NAP Client Configuration

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2012

Network Access Protection (NAP), a new feature in this version of Windows and Windows Server® 2008, allows you to define and enforce client computer health policies so that unhealthy computers are less likely to access your network. To implement NAP, you must configure NAP settings on both servers and client computers.

There are three tools that you can use to configure NAP client settings:

  • The NAP Client Configuration snap-in provides a graphical user interface with which you can configure NAP client settings on the local computer or in a configuration file that you can save and apply to other computers.

  • The Netsh commands for NAP client provide a command-line tool that you can use to configure client computers or to create a configuration file that you can save and apply to other computers.

  • If you want to manage NAP client settings on domain member client computers, you can use the Group Policy Management Console and the NAP Client Configuration snap-in to configure the NAP client configuration Group Policy settings. When you configure NAP client settings in Group Policy, these settings are automatically configured on NAP-capable domain member client computers when Group Policy is refreshed.

For an overview of managing client computers that are NAP-capable, see NAP Client Configuration Overview (Preliminary).

For a list of steps that guide you through the NAP client configuration process, see NAP Client Configuration Checklist (Preliminary).

To enable and disable NAP enforcement clients, see Enabling and Disabling NAP Enforcement Clients (Preliminary).

To specify branding text and graphics for the NAP user interface, see Configuring the NAP Client User Interface (Preliminary).

To specify the health registration authority (HRA) servers with which a client computer communicates and to specify the cryptographic mechanism that client computers use to communicate with HRA servers, see Configuring Health Registration Settings.

To configure NAP tracing, see Configuring NAP Tracing (Preliminary).

To create and manage configuration files that contain NAP settings, see Using NAP Client Configuration Files (Preliminary).