The Restore Policy Console utility provides a simple user interface to restore access to the policy console once lost. The error message states-

"Changes made to policies outside of this console, such as Powershell or management tools from previous versions, resulted in a discrepancy between policies".

This error appears whenever the Citrix Group Policy UI detects an inconsistency between user and computer policy settings under a merged policy. If an inconsistency is detected between merged policies (one user and one computer policy) then this must be corrected before policies can be managed again through the UI.

Note: In the Knowledge Base Article Merging of User and Computer Policies in XenDesktop we have documented the manual policy manipulation through PowerShell. Alternatively, the Restore Policy Console utility takes care of this process for the administrator.

• Implemented scrollbar to address display issues in environments with a large number of policies.
• Added logging to assist in troubleshooting.
• Added additional error handling.

• Windows Server 2016 (Standard and Datacenter Editions)
  
          - Powershell 4.0+
  
          - Windows Management Framework 3.0+
  
          - Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5+

• Windows Server 2012R2 (Standard and Datacenter Editions)

- Powershell 4.0+

- Windows Management Framework 3.0+

- Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5+

• Windows Server 2008R2 (Standard, Enterprise and Datacenter Editions)

- PowerShell 2.0+

- Windows Management Framework 2.0+

- Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5+

The Restore Policy Console Utility comes packaged in a zip. Simply extract the zip and run the RestorePolicyConsole.exe file as local admin and the tool will launch. 

Citrix Studio returns the error "Changes made to policies outside of this console, such as Powershell or management tools from previous versions, resulted in a discrepancy between policies" whenever the Citrix Group Policy UI detects an inconsistency between user and computer policy settings under a merged policy. This error includes the error reason and identifies the affected policy. To resolve simply select the affected policy in the Citrix Restore Policy Console Utility and press ‘OK’.

When you press ‘OK’ there are two possible outcomes depending on whether the Unfiltered Policy is the affected policy or whether the affected policy is one of the Filtered policies:

·      Unfiltered Policy - In the case of the Unfiltered policy the problem cause is typically the enabled bit. Toggling the enabled bit for either the related computer or user policy setting such that there is a discrepancy between the policies will cause the error. The solution is to ensure that bits have the same value and so once the Unfiltered policy is selected in the tool you must then choose whether you want for the Unfiltered policy to be enabled or disabled.

·      Citrix Filtered Policies – Citrix Filtered Policies contain the filters property. In the case of Filtered Policies there are many different items that can result in a discrepancy and it is not desirable to dynamically match these items as this can affect how certain users or groups are receiving their policies. To avoid changing the environment settings selecting ‘OK’ on a Filtered policy will simply rename the user policy such that Studio will no longer attempt to graphically merge them.

·      Local Administrator permissions are required for all features to be functional

·      Citrix Delegated Admin rights to manage Citrix Policies

·      Creates log file for utility troubleshooting

·      Modifies Citrix Group Policy settings

·      Creates backup files containing Citrix Group Policy settings

Before modifying any policies the Restore Policy Console Utility will take a backup file containing an array of bytes of the site-wide Citrix Group Policy settings. This file is stored as a text document in the format PolicyBackup_MM.DD.YYYY_HH.MM.SS in the folder PolicyBackups located under the root directory of the utility.

Note : The policy backup file that is created should only be applied against the site on which it was generated. If needed, this policy backup file should only be run immediately after running the Restore Policy Console Utility as running it after site changes such as delivery group modifications or software upgrades can result in policy data corruption.

To restore policies back to the state they were in before the utility was run simply:

1.     Log on to the Desktop Delivery Controller with a XenDesktop Administrator role account.

2.     Open PowerShell and type the command: “Add-PSSnapin Citrix*”

3.     Now Type “Import-BrokerDesktopPolicy (Get-Content <location of the exported filename.txt>)

To uninstall Restore Policy Console Utility all you need to do is delete the folder where RestorePolicyConsole.exe resides. All utility files are created under the parent RestorePolicyConsole folder.

Questions? Concerns? Send any feedback for this tool to supporttools@citrix.com.