Objective 1.2: Configure Security Templates

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Security templates are text files that store policy settings from the Security node in an Active Directory Group Policy. These text files can be imported and applied to GPOs, altering the settings in the GPO to conform to a particular security standard. Because they are text files, security templates are often far easier to manipulate than GPOs.

Security templates can be edited in two ways. The first is by using the Security Template snap-in of the Microsoft Management Console. This method is the simplest way to edit the templates because it displays them in a form that is similar to that of the Group Policy Editor. Because security templates are stored in text file format, you can also edit security templates by using a text editor such as Notepad. This method is far more complicated and requires detailed knowledge of the security template syntax. Unless there is a compelling reason to do so, use the Security Template snap-in, because editing by using Notepad might lead to inadvertent errors in a template which, when applied, could make a system insecure.

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