Folder Redirection - point of despair :( :( [PICS]

[Miscbrah]

Hi folks, thanks for dropping in.

 

I'm really really at the end of my tether. Doesn't get much worse than 1pm on a Sunday, when it's the only time you can get some peace, and an issue of WEEKS that have been HORRIBLE still just won't go right. I have been SCREAMING at the monitor for an hour now.

 

Ok, folder redirection. Long and the short of it is that Documents redirects alright, or at least seems to, but nothing else will. To start with, we're on Windows 7 clients, Linux file servers (OH DEAR GOD HOW I HATE YOU LINUX!!!) server 2k8r2 domain with AD/DNS/DHCP.

 

Folder redirection that WORKS is Documents; the only redirect that does work (not redirecting start menu and desktops handled differently) and the settings shown thus, next to the Pictures redirection:

http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff441/TerrifyingGiantSquid/gp1.jpg

and

http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff441/TerrifyingGiantSquid/gp2.jpg

 

Now, on the client, Documents redirects fine, reflected in the Application Log. Pictures just will NOT though!!!

http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff441/TerrifyingGiantSquid/client1.jpg

 

I have tried this and these and all these but there's been no joy.

 

Can anyone walk me through this? Has anyone out there actually got folder redirection working right? It's an absolute horror!

 

I'm totally lost, completely frustrated and after a good couple of weeks of more and more aggressive troubleshooting I can barely think straight Cheers in advance for any help.

[kmount]

Looking at that you're asking documents to redirect to \\fs1\homes\Documents (no actual user in particular) which seems to work fine.

 

You're then asking the user to create \\fs1\homes\Documents\My Pictures (again, still no actual username here?) which isn't working.

 

Does your user have permission to write to \\fs1\homes\Documents?

 

Or should you be using \\fs1\homes\Documents\%USERNAME% ?? (and then in turn \\fs1\homes\Documents\%USERNAME%\My Pictures)

 

 

EDIT: or change the documents setting to "Create a folder for each user under this path" or whatever it says so each user gets their own user space.

Edited August 12, 2012 by kmount

[Miscbrah]

Thanks kmount!!

 

Urgh that's all part of the baffling mystery of Linux filesharing for me. Home drives (W: here) map fine, per user, as "\\fs1\homes" without the "" (set in AD). That seems to do it. Goodness only knows how Linux knows to serve those out right but it does.

 

Anyway user I'm tesing it on now has 777 permisisons on his homeshare, but it made no difference. Tried that earlier.

Edited August 12, 2012 by Miscbrah

[FN-GM]

Have you tried the option to follow the home drive?

[Miscbrah]

Yeah I did, that didn't sort it.

[Miscbrah]

Ok now with a different user DOCUMENTS doesn't redirect properly, but Saved Games and Contacts does.

[synaesthesia]

It's also trying to direct it to Documents/My instead of My Pictures - some " " needed.

[Miscbrah]

Gives me this if I do:

 

http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff441/TerrifyingGiantSquid/stillrubbisdh.png

[synaesthesia]

hmm - I remember getting the same when I set up redir and following folders and remember solving with quotes - I'll check tomorrow.

[Miscbrah]

Guys thanks so much for helping today. You've no idea how reassuring it's been to know I'm not on my own.

[Miscbrah]

Oh wow - NOW it's deleted two users' home areas! And I'm not even kidding! They're just wiped now!

 

HOW can this go so WRONG???

 

I gotta take a step back for today, policy's getting turned off.

[kmount]

I'm confused, you're still trying to redirect to a location which has no mention of a username I'm not sure how it will work without this.

 

As a test, as a user, map a drive to \\fs1\homes\Documents and see firstly what's in there, and secondly if you can make a folder.

[plexer]

What the home drive path in AD for a user?

 

Ben

[Miscbrah]

I'm confused, you're still trying to redirect to a location which has no mention of a username I'm not sure how it will work without this.

 

As a test, as a user, map a drive to \\fs1\homes\Documents and see firstly what's in there, and secondly if you can make a folder.

 

Quite honestly, not sure. File servers are Linux so goodness knows how it works, but it does. In each user account in AD, W: drive (home drive) is set to "\\fs1\homes" without the "". That's really really it. :/ I'll test that out tomorrow, had to leave for the day it's bugged me out too much to concentrate.

 

Wondering that it might be the case that if any of the redirected folders are set to "\\fs1\homes" it'll nuke whatever home drive is there on that path for the user, so I'll axe that and get back to it tomorrow. Failing that, I'll set up one or two users with home directories on a Windows server (just for the sake of testing) and then try and figure out how on EARTH you get that same arrangement in Linux.

 

I'll check back here for hints though throughout thanks SO so so much guys.

[Steve21]

Quite honestly, not sure. File servers are Linux so goodness knows how it works, but it does.

 

I'd say that's the issue though, as the others mentioned. Whether or not it's a linux FS shouldn't affect anything, as all the redirecting is done serverside, then just points to a folder.

 

But without it knowing who's user folder it is, that's what the option "Create a folder for each user under the root path" does. It'll create a folder for everyone, "or" use %username%

 

Without that it'd point to same place for everyone. Which may explain the access denieds etc

 

Is there any particular reason you're not using %username% or "create folders"?

 

Steve

[Miscbrah]

Thanks Steve, will try this tomorrow.

