Skydrive Pro - Syncing folder redirected documents

[bondbill2k2]

I'm currently looking into the use of Skydrive Pro for use in a school environment, while we are still on the 2010 version of 365 waiting for the 2013 version I want to clear a few things up....

 

Can SkyDrive be configured for each users redirected home folder so effectively they have a direct synced copy of their my documents in their SkyDrive cloud area?

 

How is the above managed, certain requirements such as roaming profiles? GPO's available?

 

Does SkyDrive pro support SSO?

[AngryTechnician]

In theory, yes, but in practice it's much more difficult.

 

SkyDrive Pro will by default sync to C:\Users\username\SkyDrive @ School Name

 

This can be changed, but only by the individual user on first run. It's not possible to pre-stage the preferred location in any way (that I'm aware of). There are no GPOs or registry settings you can alter programatically. Also I'm pretty sure the SkyDrive @ School Name bit can't be changed.

 

In terms of sign-on, I'm pretty sure you have to sign in at least once and the credentials are remembered. We don't have ADFS here so I'm not able to test that for certain.

[jamesbmarshall]

The SkyDrive Pro client isn't really designed to be used in this way.

 

Users can drag and drop content directly into SkyDrive Pro via the browser, and of course if they're using a compatible version of Office they can save Office documents directly to their SkyDrive Pro document library. As @AngryTechnician says, the SkyDrive Pro client uses a local folder to sync to.

[AngryTechnician]

Speaking of using Office 365 in the browser, I don't suppose you have any idea if this SharePoint Online/IE10 bug will be fixed come September, @jamesbmarshall? It's the last problem that is holding back our IE10 rollout.

[jamesbmarshall]

Speaking of using Office 365 in the browser, I don't suppose you have any idea if this SharePoint Online/IE10 bug will be fixed come September, @jamesbmarshall?

 

Sorry, no idea!

 

Of course, you could upgrade to Windows 8...

 

...

[shayneparker]

As far as I can tell skydrive pro will only work with indexed locations.

 

It may be possible to index a mapped drive on32 bit systems with this: Download Windows Desktop Search: Add-in for Files on Microsoft Networks from Official Microsoft Download Center. But that still leaves us the problem of redirecting the default save location.

[shalomlej]

I just found this post: How To Sync Any Folder To SkyDrive, And How To Use SkyDrive On Windows XP. There is a shell extension you can install as well as a command you can issue if you only need one or two folders.

[AngryTechnician]

I just found this post: How To Sync Any Folder To SkyDrive, And How To Use SkyDrive On Windows XP. There is a shell extension you can install as well as a command you can issue if you only need one or two folders.

 

The linked article is about the consumer version of SkyDrive, which is completely different to SkyDrive Pro. Both the backend and the clients work completely differently.

[browolf]

have things got any clearer on this?

 

we'll be getting office 365 soon and people are imagining that we can dispense with local user areas and map a drive to onedrive instead but I'm getting the impression it wont be that simple...

[jamesbmarshall]

map a drive to onedrive instead but I'm getting the impression it wont be that simple...

 

You're right; unfortunately it's not that simple. That have been a few threads on this recently. Mapping a drive to OneDrive for Business isn't going to be an option; instead the sync client is the supported route to getting access to files from the desktop. That's great for 1:1 devices, but for shared devices you're going to need to look at using the browser to drag and drop, etc.

 

Storing files in the cloud needs a bit of a rethink - for example using Office 365 ProPlus to save files directly to SharePoint Online or OneDrive for Business, etc. rather than saving to a locally mapped drive.

[bondbill2k2]

You're right; unfortunately it's not that simple. That have been a few threads on this recently. Mapping a drive to OneDrive for Business isn't going to be an option; instead the sync client is the supported route to getting access to files from the desktop. That's great for 1:1 devices, but for shared devices you're going to need to look at using the browser to drag and drop, etc.

 

Storing files in the cloud needs a bit of a rethink - for example using Office 365 ProPlus to save files directly to SharePoint Online or OneDrive for Business, etc. rather than saving to a locally mapped drive.

 

 

On a similar note, not mapping but favorites..... is there a way to add a users OneDrive to their windows explorer favorites?

 

Below is a screenshot of my office PC running 8.1, having installed the OneDrive for Business Sync tool this appeared in explorer however on a windows 7 test computer it didn't, can't see any obvious differences besides the OS as this might be an 8.1 thing?

