How to get GPO links using PowerShell?

A Group Policy Object allows the administrators to set permissions and manage access control from a central point and hence reduces their burden. Unauthorized changes to a Group Policy Object can result in malicious users accessing confidential information. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor group policy changes in real time to keep any organization safe and secure.

This article compares the method of getting GPO reports using Windows PowerShell and ManageEngine ADAudit Plus, a real-time Active Directory auditing solution.

Windows PowerShell

Steps to get GPO Reports using PowerShell:

• The Get-GPOReport cmdlet retrieves a report describing the properties and policy settings for a specific Group Policy Object (GPO) or for all GPOs in a domain.
• GPO Reports contain details, links, security filtering, Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) filtering, delegation, and computer and user configurations If a file is added through the Path parameter, the report is written to a file; otherwise, it is printed to the display.

  PS C:\> Get-GPOReport -All -Domain "sales.smb.com" -Server "DC1" -ReportType XML -Path "C:\GPOReports\GPOReportsAll.xml"

• GPO Reports contain details, links, security filtering, Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) filtering, delegation, and computer and user configurations If a file is added through the Path parameter, the report is written to a file; otherwise, it is printed to the display.

  Get-GPOReport -Name "SampleGPO1" -ReportType HTML -Path "C:\GPOReports\GPOReport1.html"

  Get-GPOReport -GUID 645748ed7-c6b3-6h03-0991-481gbd9772nd-ReportType XML

• An output for this particular cmdlet can be generated in either XML or HTML format.

ADAudit Plus

To obtain the report,

• Log in to the ADAudit Plus Web console.
• Click on the Reports Tab > GPO Management.
• Select the Domain from the drop down.
• ADAudit Plus provides out-of-the box reports for all the changes made to a Group Policy object like creation, deletion, modification and GPO link changes.
• Recently created GPOs - lists all Group Policy Objects created within a given span of time. Change information like who created the GPO, the time it was created, From where was the GPO created.
• Recently deleted GPOs - lists all Group Policy Objects deleted within a given span of time for a selected domain.
• Recently modified GPOs - lists all Group Policy Objects modified. Change information like who modified the GPO, the time it was modified, From where was the modification done.
• GPO Link Changes - Provides the list of GPOs that are linked to OUs in the domain.
• GPO History - lists the detailed history of changes that have occurred on any selected Group Policy Object.
• Select Export As to export the report in any of the preferred formats (CSV, PDF, HTML, CSVDE and XLSX).

Why ADAudit Plus is the better solution for you?