Back up a Group Policy object using GPMC

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

To back up a Group Policy object

Open Group Policy Management.
In the console tree, double-click Group Policy Objects in the forest and domain containing the Group Policy object (GPO) that you want to back up.

Where?
- Forest name/Domains/Domain name/Group Policy Objects
To backup a single GPO, right-click the GPO, and then click Back Up. To backup all GPOs in the domain, right-click Group Policy Objects and click Back Up All.
In the Backup Group Policy Object dialog box, in the Location box, enter the path to the location at which you want to store the GPO backup(s), or click Browse, locate the folder in which you want to store the GPO backup(s), and then click OK.
In the Description box, type a description for the GPO(s) that you want to back up, and then click Backup. If you are backing up multiple GPOs, the description will apply to all GPOs you back up.
After the operation completes, click OK.

Important
- To secure backed up GPOs, ensure that only authorized administrators have permission to access the folder to which you are exporting the GPO.

Notes

You must have Read permissions on the GPO and Write permissions on the folder containing the GPO backup to perform this procedure.
You can also perform this procedure or a related task by using one or more of the sample scripts included with Group Policy Management. For more information, see "Scripting Group Policy tasks" in Related Topics.

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