Please be advised that the follow auditpol cmdlet would be overridden by Group Policies in Active Directory. Hence, domain joined computers may require a GP at this path: Computer Configuration > Policies > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Advanced Audit Policy Configuration > Audit Policies > Logon/Logoff. Moreover, it’s a good idea to put certain computer objects inside dedicated OU’s where this GP is being applied.

Below are the manual cmdlets to verify existing configurations and temporarily modify them, if necessary.

# Check all policies
auditpol /get /Category:*

# Sample output
PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> auditpol /get /Category:*
System audit policy
Category/Subcategory                      Setting
System
  Security System Extension               No Auditing
  System Integrity                        Success and Failure
  IPsec Driver                            No Auditing
  Other System Events                     Success and Failure
  Security State Change                   Success
Logon/Logoff
  Logon                                   Success and Failure
  Logoff                                  Success
  Account Lockout                         Success
  IPsec Main Mode                         No Auditing
  IPsec Quick Mode                        No Auditing
  IPsec Extended Mode                     No Auditing
  Special Logon                           Success
  Other Logon/Logoff Events               No Auditing
  Network Policy Server                   Success and Failure
  User / Device Claims                    No Auditing
  Group Membership                        No Auditing
Object Access
  File System                             No Auditing
  Registry                                No Auditing
  Kernel Object                           No Auditing
  SAM                                     No Auditing
  Certification Services                  No Auditing
  Application Generated                   No Auditing
  Handle Manipulation                     No Auditing
  File Share                              No Auditing
  Filtering Platform Packet Drop          No Auditing
  Filtering Platform Connection           No Auditing
  Other Object Access Events              No Auditing
  Detailed File Share                     No Auditing
  Removable Storage                       No Auditing
  Central Policy Staging                  No Auditing
Privilege Use
  Non Sensitive Privilege Use             No Auditing
  Other Privilege Use Events              No Auditing
  Sensitive Privilege Use                 No Auditing
Detailed Tracking
  Process Creation                        No Auditing
  Process Termination                     No Auditing
  DPAPI Activity                          No Auditing
  RPC Events                              No Auditing
  Plug and Play Events                    No Auditing
  Token Right Adjusted Events             No Auditing
Policy Change
  Audit Policy Change                     Success
  Authentication Policy Change            Success
  Authorization Policy Change             No Auditing
  MPSSVC Rule-Level Policy Change         No Auditing
  Filtering Platform Policy Change        No Auditing
  Other Policy Change Events              No Auditing
Account Management
  Computer Account Management             No Auditing
  Security Group Management               Success
  Distribution Group Management           No Auditing
  Application Group Management            No Auditing
  Other Account Management Events         No Auditing
  User Account Management                 Success
DS Access
  Directory Service Access                No Auditing
  Directory Service Changes               No Auditing
  Directory Service Replication           No Auditing
  Detailed Directory Service Replication  No Auditing
Account Logon
  Kerberos Service Ticket Operations      No Auditing
  Other Account Logon Events              No Auditing
  Kerberos Authentication Service         No Auditing
  Credential Validation                   No Auditing

# Enable Audit Access - Success
auditpol /set /category:"Object Access" /success:enable

# Sample result:
PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> auditpol /get /category:"Object Access"
System audit policy
Category/Subcategory                      Setting
Object Access
  File System                             Success
  Registry                                Success
  Kernel Object                           Success
  SAM                                     Success
  Certification Services                  Success
  Application Generated                   Success
  Handle Manipulation                     Success
  File Share                              Success
  Filtering Platform Packet Drop          Success
  Filtering Platform Connection           Success
  Other Object Access Events              Success
  Detailed File Share                     Success
  Removable Storage                       Success
  Central Policy Staging                  Success

# Disable Audit Access - Success
auditpol /set /category:"Object Access" /success:disable

# Sample result:
PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> auditpol /get /category:"Object Access"
System audit policy
Category/Subcategory                      Setting
Object Access
  File System                             No Auditing
  Registry                                No Auditing
  Kernel Object                           No Auditing
  SAM                                     No Auditing
  Certification Services                  No Auditing
  Application Generated                   No Auditing
  Handle Manipulation                     No Auditing
  File Share                              No Auditing
  Filtering Platform Packet Drop          No Auditing
  Filtering Platform Connection           No Auditing
  Other Object Access Events              No Auditing
  Detailed File Share                     No Auditing
  Removable Storage                       No Auditing
  Central Policy Staging                  No Auditing

# Enable other access audits - use sparingly
auditpol /set /category:"System","Account Management","Account Logon","Logon/Logoff","Policy Change" /failure:enable /success:enable

auditpol /set /category:"DS Access","Object Access" /failure:enable
Categories: