Setting up the Group Policy objects

Use this procedure to set up a Group Policy object (GPO) for agent deployment in the entire domain or in its organizational unit. The agent will be installed on each machine which is a member of the domain or the organizational unit immediately after Windows starts on that machine.

Prerequisites

• You must be logged on to the domain controller as a domain administrator; if the domain has more than one domain controller, log on to any of them as a domain administrator.
• If you are planning to deploy the agent in an organizational unit, make sure that the organizational unit exists in the domain.
• Make sure that you have completed the steps described in Preparing the agent's deployment.

Step 1: Creating Group Policy objects

1. In the Start menu, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Users and Computers (in Windows Server 2003) or Group Policy Management (in Windows Server 2008).
2. In Windows Server 2003:
   • Right-click the name of the domain or organizational unit, and then click Properties. In the dialog box, click the Group Policy tab, and then click New.

   In Windows Server 2008:

   • Right-click the name of the domain or organizational unit, and then click Create a GPO in this domain, and Link it here.
3. Name the new Group Policy object Acronis Agent
4. Similarly, create another Group Policy object and name it Acronis Core
5. Make sure that the Acronis Agent object is higher in the list than the Acronis Core object.

Step 2: Configuring the Group Policy object for the agent

1. Open the Acronis Agent Group Policy object for editing, as follows:
   • In Windows Server 2003, click the Group Policy object, and then click Edit.
   • In Windows Server 2008, under Group Policy Objects, right-click the Group Policy object, and then click Edit.
2. In the Group Policy object editor snap-in, expand Computer Configuration, and then expand Software Settings.
3. Right-click Software installation, then point to New, and then click Package.
4. Select the agent's installation package in the shared folder that you previously created, and then click Open.
5. In the Deploy Software dialog box, click Advanced, and then click OK.
6. If you are reinstalling or updating the agent, do nothing.

   If you are installing the agent, do the following:

   • On the Modifications tab, click Add, and then select the transform that you previously created; the transform file has the name AcronisAgentWindows.mst and is located in the same folder as the agent's installation package.
7. Click OK to close the Deploy Software dialog box.

Step 3: Configuring the Group Policy object for the Agent Core component

1. Open the Acronis Core Group Policy object for editing, as follows:
   • In Windows Server 2003, click the Group Policy object, and then click Edit.
   • In Windows Server 2008, under Group Policy Objects, right-click the Group Policy object, and then click Edit.
2. In the Group Policy object editor snap-in, expand Computer Configuration, and then expand Software Settings.
3. Right-click Software installation, then point to New, and then click Package.
4. Select the AcronisAgentCore.msi installation package in the shared folder that you previously created, and then click Open.
5. In the Deploy Software dialog box, click Advanced, and then click OK.
6. If you are reinstalling or updating the agent, do nothing.

   If you are installing the agent, do the following:

   • On the Modifications tab, click Add, and then select the transform that you previously created; the transform file has the name AcronisAgentCore.mst and is located in the same folder as the component’s installation package.
7. Click OK to close the Deploy Software dialog box.