Edited May 15, 2014 by bondbill2k2

[penfold]

I'm playing around with this and the OneDrive is listed under the favorites (@bondbill2k2 - it didn't appear for existing accounts but it did appear for any account creating a new profile) but when I try and access it I get a prompt to log in. We are using office 2013 and I am logged into the Office software with my current (test) account but it seems not to like automating OneDrive. Is this because the SSO hasn't been configured properly or is it just not designed to be like that?

 

As others have already been doing we are looking to providing SSO for OneDrive so users can use it as their home drive but it seems from what I've read it's not really designed to work like that?

[penfold]

OK, I think I remember reading this on here somewhere before now. We have Office 365 accounts which we are using for email, I have also used this account for logging into the OneDrive Storage but am I right in thinking Office 365 account and the MS Account are 2 separate accounts? The reason I am asking is I used the Office 365 account to log on to OneDrive and it seemed to work but I can only see OneDrive if I login with a Microsoft Account (both accounts have the same name - hence the confusion).

[jamesbmarshall]

Quick bit of terminology refresh:

 

Live@edu = predecessor to Office 365 Education

 

Windows Live ID = Microsoft Account

 

ORGID, MOSID = Office 365 Account / Organisational / School Account

 

SkyDrive = OneDrive

 

SkyDrive Pro = OneDrive for Business

 

--

 

When the Live@edu upgrades happened we split out the accounts that existing users had into two: a Microsoft Account and an identically named Office 365 Account (different GUIDs underneath basically). This meant that existing users at the time of the upgrade got to keep their existing OneDrive contents, etc.

 

Subsequent users, created in Office 365, were only given an Office 365 Account. It is possible to use this Office 365 Account to associate with an identical Microsoft Account (through a process called EASI - no different to using your Gmail account to sign up for OneDrive).

 

So you're either in the Live@edu upgraded user bucket, or at some point you've signed up for OneDrive using your existing email address (Office 365 Account).

 

Hopefully that makes sense?

[penfold]

@jamesbmarshall - thanks, I think that makes it slightly clearer, although I'm not sure if I manually created a Microsoft account with an Office 365 account. Anyway, can I just ask another dumb question. When using you Office 365 account, I assumed this included the web version of Word, Excel etc. but this doesn't seem to show in the tabs except for under the Sharepoint option. I was expecting to see the same options as when I log into my personal Outlook.com (hotmail) account. Meaning when you click on the pulldown option next to Outlook (top left)you get the icons show as below

When I log into Office 365 there isn't a pull down icon available so I can't see how to navigate through the different options easily. Is it supposed to be like this or has it been configured wrong? I thought a 365 account offered the web based version of Office and assumed it would look the same as my hotmail account?

[bondbill2k2]

@penfold try creating a new file in Onedrive, you should be given the options on which file type to try, this will open in the appropriate office web application.

[penfold]

@bondbill2k2 - does that mean that you can only create new documents through OneDrive? I have done what you suggested, but it just seems that it is easier to navigate my documents on my hotmail account and I would have thought you could do the same with 365. If this is the case then that's fine, but I just want to make sure that is how to navigate the office 365 web page.

 

Ultimately I'm trying to get the OneDrive to sync, but I'm also trying to find files when I am using the web browser to check the same files. I was just expecting something a little different I think.

 

Just to clarify, to create/access office documents I need to first go into OneDrive before I can do this? Once I am there when I open the file it gives me the option of opening up in the web version of Office?

[bondbill2k2]

Just to clarify, to create/access office documents I need to first go into OneDrive before I can do this? Once I am there when I open the file it gives me the option of opening up in the web version of Office?

 

You can also open your Onedrive files directly from Office 2013, with single sign-on configured it's a pretty convenient way, it appears very similar to opening or saving a file on your local computer. If you don't have SSO configured just select sign in.

[penfold]

I think there is a problem with our single sign on. It seemed to be a little hit and miss as sometimes it took a couple of attempts to log into the web page and at first I just put it down to user error as other times you would just log straight in. I've run the MS Remote Connectivity Analyzer and it looks like there may be an issue with our server so I need to try and sort that out before carrying on.

 

I was hoping to be able to do what you have said and get OneDrive files to open in Office 2013 and as far as the user is concerned it could be a file on their computer.

[jamesbmarshall]

I thought a 365 account offered the web based version of Office and assumed it would look the same as my hotmail account?

 

Office 365 Education does include the Office Online apps, through SharePoint Online & OneDrive for Business. The Office 365 platform and the consumer platform are separate so they will look different.

[jamesbmarshall]

I think there is a problem with our single sign on.

 

Do you need SSO?

 

Deploying Office 365 Education? You don't need single sign-on, and here's why!