Effective policies are the sum of all enabled policies in all policy packages associated directly or indirectly to an object. Just as the effective rights in NDSTM flow down the tree, policy package associations flow down the tree, unless there is an explicit association for an object with a policy package.
When the system calculates the effective policies for an object, it starts with all policy packages assigned to that object. It then looks up the tree (assuming that the search order starts at the leaf objects and goes up towards the root of the tree) for associations made to parent containers. The first enabled policy it finds is the one it uses, just as the system looks up the tree for effective rights.
See the following sections:
You can associate policies to the object itself (User or Workstation), to the group the object is a member of (Group or Workstation Group), or to any container specified in the distinguished name of the object up to the root of the tree. A policy associated to an object takes precedence over a policy associated to a group, which takes precedence over a policy associated to a container. This is according to the default search policy. For example, suppose the Remote Control policy is not enabled in a User Policy Package associated with the User object. However, the Remote Control policy is enabled in the User Policy Package associated with the container where User objects reside. The result is that the enabled Remote Control policy is the effective policy for the user. ZENworksTM looks up the tree for effective policies (assuming that the search order starts at the leaf objects and goes up towards the root of the tree). The first enabled policy it finds wins. Effective policies in ZENworks come in three kinds: Singular policies let you have only one effective policy at one time. The majority of policies offered in ZENworks are singular policies. The first policy found wins. Examples of singular policies include: Plural policies let you have multiple policies per policy package. Plural policies are rare. A Scheduled Action is the only plural policy in ZENworks. Cumulative polices are those that allow multiple policies to be effective when multiple policy packages are associated to the object, group, and container. Cumulative policies are more common than plural policies. Examples of cumulative policies include: To see effective policies in action, complete this sample exercise. The dialog box should indicate that this policy is effective: At this point in the exercise, your tree should look something like this: The dialog box should indicate that these policies are effective: The dialog box should indicate that these policies are effective: The following policies should be effective: The same basic scenario applies to the workstation Effective Policies properties page using Workstation Policy Packages.Policy Associations and Inheritance
Types of Policies Available
Effective Policy Scenario