Windows Server 2022

Set Wallpaper for Windows clients via Group Policy in Windows Server 2022

This Windows Server 2022 Tutorial covers how to Set Wallpaper for Windows clients via Group Policy in Windows Server 2022. Group Policy is a feature of the Microsoft Windows NT family of operating systems that controls the working environment of user accounts and computer accounts. It provides centralized management and configuration of operating systems, applications, and users’ settings in an Active Directory environment. A Group Policy Object (GPO) is a virtual collection of policy settings. A GPO has a unique name, such as a GUID, A GPO can represent policy settings in the file system and in the Active Directory. A GPO can be linked to one or more Active Directory containers, such as a site, domain, or organizational unit.

Demo environment

  • Computer Name: server1.test.com
  • Operating System: Windows Server 2022 Datacenter
  • IP Address: 192.168.3.4
  • Domain: test.com
  • Current domain controller (DC): server1.test.com
  • DNS Server IP address: 192.168.0.2
  • Organizational unit: TEST_OU
  • A user within Organizational unit (TEST_OU): test\user1

Related tutorial

Steps for Configuring Wallpaper Policy

  1. Configuring Central Store GPO
  2. Create and configure Starter GPOs
  3. Create a GPO and Link
  4. Check the result on a client machine

Configuring Central Store GPO

The group policy central store is a central location to store all the group policy template files. This eliminates the need for admins to load and open group policy template files on systems used to manage group policy.

1. Open the Server Manager dashboard, click Tools, and select Group Policy Management.

Set Wallpaper for windows client via Group Policy in Windows Server 2022

2. Right click on Default Domain Policy and select Edit.

Set Wallpaper for windows client via Group Policy in Windows Server 2022

3. On the Group Policy Management Editor, double click User Configuration, expand Policies, and then click Administrative Templates, if you check on that, you will see a note saying Administrative Templates: Policy definitions (ADMX files) retrieved from the local computer.

Set Wallpaper for windows client via Group Policy in Windows Server 2022

4. Access your Policies folder and create a new folder name PolicyDefinitions.

c:\windows\SYSVOL\sysvol\comsys.local

Set Wallpaper for windows client via Group Policy in Windows Server 2022

5. Access to your C:\windows\PolicyDefinitions folder, what you need to do here is to copy all .adml & .admx files.

Set Wallpaper for windows client via Group Policy in Windows Server 2022

6. Then, paste the .adml & .admx files that you copied just now into c:\windows\SYSVOL\sysvol\comsys.local\PolicyDefinitions folder.

Set Wallpaper for windows client via Group Policy in Windows Server 2022

7. Open the Group Policy Management Editor interface, expand User Configuration> Polices, point your cursor to the Administrative Templates folder, and verify that it reads: Administrative Templates: Policy definitions (ADMX files) retrieved from the central store.

Set Wallpaper for windows client via Group Policy in Windows Server 2022

Create and configure Starter GPOs

Starter Group Policy Objects are templates for Group Policy settings. Starter Group Policy Objects enable an administrator to create and have a pre-configured group of settings that represent a baseline for any future policy to be created.

8. Open the Server Manager dashboard, click tools, and select Group Policy Management.

Set Wallpaper for windows client via Group Policy in Windows Server 2022

9. Create a new Starter GPO, right-click the Starter GPOs folder, and then click New.

Set Wallpaper for windows client via Group Policy in Windows Server 2022

10. Enter Name and Comment for New Starter GPO and click OK.

  • Name: New Starter GPO
  • Comment: New Starter GPO
Set Wallpaper for windows client via Group Policy in Windows Server 2022

In this tutorial, we are going set wallpaper for windows clients via Group Policy in Windows Server 2022.

11. Share this folder with everyone’s read-only permission.

Folder path: \\SERVER1\new_wallpaper

Set Wallpaper for windows client via Group Policy in Windows Server 2022

12. Copy the image which you want to set up as a desktop background to this shared folder.

Image Name: new_wallpaper.jpg

Set Wallpaper for windows client via Group Policy in Windows Server 2022

13. Right click on New Starter GPO and Click Edit.

Set Wallpaper for windows client via Group Policy in Windows Server 2022

14. Open Group Policy Management Editor interface.

User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Desktop > Desktop Wallpaper

Set Wallpaper for windows client via Group Policy in Windows Server 2022

15. Under the Desktop wallpaper console, we have to give the fully qualified path and name of the file that stores the wallpaper image and configures the wallpaper style.

Wallpaper Name: \\SERVER1\new_wallpaper\new_wallpaper.jpg

Set Wallpaper for windows client via Group Policy in Windows Server 2022

Create a GPO and Link

16. Open Group Policy Management, Right click on OU and select Create a GPO in this domain and Link it here.

Set Wallpaper for windows client via Group Policy in Windows Server 2022

17. Enter Name, select Source Starter GPO, and click OK.

  • Name: New Group Policy Object
  • Source Starter GPO: New Starter GPO
Set Wallpaper for windows client via Group Policy in Windows Server 2022

Check the result on a client machine

  • Client Demo environment
  • Computer Name: server2.test.com
  • Operating System: Windows Server 2022 Datacenter
  • IP Address: 192.168.0.4
  • Domain: test.com
  • Organizational unit: TEST_OU
  • A user within Organizational unit (TEST_OU): test\user1

18. Enter User Name and Password.

Set Wallpaper for windows client via Group Policy in Windows Server 2022

19. On the client, the machine waits for the policy to get updated automatically or manually updates the group policy settings by running the command gpupdate /force in the command prompt.

Set Wallpaper for windows client via Group Policy in Windows Server 2022

20. Check and verify the wallpaper.

Set Wallpaper for windows client via Group Policy in Windows Server 2022