How do I export and import windows group policy settings?

Question

Does anyone know how I can export and import group policy settings (local - domain level), for example if I want to back it up.

Answer 1

You can export the individual lists by going to Actions - Export List..

This MS page talks about importing them afterward.
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/sce_assignpolicy2.mspx?mfr=true

Answer 2

If you want to actually back the settings up, back up the System State Data when you back up your domain controller. If you want a text file you can read or store in your records, run the gpresult command and use the > symbol to pipe it to a text file. gpresult needs some additional switches to capture the user policies, computer policies, etc so you may have to play with your query a bit to get exactly what you want, but it's pretty much a reporting tool and won't change stuff so running it more than once won't hurt. Check Microsoft's website for the syntax for gpresult.

If you need to restore the System State Data on the domain controller, you should contact Microsoft premium services for assistance as it can be very, very bad if it's done wrong.