Specify communities
Verified with Windows 11 25H2 — updated on July 30, 2026
Supported on: At least Windows Server 2003 operating systems or Windows XP Professional
Path in the GPO console
Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Network\SNMP Description
This policy setting configures a list of the communities defined to the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) service. SNMP is a protocol designed to give a user the capability to remotely manage a computer network, by polling and setting terminal values and monitoring network events. A valid community is a community recognized by the SNMP service, while a community is a group of hosts (servers, workstations, hubs, and routers) that are administered together by SNMP. The SNMP service is a managed network node that receives SNMP packets from the network. If you enable this policy setting, the SNMP agent only accepts requests from management systems within the communities it recognizes, and only SNMP Read operation is allowed for the community. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, the SNMP service takes the Valid Communities configured on the local computer instead. Best practice: For security purposes, it is recommended to restrict the HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\SNMP\Parameters\ValidCommunities key to allow only the local admin group full control. Note: It is good practice to use a cryptic community name. Note: This policy setting has no effect if the SNMP agent is not installed on the client computer. Also, see the other two SNMP settings: "Specify permitted managers" and "Specify trap configuration".
Registry
Software\Policies\SNMP\Parameters MDM / Intune (CSP)
./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_Snmp/SNMP_Communities Microsoft Learn documentation Mapping data: Microsoft Learn (CC BY 4.0)
Export Builder
BETAConfigure the state, scope and options, then generate .reg, PowerShell, Intune and SCCM outputs — or add the setting to a multi-setting collection.
These exports write the registry — this is not a managed GPO. ⓘ
.reg file
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
; Exported from gporais.com
; Policy: Specify communities
; State: Enabled
; Supported on: At least Windows Server 2003 operating systems or Windows XP Professional
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\SNMP\Parameters\ValidCommunities]
; List values: enter one value per line in the builder UI.More formats (PowerShell, Intune, SCCM)
PowerShell
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Specify communities
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2003 operating systems or Windows XP Professional
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\SNMP\Parameters\ValidCommunities'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
# List values: enter one value per line in the builder UI.Intune XML
OMA-URI: ./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_Snmp/SNMP_Communities
Data type: String
Value:
<enabled/>
<!-- SNMP_CommunitiesListbox: enter one value per line before copying this XML payload. -->Intune Remediation
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Specify communities
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2003 operating systems or Windows XP Professional
function Test-RegistryValue {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Path,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Name,
[object]$Expected,
[ValidateSet('String', 'DWord', 'MultiString')][string]$Kind = 'String',
[switch]$Absent
)
try {
$item = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction Stop
} catch {
return $Absent.IsPresent
}
if ($Absent.IsPresent) { return $false }
$actual = $item.$Name
if ($Kind -eq 'DWord') { return ([int64]$actual) -eq ([int64]$Expected) }
if ($Kind -eq 'MultiString') {
$actualValues = @($actual)
$expectedValues = @($Expected)
if ($actualValues.Count -ne $expectedValues.Count) { return $false }
for ($i = 0; $i -lt $expectedValues.Count; $i++) {
if ([string]$actualValues[$i] -ne [string]$expectedValues[$i]) { return $false }
}
return $true
}
return [string]$actual -eq [string]$Expected
}
# HKLM:\Software\Policies\SNMP\Parameters\ValidCommunities: List values: enter one value per line in the builder UI.
# No testable registry values are available for this state.
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Specify communities
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2003 operating systems or Windows XP Professional
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\SNMP\Parameters\ValidCommunities'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
# List values: enter one value per line in the builder UI.SCCM scripts
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Specify communities
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2003 operating systems or Windows XP Professional
# SCCM Configuration Item guidance:
# Create a Configuration Item of type "Setting: Script".
# Discovery script: use the Detection script below.
# Remediation script: use the Remediation script below.
# Compliance rule: the Discovery script output equals 'Compliant'.
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Specify communities
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2003 operating systems or Windows XP Professional
function Test-RegistryValue {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Path,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Name,
[object]$Expected,
[ValidateSet('String', 'DWord', 'MultiString')][string]$Kind = 'String',
[switch]$Absent
)
try {
$item = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction Stop
} catch {
return $Absent.IsPresent
}
if ($Absent.IsPresent) { return $false }
$actual = $item.$Name
if ($Kind -eq 'DWord') { return ([int64]$actual) -eq ([int64]$Expected) }
if ($Kind -eq 'MultiString') {
$actualValues = @($actual)
$expectedValues = @($Expected)
if ($actualValues.Count -ne $expectedValues.Count) { return $false }
for ($i = 0; $i -lt $expectedValues.Count; $i++) {
if ([string]$actualValues[$i] -ne [string]$expectedValues[$i]) { return $false }
}
return $true
}
return [string]$actual -eq [string]$Expected
}
# HKLM:\Software\Policies\SNMP\Parameters\ValidCommunities: List values: enter one value per line in the builder UI.
# No testable registry values are available for this state.
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Specify communities
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2003 operating systems or Windows XP Professional
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\SNMP\Parameters\ValidCommunities'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
# List values: enter one value per line in the builder UI.Building a multi-setting collection? Add this setting and generate combined .reg / PowerShell / GPO scripts.