[Stuart_C]

I'd be inclined to agree with Steve21 that Windows will be trying to redirect the users home folder to \\fs1\homes\Documents

wich will give everyone the same home folder.

 

Does that folder actually exist and if so what's the premissions on it? I would personally be expecting something like \\fs1\homes\%username%\Documents for that setting. Though I personally have the home area set in the users AD account then use the "redirect to users home area" option.

[psydii]

Patch Patch Patch.

 

While the chances are that the others in this thread will help you to getting the config right, the whole folder redirection et al. stack in W7 is buggy as hell.

 

Checking that there aren't later versions of Samba that address issues in use cases that are relevant to you, might be a profitable endeavour.

 

Also patch Windows 7 with the latest version of: rdbss.sys mrxsmb.sys mrxsmb10.sys mrxsmb20.sys smb.sys smb2.sys csc.sys mup.sys tcpip.sys fwpkclnt.sys ndis.sys, DHCPCORE.dll shell32.dll oh and NTOSKRNL.sys. It then starts to work properly. While you're at it, install latest WMI and User profile components for faster more reliable and consistent logons.

 

Good places to start for reference are:

How the synchronization in Windows 7 Offline Files works - Romania Networking Team Blog - Site Home - TechNet Blogs

List of currently available hotfixes for the File Services technologies in Windows Server 2008 and in Windows Server 2008 R2

List of Performance hotfixes post SP1 for Windows 7 SP1 - The troubleshooters and problem solvers... - Site Home - TechNet Blogs

http://www.edugeek.net/forums/windows-7/98170-windows-7-file-folder-refresh-not-working-correctly-anyone-know-fix.html#post853445 (for links to more recent hotfixes for the above)

 

@Steve21 while I agree with most of your post, I think the statement

as all the redirecting is done serverside, then just points to a folder.

is wrong. All the redirection logic and most or the work occurs on the client, the server just gets told where to put the files.

 

Final thought: From what perspective are the user's files wiped? Is it possible that their Username folder has been 'renamed' Documents? Also from client side, during automatic caching a users Documents folder can appear to be empty until the initial sync is complete.

Edited August 13, 2012 by psydii

[psydii]

@Stuart_C Just read your sig. Am now craving for a bacon butty.

[Miscbrah]

Thanks for all the help folks. I've finally got some new hope from you posts.

 

We read the other day that it's better to get a test account with a profile you can nuke server and client side each time, so I'm testing with that for now, if only to get some predictable working/failure events in App log.

 

Once I've established a baseline of what works DEFINITELY and what doesn't DEFINITELY I'll be in a slightly better place.

[Steve21]

@Steve21 while I agree with most of your post, I think the statement is wrong. All the redirection logic and most or the work occurs on the client, the server just gets told where to put the files.

 

 

Guess what I meant was in that setup the linux FS doesn't "touch" anything. It just gets files sent to it, for all purposes Windows is the only thing deciding the redirect (whether server/client)

 

Steve

[Miscbrah]

SUCCESS! At least, it works consistently and reliably in testing!

 

Hold on I'll write it up.

 

Oh wow I love all you guys so much! :)

[Miscbrah]

Oh wait no it isn't.

[plexer]

Oh dear, perhaps you can post what you thought had solved and what your investigations have revealed?

 

Can you give a bit more info on how your linux fs is setup as well please?

 

Ben

[Miscbrah]

I'm still soldiering on with a few bits, but here's what I've got so far:

 

Linux-side I got no idea. I know that home directories are set in AD accounts as \\fs1\homes and when a user connects, somehow Samba knows who it is and steers that user the right way based on their username. Directory-wise they would look like /home/staff/%username%/home from the point of view of the Samba server.

 

Windows-side I've a bit more of a clue. Testing as a user with a profile on a different (Windows) server set up JUST to test out this issue, and deleting both the cached local profile AND server profile each time I log out before logging in as this user, I've found the following to be true:

 

- Documents: (working reliably)

Basic - Redirect everyone's folder to the same location

Redirect to the user's home directory

All 3 settings boxes unticked

Policy removal set to Leave

 

- Pictures: (working reliably)

Follow the Documents folder

 

- Music: (working reliably)

Follow the Documents folder

 

- Videos: (working reliably)

Follow the Documents folder

 

- Favorites: (working reliably)

Basic - Redirect everyone's folder to the same location

Redirect to the following location: \\fs1\homes\Favorites

Both settings boxes unticked (third greyed out)

Policy removal set to Leave

 

- Contacts, Downloads, Links, Searches, Saved Games all working and set as per Favorites.

 

Again, the above only works as a user with a profile that's deleted locally and on the server each time they are logged off before logging on again.

 

With a user who already has a profile server-side and local profile allowed to cache (as per real-world use) with the settings above, MOST redirected folders will fail as below:

http://i1236.photobucket.com/albums/ff441/TerrifyingGiantSquid/11111111111111.png

 

BUT out of the blue one or more of them WILL redirect, so you might get 'Links' and 'Documents' working. This random working of one or more will stay working for this user until the local profile is deleted, then you'll have another one or more random redirections work alright until you delete the cached profile again. But again, that is with a real user with a real profile so I'm loth to chop that server-side to see what happens.

 

Okay, that's about all I've got after a few days of fumbling. Bless your heart whoever's reading this...

Edited August 14, 2012 by Miscbrah