Policy
The Policy page allows you to create and edit policies and apply them to all or specific managed servers or server groups. When a policy is applied to a server group or all servers, the preferences defined by the policy rules will be applied to the server group or all servers. This allows global settings to be applied to multiple servers, without the hassle of signing in to each server and configuring settings individually.
Before you start:
Before you start to manage a policy, please note the following:
- A policy can contain one or multiple rules, where each rule refers to a specific setting preference (e.g., enable Windows file service or enable SSH service).
- A policy can only be applied to one target (i.e., a group, a server, or all servers).
- Locked policies are prioritized and applied to the members or groups under them. For example, a locked policy applied to the target All servers will be applied to all the existing managed servers and servers added in the future automatically.
- When multiple policies are applied to a managed server or server group, you can prioritize the policies to define which policy should take effect first. However, we recommend creating only one rule for one policy for easy policy management.
Note:
- In the Server page, you can select a server and click Edit > Policy to view, add, prioritize, or delete the applied policies.
- In the Group page, you can select a group and click Edit > Policy to view, add, prioritize, or delete the applied policies.
To create a new policy:
- Click Create.
- Enter the policy name and description, and click Next.
- Configure the policy rules by selecting the categories on the left (i.e., File Sharing, Connections, System, Applications, and Package Center) and ticking the checkboxes under these categories. Click Next.
- Select a target (i.e., all servers, a group, or a server) for applying the policy, and click Next.
Note: If you select Apply later, click Create to create the policy instantly. - Prioritize the policy according to the target you selected in the previous step:
- If you have selected Apply to all servers in the previous step, you can drag the icon
up or down the list to adjust the order of a policy and can also decide whether to lock a policy.
- If you have selected Apply to a group in the previous step, you can drag the icon
up or down the list to adjust the order of a policy and can also decide whether to lock a policy in the Custom Group Policies section.
- If you have selected Apply to a server in the previous step, you can drag the icon
up or down the list to adjust the order of a policy.
- To lock a policy: Select a policy and tick its Locked checkbox to lock the policy. Ticking the checkbox will force all the servers in this group to inherit the locked policy. Keeping the checkbox unticked gives servers the flexibility of whether to inherit a policy.
Note: The priority of a locked policy is always higher than an unlocked policy. - To view policy rules: Select a policy and click the View button to view its details.
- To ensure servers or server groups inherit all the unlocked global or group policies: If you have selected Apply to a group or Apply to a server in the previous step, you can tick the Inherit all the unlocked global/group policies checkbox to ensure the servers or server groups inherit all the unlocked global or group policies.
Note: This checkbox is ticked by default. You can untick it according to your needs.
- If you have selected Apply to all servers in the previous step, you can drag the icon
- Click Apply to finish.
To manage a policy:
After a policy has been created, you can view its description and target in a list. Enter keywords in the upper-right search bar to search for a specific policy or click to filter policies by status. You can also select a policy and click the buttons below to further manage it.
- Edit: Edit the policy name, target, and description by going to the General tab, and modify policy rules by going to the Configure Rules tab.
- Delete: Delete the selected policy (press the Ctrl key and left-click your mouse to select multiple policies at a time).
- View: View the rules applied to a policy. If you want to edit the rules, click the Edit button and go to the Configure Rules tab.