Configuring browser settings (Internet Explorer and Google Chrome) for Bug Club via a Group Policy

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1 Overview: All of the quotation marks in here are being used to actually quote a phrase or value. Don't actually use them in any names during any of the stages as you may break something. The basic requirements for configuring the browsers through a group policy are: 1. An active directory domain with the clients you wish to be configured joined to it 2. An account that has privilages to create and edit group policy objects This will work with any domain using any domain functional level (Windows 2000 Windows 2012 R2 and it should support later versions). To perform this on a Samba 4 (Active Directory) domain you will need to manage the GPO's from the client using the Remote Server Administration Tools for the respective version of the Windows Client ( but if you already have a copy of the Definitions directory on the server then you can copy that locally. When creating the group policy central store (By copying C:\Windows\Definitions to \\domain.fqdn.name\sysvol\domain.fqdn.name\policies\definitions), do this from a client with the newest version of Windows that you have. For example, if you've got a Windows 8 client but most of your devices are running Windows 7, copy them from the device running Windows 8. Configuring the group policy central store: Note:- If you don't plan on using Google Chrome you can skip this step, but it could come in handy in the future and it won't cause any issues if done correctly. The group policy central store is used to store the group policy administrative templates in a central location instead of having them reside on the client as they do by default. This allows you to ensure all clients are using the same version of the templates as well as to roll out new templates without having to manually add them to every client. Step 1: Open Windows Explorer (Click on the Start button and then on Computer ) and navigate to C:\Windows and scroll down until you see a directory named Definitions. Right click this folder and then click Copy. After this, navigate to your domains SYSVOL share. To do this, press the Windows key and 'R' at the same time and then type \\domain.name\sysvol\domain.name\policies, where domain.name is your fully qualified domain name. Paste the Definitions directory into there.

2 Step 2 (You only need to do this when working with Google Chrome): Download the Google Chrome administrative templates from the following link: After they've downloaded, unzip the file by right-clicking on it and then Extract All. Copy everything from the Windows/admx directory that has been extracted into the group policy central store ( \\domain.name\sysvol\domain.name\policies\definitions ).

3 Creating a Group Object for the settings to be contained in: In this step we'll create a Group Object) in order to store the settings for Bug Club in. Press the Windows key and the 'R' key together. This will open the Run prompt. In this, the GPMC.msc and then click the box that says OK. This will open the Group Management Console. From here, we're going to expand the Forest: domain.name branch, then the Domains branch and then finally the domain.name branch. From here, right click on the domain.name branch and then click Create a GPO in this domain, and Link it here....

4 A box will pop up asking for the Name and the Source Starter GPO. Set the name to Bug Club Browser Settings - It doesn't have to have this name and if you want you can set it to something else. The source starter GPO should be set to (none). After that click OK.

5 Editing the Group Object to contain the browser settings for Bug Club: Firstly, right click the Group Object we just created (Bug Club Browser Settings) and then click Edit. This will open the group policy editor. Firstly, we're going to edit the settings for chrome. If you're not using Google Chrome then you can skip this part. Expand the following branches within the left hand pane: User Configuration - Policies - Administrative Templates - Google Chrome - Content Settings The, in the large right hand pane, locate Allow popups on these sites and then double click it. Check the box saying Enabled and then in the pane below, click on the Show button. This will bring up a list. Add a value of then click okay. This will close the window.

6 In the window before, click Apply and then OK.

7 To configure Internet Explorer, you'll need to add the site to both the trusted zone as well as the popup whitelist. Expand the following branches within the left hand pane: User Configuration - Policies - Administrative Templates - Windows Components - Internet Explorer In here, find the option names Pop-up allow list and then double-click it. Set the policy to enabled, and then in the pane below that, click the Show... button. Add to this list, then click okay, and in the pane below, click Apply and then OK.

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9 There is one more setting which needs to be added We need to add Bug Club to the IE trusted sites zone. This can be done by going to: User Configuration - Policies - Administrative Templates - Windows Components - Internet Explorer - Internet Control Panel - Security Page from within the left hand pane. From here, double click Site to zone assignment list. A window will pop up. Check the checkbox for enabled, and then in the plane below click on Show.... This will bring up a window with a table inside. In the first (Left-hand) column of the first row, enter and then in the right hand column, enter a value of 2.

10 From here, click OK, then in the window that pops up click Apply and then OK. You are now done. You can close the Group Mangement Console and proceed to test your clients.

11 Client Testing: To test this on a device, go to a client using an account with privilages to view the internet control panel and the ability to run a manual group policy update. To update the policies, press the Windows key and 'R' at the same time, and then in the box that pops up type gpupdate /force and then click OK. This will initiate a group policy update. From here, a window with a black background and white text will pop up. If it asks any questions like Do you want to reboot? (Y N) press the 'Y' key and thehn press the enter key. Once it's completed, go to your internet control panel and then look in the trusted sites list. You can also test by seeing if you get popup windows when you browse to