Would you like to learn how to configure a group policy to copy files to remote computers? In this tutorial, we will show you how to copy files 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 – Copy files
Create a shared folder and place a copy of the files.
This will be the distribution point of the files to the network.
In our example, a shared folder named SOFTWARE was created.
All the domain users and all the domain computers were given read permission over this folder.
In our example, this is the path to access the network share.
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.
Create a new folder.
On the General tab, perform the following configuration.
• Action – Update.
• Path – Enter the path to the folder.
• Attributes – Select the attributes to the new folder.
Click on the OK button.
In our example, we are going to create a local folder named TEST on the root of drive C of all computers in the domain.
On the group policy editor screen, expand the Computer configuration folder and locate the following item.
Create a new file.
On the General tab, perform the following configuration.
• Action – Update.
• Source – Enter the network path to the file.
• Destination – Enter the local path to save the file.
Click on the OK button.
In our example, we are going to copy a file from the network share named SOFTWARE to the local folder named TEST.
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 copy files
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.
On a remote computer, verify if the GPO copied the file.
In our example, we copied a file to all domain computers using a GPO.
