Backup-GPO

Backup-GPO

Backs up one GPO or all the GPOs in a domain.

Syntax

Backup-GPO [-Name] <string> -Path <string> [-Comment <string>] [-Domain <string>] [-Server <string>] [<CommonParameters>]


Backup-GPO -All -Path <string> [-Comment <string>] [-Domain <string>] [-Server <string>] [<CommonParameters>]


Backup-GPO -Guid <Guid> -Path <string> [-Comment <string>] [-Domain <string>] [-Server <string>] [<CommonParameters>]

Detailed Description

The Backup-GPO cmdlet backs up a specified GPO or all the GPOs in a domain to a backup directory. The backup directory and GPO must already exist.

Parameters

-All <SwitchParameter>

Specifies that all the GPOs in the domain are backed up.

Attributes

Name Value

Required?

true

Accept wildcard characters?

false

Accept Pipeline Input?

false

Position?

named

-Comment <string>

Includes a comment for the backed-up GPO. The comment string must be enclosed in double-quotation or single-quotation marks and can contain 2,047 characters.

Attributes

Name Value

Required?

false

Accept wildcard characters?

false

Accept Pipeline Input?

false

Position?

named

-Domain <string>

Specifies the domain for this cmdlet. You must specify the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the domain (for example: sales.contoso.com).

For the Backup-GPO cmdlet, the GPO to back up must exist in this domain.

If you do not specify the Domain parameter, the domain of the user that is running the current session is used. (If the cmdlet is being executed from a computer startup or shutdown script, the domain of the computer is used.) For more information, see the Notes section in the full Help.

If you specify a domain that is different from the domain of the user that is running the current session (or, for a startup or shutdown script, the computer), a trust must exist between that domain and the domain of the user (or the computer).

You can also refer to Domain by its built-in alias, "domainname". For more information, see about_Aliases.

Attributes

Name Value

Required?

false

Accept wildcard characters?

false

Accept Pipeline Input?

true (ByPropertyName)

Position?

named

-Guid <Guid>

Specifies the GPO to backup by its globally unique identifier (GUID). The GUID uniquely identifies the GPO.

You can also refer to the Guid parameter by its built-in alias, "id". For more information, see about_Aliases.

Attributes

Name Value

Required?

true

Accept wildcard characters?

false

Accept Pipeline Input?

true (ByPropertyName)

Position?

named

-Name <string>

Specifies the GPO to backup by its display name.

The display name is not guaranteed to be unique in the domain. If another GPO with the same display name exists in the domain an error occurs. You can use the Guid parameter to uniquely identify a GPO.

You can also refer to the Name parameter by its built-in alias, "displayname". For more information, see about_Aliases.

Attributes

Name Value

Required?

true

Accept wildcard characters?

false

Accept Pipeline Input?

true (ByPropertyName)

Position?

1

-Path <string>

Specifies the path to the backup directory; for example, "C:\Backups" or "\\MyServer\Backups".

Attributes

Name Value

Required?

true

Accept wildcard characters?

false

Accept Pipeline Input?

false

Position?

named

-Server <string>

Specifies the name of the domain controller that this cmdlet contacts to complete the operation. You can specify either the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or the host name. For example:

FQDN: DomainController1.SalesDomain.Contoso.com
Host Name: DomainController1

If you do not specify the name by using the Server parameter, the PDC emulator is contacted.

Attributes

Name Value

Required?

false

Accept wildcard characters?

false

Accept Pipeline Input?

false

Position?

named

-CommonParameter

This cmdlet supports the common parameters: -Verbose, -Debug, -ErrorAction, -ErrorVariable, -OutBuffer, and -OutVariable. For more information, see About Common Parameter

Input and Return Types

The input type is the type of the objects that you can pipe to the cmdlet. The return type is the type of the objects that the cmdlet emits.

Input Type

Microsoft.GroupPolicy.Gpo. A GPO to be backed up. Collections that contain GPOs from different domains are not supported.

Return Type

Microsoft.GroupPolicy.GpoBackup. Backup-GPO returns an object that represents the file that holds the settings of the backed-up GPO.

Notes

  • You can use the Domain parameter to explicitly specify the domain for this cmdlet.

    If you do not explicitly specify the domain, the cmdlet uses a default domain. The default domain is the domain that is used to access network resources by the security context under which the current session is running. This domain is typically the domain of the user that is running the session. For example, the domain of the user who started the session by opening Windows PowerShell from the Program Files menu, or the domain of a user that is specified in a runas command. However, computer startup and shutdown scripts execute under the context of the LocalSystem account. The LocalSystem account is a built-in local account, and it accesses network resources under the context of the computer account. Therefore, when this cmdlet is executed from a startup or shutdown script, the default domain is the domain to which the computer is joined.

Examples

EXAMPLE 1

C:\PS>

Backup-Gpo -Name TestGPO -Path C:\GpoBackups -Comment "Weekly Backup"



DisplayName     : TestGPO

GpoId           : 35c12ab3-956c-45d5-973b-46b17d225f47

Id              : 2b509d4e-40f5-4337-82f7-458584555d0c

BackupDirectory : C:\GpoBackups

CreationTime    : 2/25/2009 8:48:19 PM

DomainName      : contoso.com

Comment         : Weekly Backup                        

Description

-----------

This command backs up the "TestGPO" GPO to the C:\GpoBackups directory. The specified comment is included in the GPO backup.

EXAMPLE 2

C:\PS>

Backup-Gpo -GUID fa4a9473-6e2a-4b87-ab78-175e68d97bde -Domain contoso.com -Server DC1 -Path \\Server1\GpoBackups                        

Description

-----------

This command backs up the GPO with the specified GUID in the contoso.com domain to the \\Server1\GpoBackups directory. The domain controller at DC1.contoso.com is contacted to complete the operation.

If the domain of the user running the session (or, for startup and shutdown scripts, the computer) is different from the contoso.com domain, a trust must exist between the two domains or the command fails.

EXAMPLE 3

C:\PS>

Backup-Gpo -All -Path \\Server1\GpoBackups                        

Description

-----------

This command backs up all the GPOs in the domain of the user that is running the session (or, for startup and shutdown scripts, the computer) to the \\Server1\GpoBackups directory.

See Also

Reference

Restore-GPO
Import-GPO