GPO: block programs and prevent software installation software restriction

In order to install software using Group Policy, the install files must be able to be read by the computer applying the Group Policy. The install files can be on the local computer but it is generally easier to put them on a file share. To share a folder, open the properties for that folder and select the sharing tab. For installing software, you only need to ensure that the read access is configured.

The Keyword our country is “Knowledge is king”, so gaining knowledge will help you to feel more confident. Now a days technology is frequently changing, so this means ongoing technical training is imperative to most workers today. In my blog, I shared my knowledge and experience to enrich Microsoft technology community at one point. I hope my contribution through this blog will help you to be the successful professional who wants more information on Cloud technologies. Check System in the Event Viewer, it will show you that it has started installing the application. In our case the policy just dumps a runtime in the Program Files folder and starts installation from there.

Creating a GPO software distribution

Then click and choose “New” and then click “Package” to set the location of the installation file. In the group policy management console you can right click an OU and select Group Policy Update. You would need to test it to determine if it’s going to re-install or do nothing. If a user uninstalls the software and the GPO is still applied it will install again. I have a file server in a Domain and a I want to create a folder where to put a software for the GPO “Computer Configuration”.

install software group policy

Choose Deployment tab at the top and check the Install application at Logon option. You can set the User Interface to Basic Running Visual Studio Code on macOS if you want limited control of the user. It is critical that you don’t set “everyone” permissions on your network shares.

The only thing I see this does is add the software to the list of programs that can be installed from the network. That completes the steps on how to deploy software using group policy. On the open screen browse to the network share using the UNC path, select the MSI you want to install, and click open. DO NOT browse using the local drives or the install will fail.

It is essentially a database that defines how to install the software. It also includes information like what features and options are available when the software is installed. It is the primary format used to install software using Group Policy. You can also remove the application from all tasks if you want to.

A deployment solution should manage software throughout the software cycle. The software cycle includes the install, maintenance and retirement of the software. Other solutions like Microsoft Center Configuration Manager offer more features; however, they also cost money. Through this software, you have seen how to block the execution and installation of software on computers. In addition to programs (EXE / MSI), group policy will allow us to block script execution (bat/powershell…). The server will report that it will not be able to apply the installation policy without rebooting and will offer to reboot.

Upgrading when Using Group Policy

The group policy that I am going to present to you allows you to block this. The Capterra, SoftwareAdvice and GetApp logos are service marks of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. Action1 simplifies many patch management tasks, including upgrades to Windows 11.

install software group policy

8 – In the Deploy Software window, ensure that the Assigned option is selected, and then click OK. 2 – In theGroup Policy Management console, right click domain name which is Windows.ae, and click Create a GPO in this domain, and link it here. Then, selecting the software’s icons will perform the actual install, as seen in Figure 8. If you log off and log back in, only then will you see the applications’ icons , as seen in Figure 7. In my example, I’m linking a GPO over to my East Sales Users, which contains, as you might expect, user accounts. True, GPSI can also deploy other kinds of files, but I’m going to skip over that for today and focus only on MSI files.

thoughts on “Step by Step Deploying Software using Group Policy in Windows Server 2016”

Software deployment is crucial in business environments to save time and money. I shared the folder with all my domain computers and I gave to all my domain computers the permissions as in your example. Computers are objects in Active Directory just like users, so AD can authenticate and authorize them to resources in a domain.

This will display the “Applying software installation settings” during startup. There is little Know how to start drone software development to no documentation on this from Microsoft. From my testing, they seem to do the same thing.

Right-click the chosen OU and select Create a GPO in this domain, and Link it here… Software can be deployed by assigning or publishing. Publishing is available only to user configuration. Assigning and publishing is available for both user and computer configuration. Here you can configure the extensions of the blocked files.

install software group policy

You would need the script to check if it is installed or else it would try to install everytime the computer reboots. I might create a separate tutorial for installing exe files. If you want to install software to specific users just use the user configuration GPO settings instead of the computer. On the deploy software screen, click Assigned and then click Ok.

Deploying an MSI through GPO

Before implementing this type of strategy, I advise you to go through a test phase on an Organizational Unit, a bad configuration can block all programs. To do this, we will rely on the software restriction policies found in the Security Settings. Now expand User Configuration to reach Software Installation.

The share name can be anything you want, I’ve called mine “software”. In this example, I will deploy Chrome to computers via Group Policy. The steps in this example will work with other MSI files. In the overview you see the GPO is now linked to the Seattle Desktops OU only.

Server-essentials.com is founded by Mariette Knap, a Dutch Microsoft MVP. Our forum is for discussing all things ‘IT’ and more. Our documentation is top notch and written by and for the community. Return to the Software Restriction Policies folder, we will continue to refine the configuration.

Deploying itself can be done in many ways among which Group Policy is a popular one. Deploying software with GPO needs professional tutorials and guide, because the process to deploy software sometimes could be quite complicated. Here introduces you the easiest method to deploy software with GPO.

That will make processing GPO’s on the clients more efficient and faster. In our case we had trouble because the application did not want to install DevOps Team Structure BMC Software Blogs nor did we see an error on our clients. See that this product shows that it is in Chinese? Strange but when you install it it shows in English.