Features and Benefits: Group Policy for Unix/Linux/Mac

Enterprise Group Policy through Quest Authentication Services

  • Increases efficiency and profitability by eliminating the box-by-box administration typically required with Unix, Linux, and Mac systems.
  • Provides a means for ensuring consistent policy across the entire Unix, Linux, Mac environment
  • Alleviates the risk of mis-configuration and errors inherent in repetitive manual management processes
  • Allows Group Policy management solutions—such as Quest Group Policy Manager—to also extend their functionality to non-Windows systems
  • Provides the most flexible and powerful options available in the industry for non-Windows, policy-based management.
  • A powerful management interface—built on the AD GPMC—that delivers maximum flexibility, power, and scope of policies

Quest Authentication Services’ (formerly Vintela Authentication Services) enterprise Group Policy architecture provides an MMC snapin to the Windows Group Policy Object Editor (GPOE). Its powerful design uses innovative client-side extensions (CSE) to translate settings and apply them to local non-Windows machines for both user and computer policies. Authentication Services provides a number of valuable and powerful Group Policies as well as customizable capabilities that allow for powerful extension of policy-based management to Unix, Linux, and Mac.

Flexibility and Innovation

Achieve maximum benefits through full support of ADM template-style Group Policy as well as enhanced Group Policy extensions for Unix, Linux and Mac policies.  These benefits include:

  • A more intuitive, more powerful interface for policy management - Administer non-Windows policies ina simpler and more efficient manner through the most powerful and intuitive interface for the full range of non-Windows policies.
  • Remote import of settings from non-Windows machines - Securely connect to remote systems and import their settings directly into the Group Policy
  • Better data validation - Manage with the intelligence to only accept appropriate settings. This eliminates the need to wait for the policy to apply to a remote system before catching invalid settings.
  • Intuitive search capabilities - Find particular settings from among the hundreds of available settings simply and intuitively through the Group Policy interface's search capabilities
  • An unmatched File Copy policy - Eliminate mistakes that often result from manual input through a policy that allows any file to be configured in Group Policy for retrieval by any non-Windows system. Administrators can easily browse for the file to use in the file copy policy. All permissions and ownership are maintained.
  • The easiest macro support -Use the same GPO for multiple systems to reduce duplication and efficiently solve one-off challenges. The policy enables administrators to define a macro that will affect each individual host. Authentication Services’ extended interface makes setting up and configuring macros in a policy a simple process.

Group Policies for Open Source Utilities

Leverage commercial support for a number of popular open-source utilities (See Quest's Resource Central site for more information). To further extend the value and provide tighter integration, Authentication Services also provides built-in policies to better manage these tools.

Group Policy for Unix Access Control

Enforce access control on non-Windows systems based on Active Directory through Group Policy-enabled capabilities. Examples of Group Policy-based access control include:

  • Access this computer from the network
  • Allow log on locally
  • Deny access to this computer from the network
  • Deny log on locally
Extending "Native" AD Group Policies to Non-Windows Systems

Extend many “native” Active Directory Group Policies to non-Windows systems. Including such access control policies as:

  • Access this computer from the network
  • Allow log on locally
  • Deny access to this computer from the network
  • Deny log on locally
Client Tools for Group Policy Management

Administer and deploy Group Policies in a safer, more efficient, and more practical manner through powerful client tools. These tools include the ability to:

  • Manually force a policy update
  • View the Resultant Set of Policies (RSoP)
  • See detailed information about the policy and its setting from the client-side command line
Integration with Quest Group Policy Manager

Achieve a higher level of control and increased safety when managing Group Policy through integration with Quest’s Group Policy Manager , which provides GPO version control, off-line editing, testing prior to deployment, approval, and roll-back for Windows Group Policy. Because Unix, Linux, and Mac systems participate as “full citizens” in Active Directory through Authentication Services, the management functionality of Group Policy Manager seamlessly extends to all Group Policies and Group Policy functionality available to non-Windows systems through Authentication Services.

Extend Group Policy to Mac OS X Systems

Authentication Services Managed Client Extensions for Group Policy provides powerful, intuitive and extensive Group Policy functionality for all Mac Workgroup Manager Policies and preferences with no need for additional directories, identities, or schema extensions.

*This product includes software developed by SAP AG