy data in any of the GPOs.
  • If the extension has stored data in a GPO, the system calls the extension with the list of GPOs that it should process. If the extension has not stored data in any of the GPOs, the system does not call the extension. The GPO list determines the order in which GPOs are processed.

For more information, see the following topics: