Sysvol? I'm confused

[leco]

I'm following some guidelines (in MS Press Administrator's Pocket Consultant - Windows Group Policy) to xcopy the PolicyDefinitions folder to a central location. (I'm putting it onto a new DC which is the operations master.) The central location is meant to be %SystemRoot%\Sysvol\DomainName\policies\PolicyDefinitions\ However, I have two sysvol folders, one inside the other.

 

The first SYSVOL has under it domain\policies - where there are a number of policies. The other sysvol has under it mydomainname\policies - where there are the same number of policies as the other folder.

 

Questions then - should I have the two sets of folders? To which one should I copy the contents of the PolicyDefinitions folder?

 

On the same subject: On another DC the MyDomainName folder is shared. Should I set the same sharing access on the new DC?

 

I hope that all makes sense to somebody.

[sted]

if you add a server and make it a dc sysvol should replicate itself and set permissions sharing right automatically

[leco]

OK thanks, so how do I check that sharing permissions have actually been set? Sorry if that seems like a dumb question but I don't deal with these things very often!

[sted]

you just need to check replication in the logs then try creating a file folder on one server so \\server1\netlogon and checking its available on \\server2\netlogon should be near instantaneous

[leco]

Ok. But going back to the other part of my post - should I have two Sysvol folders and which one do I work with/in?

[sted]

any dc should have an identical copy of the entire sysvol folder so with 2 servers you should have 2 sysvol folders with each being replicated so a change on 1 is mirrored on the other so if i say create a new script called logoff.bat on server 1 it will end up on server 2 almost instantly (assuming replication works)

 

as to folder structure below is a screen dump of a 2003 dc i gave as a test vm

[leco]

Ah thank you that makes sense greatly helped by the thumbnail as it looks exactly like mine. Phew I thought something was going wrong when in fact it was going fine. (Note to self - have more confidence)

[PiqueABoo]

One of the folders is a conventional one, the other is a junction i.e. a special folder that simply points to the real one. You only have one set of policy files, it just looks like there are two in Explorer.

[leco]

Is that why, in the lower sysvol, MyDomainName has a shortcut arrow on it's folder icon then? I'm starting to understand it a bit better now, I think. Thanks.

[SYNACK]

Is that why, in the lower sysvol, MyDomainName has a shortcut arrow on it's folder icon then? I'm starting to understand it a bit better now, I think. Thanks.

 

Yeap, its an NTFS junction point NTFS junction point - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia hence the shortcut icon.

[leco]

What was confusing me I think was that the folder icons are different in Server 2008 and Server 2008R2. The former has the normal shared icon (folder with two people) but the latter does not. Thanks for the clarification.

[PiqueABoo]

Server 2008 R2 is a complete, utter, [bleeping-bleep] PITA wrt. "we know what's good for you and we're going to remove those special icons in Explorer that indicate a given folder is shared". There's some serious rants about this online and they all have my sympathy.

[leco]

Now you come to mention it - there are many things that are changed and some of them are not necessarily for the better.

[witch]

Oh great - moving to Server2008R2 next week - what other changes should I be looking out for?

(*sorry - didnt mean to hijack)

[leco]

It's OK Witch I think I'm done with my current confusion anyway. It'll be replaced with another very shortly no doubt.

 

The one that springs to mind immediately - Windows update won't let you from the web site, sends you back to the management console (well it does on mine) so when I hadn't got the proxy set up correctly it failed.

 

ps. I think there is a "gotcha" list somewhere on here, must find and read now I'm in the midle of the change!

Edited July 12, 2010 by leco

[sted]

It's OK Witch I think I'm done with my current confusion anyway. It'll be replaced with another very shortly no doubt.

 

The one that springs to mind immediately - Windows update won't let you from the web site, sends you back to the management console (well it does on mine) so when I hadn't got the proxy set up correctly it failed.

 

ps. I think there is a "gotcha" list somewhere on here, must find and read now I'm in the midle of the change!

 

 

if internet explorers proxy is set right you can pull updates from windows update (assuming your proxy server allows you) but you do have to use the control panel app not a web browser.

 

Removing the share icons is a bit of a pita but al least if you select them it does show in the status bar

 

main annoyance ive found is it dosent seem to like adding the same printer twice. So say ive got a colout copier what i usually do is install drivers call it copier1mono set defaults to mono and share as appropriate, then using the same port add the same printer again with a different share name and colour defaults meaning people dont have to edit driver settings just select the correct printer. With r2 you CAN so this but it only seems to shows one of the 2 printers pressing f5 switches between them

[leco]

Printers! Huh tell me about it - I'm doing battle with those currently also. The print server is 64bit (I have some 64bit workstations) trying to add 32bit drivers (even though it can be done as in there is a tick box for it) is a pain. I found a post on here (powdarrmonkey I think) said to add them from the workstation instead. That works a treat.

[sted]

Printers! Huh tell me about it - I'm doing battle with those currently also. The print server is 64bit (I have some 64bit workstations) trying to add 32bit drivers (even though it can be done as in there is a tick box for it) is a pain. I found a post on here (powdarrmonkey I think) said to add them from the workstation instead. That works a treat.

 

never seems to work for me but i can usually find x86 drivers that i can do on the server