LGPO - CMD

Overview

The LGPO command in Windows CMD is a utility for managing local group policy objects. It allows administrators to automate the management of policy settings, import/export policy configurations, and convert registry-based policy into group policy objects. This tool is mainly used in enterprise environments to streamline policy management across multiple Windows systems.

Syntax

The basic syntax for using the LGPO command is as follows:

LGPO.exe [options]

Usage Variants:

Import policy settings:
```
LGPO.exe /g path\to\GPOPack
```
Export policy settings:
```
LGPO.exe /w path\to\save\GPOPack
```

Parse policy files to text:

LGPO.exe /parse /id {User | Machine} path\to\Registry.pol

Options/Flags

/g: Apply local GPO pack. It’s used to import a GPO backup file into the local group policy.
/w: Write local policy settings into a directory. This exports the current local group policy settings into a specified directory.
/parse: Analyze a policy file and output in text format. Helpful for reviewing policy settings in a human-readable format.
- /id {User | Machine}: Specify whether to parse user or machine settings.
/q: Run the LGPO command in quiet mode without displaying output messages.

Examples

Import a GPO Pack:
```
LGPO.exe /g C:\Backups\GPOs\OfficePolicy
```
This command imports group policy settings from a saved GPO pack located at C:\Backups\GPOs\OfficePolicy.
Export a GPO Pack:
```
LGPO.exe /w C:\GPOExports\NewPolicyExport
```
This will export the currently applied local group policy settings to the C:\GPOExports\NewPolicyExport directory.
Parse a Registry Policy File:
```
LGPO.exe /parse /id Machine C:\Policies\Registry.pol
```
Converts the contents of a machine policy file to text for easy review.

Common Issues

Permissions: Running LGPO often requires administrative privileges. Without these, the command may fail to execute properly.
Path Errors: Incorrect file paths can lead to failures in importing or exporting policies. Always verify the path before running the command.

Integration

The LGPO command can be integrated with scripting tools like PowerShell to automate group policy management tasks. For example, you can create a PowerShell script that periodically exports the current policy settings to monitor changes:

$exportPath = "C:\GPOBackups"
New-Item -Path $exportPath -ItemType Directory -Force
LGPO.exe /w $exportPath

gpupdate: Refreshes local and Active Directory-based Group Policy settings, including security settings.
gpresult: Displays Group Policy settings and Resultant Set of Policy (RSoP) for a user or computer.

For more information, refer to Microsoft’s official documentation on Group Policy management tools which can be found on the Microsoft website.