Windows 7 / Networking

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Managing Windows Firewall Using Group Policy

In enterprise environments, the primary method for managing Windows Firewall on remote computers (both clients and servers) is to use Group Policy. To manage Windows Firewall on a collection of computers on your network using Group Policy, do the following:

1. Create a new GPO and link the GPO to the organizational unit (OU) where the computer accounts for these computers reside.
2. Open the GPO using the Group Policy Management Editor from the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) and navigate to the following location:

   Computer Configuration\Policies\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Windows Firewall With Advanced Security\

3. Select the policy node under this location, which should look like this:

   Windows Firewall with Advanced Security - LDAP://CN={GUID},CN=POLICIES,CN= SYSTEM,DC=domain_name,DC=COM
   
   Here GUID is the globally unique identifier for the Group Policy Container (GPC) associated with the GPO you have opened.

Once you have selected this node, you can configure Group Policy settings for Windows Firewall using the same graphical user interface for the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security snap-in described previously.