Would you like to learn how to configure a group policy to store the Bitlocker recovery key in Active Directory? In this tutorial, we will show you how to backup the Bitlocker recovery key inside the Active Directory using a GPO.
• Windows 2012 R2
• Windows 2016
• Windows 2019
• Windows 10
• Windows 7
Equipment list
The following section presents the list of equipment used to create this tutorial.
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Tutorial GPO – Store the Bitlocker recovery key in Active Directory
On the domain controller, start an elevated Powershell command-line.
Verify if the Active Directory schema has the required attributes.
Here is the command output.
Install the feature named RSAT-Feature-Tools-BitLocker-BdeAducExt.
On the domain controller, open the group policy management tool.
Create a new group policy.
Enter a name for the new group policy.
In our example, the new GPO was named: MY-GPO.
On the Group Policy Management screen, expand the folder named Group Policy Objects.
Right-click your new Group Policy Object and select the Edit option.
On the group policy editor screen, expand the Computer configuration folder and locate the following item.
Access the folder named Bitlocker Drive Encryption.
Enable the item named: Store BitLocker Recovery information in Active Directory Domain Services.
Click on the OK button.
On the group policy editor screen, expand the Computer configuration folder and locate the following item.
Access the folder named Operating System Drives.
Enable the item named: Choose how BitLocker-protected Operating System drives can be recovered.
Click on the OK button.
On the group policy editor screen, expand the Computer configuration folder and locate the following item.
Access the folder named Fixed Data Drives.
Enable the item named: Choose how BitLocker-protected fixed drives can be recovered.
Click on the OK button.
On the group policy editor screen, expand the Computer configuration folder and locate the following item.
Access the folder named Removable Data Drives.
Enable the item named: Choose how BitLocker-protected Removable drives can be recovered.
Click on the OK button.
To save the group policy configuration, you need to close the Group Policy editor.
Congratulations! You have finished the GPO creation.
Tutorial – Applying the GPO to store the Bitlocker recovery key in Active Directory
On the Group policy management screen, you need to right-click the Organizational Unit desired and select the option to link an existent GPO.
In our example, we are going to link the group policy named MY-GPO to the root of the domain.
After applying the GPO you need to wait for 10 or 20 minutes.
During this time the GPO will be replicated to other domain controllers.
After encrypting a computer, verify if the Bitlocker recovery keys were stored in Active Directory.
In our example, we configured the Bitlocker recovery key to be stored in Active Directory.
