System objects: Require case insensitivity for non-Windows subsystems

Active Directory Auditing Tool

The Who, Where and When information is very important for an administrator to have complete knowledge of all activities that occur on their Active Directory. This helps them identify any desired / undesired activity happening. ADAudit Plus assists an administrator with this information in the form of reports. In real-time, ensure critical resources in the network like the Domain Controllers are audited, monitored and reported with the entire information on AD objects - Users, Groups, GPO, Computer, OU, DNS, AD Schema and Configuration changes with 200+ detailed event specific GUI reports and email alerts.

Object Access » System objects: Require case insensitivity for non-Windows subsystems

What is system objects: Require case insensitivity for non-Windows subsystems setting?

Written by Titus Manohar, IT security team, ManageEngine Updated on October 2025

Subsystems are distinct operating systems present within a system. System objects: Require case insensitivity for non-Windows subsystems is a security policy setting that applies case insensitivity across all non-Windows subsystems. The Microsoft Win32 subsystem is case insensitive by default. However, other subsystems present in Windows systems, such as Portable Operating System Interface for UNIX (POSIX) subsystems, is case sensitive. If this policy is disabled, users might be allowed to create the same file name in Win32 and POSIX subsystems, but with a different set of capital letters in Win32. When the users try to access it through regular Win32 tools, only one of these files will be available.

There are possible values for this policy setting:

  • Enabled: Case insensitivity will be enforced across all the subsystems.
  • Disabled: Win32 subsystem will not be allowed to become case sensitive.
  • Not defined: This policy is not defined.

About ADAudit Plus:

ADAudit Plus is a real time change auditing software that helps keep your Active Directory, Azure AD, Windows file servers, NetApp filers, EMC file systems, Synology file systems, Windows member servers, and workstations secure and compliant. With ADAudit Plus, you can get visibility into:

  • Authorized and unauthorized AD management changes
  • User logons, logoffs, and account lockouts
  • GPO changes
  • Group attribute and membership changes
  • OU changes
  • Privileged access and permission changes
  • Azure AD logons, and changes to roles, groups, and applications
  • PowerShell scripts and modules

among other things.

There are more than 200 event-specific reports, and you can configure instant email alerts. You can also export the reports to XLS, HTML, PDF and CSV formats to assist in interpretation and forensics. For more information on ADAudit Plus, visit: https://www.manageengine.com/active-directory-audit/.

Explore Active Directory auditing and reporting with ADAudit Plus.

  •  
  •  
  •  
  • By clicking 'Schedule a personalized demo' you agree to processing of personal data according to the Privacy Policy.
Account Management Auditing
Active Directory Auditing
Windows Server Auditing