Event ID 1054 — Group Policy Preprocessing (Security)

Applies To: Windows Server 2008

Group Policy preprocessing uses security to act on behalf of the computer or user. Incorrect permissions or security failures can prevent Group Policy from applying to the computer or user.

Event Details

Product: Windows Operating System
ID: 1054
Source: Microsoft-Windows-GroupPolicy
Version: 6.0
Symbolic Name: gpEvent_FAILED_DSNAME
Message: The processing of Group Policy failed. Windows could not obtain the name of a domain controller. This could be caused by a name resolution failure. Verify your Domain Name System (DNS) is configured and working correctly.

Resolve

Determine domain controller name

The Group Policy service logs the name of the domain controller and the error code. This information appears on the Details tab of the error message in Event Viewer. The error code (displayed as a decimal) and error description fields further identify the reason for the failure.

Error code 1355 (The specified domain either does not exist or could not be contacted)

Use Networking troubleshooting procedures to further diagnose the problem (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=92706).

Verify

Group Policy applies during computer startup and user logon. Afterward, Group Policy applies every 90 to 120 minutes. Events appearing in the event log may not reflect the most current state of Group Policy. Therefore, you should always refresh Group Policy to determine if Group Policy is working correctly.

To refresh Group Policy on a specific computer:

  1. Open the Start menu. Click All Programs and then click Accessories.
  2. Click Command Prompt.
  3. In the command prompt window, type gpupdate and then press ENTER.
  4. When the gpupdate command completes, open the Event Viewer.

Group Policy is working correctly if the last Group Policy event to appear in the System event log has one of the following event IDs:

  • 1500
  • 1501
  • 1502
  • 1503

Group Policy Preprocessing (Security)

Group Policy Infrastructure