The Network Options extension allows you to centrally create, modify, and delete dial-up networking and virtual private network (VPN) connections. Before you create a network option preference item, you should review the behavior of each type of action possible with the extension.

Creating a Dial-Up Connection item

To create a new Dial-Up Connection preference item

  1. Open the Group Policy Management Console. Right-click the Group Policy object (GPO) that should contain the new preference item, and then click Edit.

  2. In the console tree under Computer Configuration or User Configuration, expand the Preferences folder, and then expand the Control Panel Settings folder.

  3. Right-click the Network Options node, point to New, and select Dial-Up Connection.

  4. On the Dial-Up Connection tab, select an Action for Group Policy to perform. (For more information, see "Actions" in this topic.)

  5. Enter dial-up networking connection settings for Group Policy to configure or remove. (For more information, see "Dial-up networking connection settings" in this topic.)

  6. Click the Common tab, configure any options, and then type your comments in the Description box. (For more information, see Configure Common Options.)

  7. Click OK. The new preference item appears in the details pane.

Actions

This type of preference item provides a choice of four actions: Create, Replace, Update, and Delete. The behavior of the preference item varies with the action selected and whether the dial-up networking connection already exists.

Create

Create a new network connection. If a connection with the same name exists, then do not modify it.

Delete

Remove a network connection with the same name. The extension performs no action if the connection does not exist.

Replace

Delete and recreate the network connection. The net result of the Replace action overwrites all existing settings associated with the connection. If the connection does not exist, then the Replace action creates a new connection.

Update

Rename or modify a network connection. The action differs from Replace in that it updates the settings defined within the preference item. All other settings remain as they were previously configured. If the connection does not exist, then the Update action creates a new connection.

Dial-up networking connection settings

User connection

Use this setting to make the newly created or updated connection visible only to the applied user.

All users connection

Use this setting to make the newly created or updated connection visible to all users on the computer.

Connection Name

Text used to name the connection. Press F3 to display a list of variables from which you can select. You can import a dial-up networking connection into the Dial-Up Connection preference item. Click Browse (…) to display a list of dial-up connections for the current computer.

Phone Number

Text used to indicate the phone number the connection uses. Press F3 to display a list of variables from which you can select.

Additional considerations

  • Dial-Up Connection preference items and VPN Connection preference items are not supported in a Server Core installation of the Windows Server® 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2008 operating systems.

  • You can use item-level targeting to change the scope of preference items.

  • Preference items are available only in domain-based GPOs.

Additional references

Table Of Contents