Active Roles 7.2.1 - Administrator Guide

Set user as home folder owner

Upon creation or renaming of a home folder for a particular user account, this option ensures that the user account is set as the owner of the home folder.

An owner of a folder is authorized to make any changes to permission settings on the folder. For example, an owner can authorize other persons to access the folder.

Set user permissions on home folder

Upon creation or renaming of a home folder for a particular user account, this option ensures that the user account has the specified access rights on the home folder.

With the Grant Full Access setting, the user account is authorized to perform any operation on the folder and its contents except for making changes to permission settings. With the Grant Change Access setting, the user account is authorized to view and modify the contents of the folder.

When finished, click Next to display the Home Share Management page. This page lets you configure policy options for creating home shares:

Figure 60: Home share management

To have the policy create home shares, select the Create home share when home folder is created or renamed check box.

When you configure the policy to create home shares, you can specify the prefix and suffix for the home share names.

Specifying a prefix and suffix allows you to establish a naming convention for home shares. Suppose you want home shares to be displayed at the top of the list of shares. To do so, you can use an underscore as the prefix. You may also assign a suffix to distinguish home shares created by the policy. For example, to distinguish the home shares of users from the Sales department, you could use the suffix _s. Then, when you create a user account with the pre-Windows 2000 logon name set to JohnB, the policy will map the user’s home folder to the selected drive and specify \\Server\_JohnB_s as the path to the home folder. The policy will also create the share _JohnB_s that points to the folder \\Server\Home\JohnB.

Optionally, in the Description box, you can type a comment about the home share. The users will see it when viewing share properties.

You can also limit the number of users that can connect to the share at one time. Click Maximum allowed or Allow this number of users. With the latter option, specify a number in the box next to the option.

Steps for configuring a Home Folder AutoProvisioning policy

To configure a Home Folder AutoProvisioning policy

1. On the Policy to Configure page, select Home Folder AutoProvisioning, and then click Next.
2. On the Home Folder Management page, do the following, and then click Next.
   • From the Connect list, select the drive letter to which you want the policy to map the home folder.
   • In the To box, specify a network path to the home folder.

     The path must include a common share at one level above the home folders. For example, you might specify \\Ant\Home\%username% for the policy to create home folders on the share Home on the server Ant. The path such as \\SERVER\%username% is not valid.

   • To have the policy verify that the home folder path and name on user accounts are set in compliance with this policy, select Enforce this home folder setting in Active Directory.

     When this check box is cleared, the policy allows home folder paths and names that differ from the path and name prescribed by the policy.

   • To have Active Roles automatically set the home folder properties in accord with this policy upon user account creation in Active Directory, select Apply this home folder setting when user account is created.
   • To have Active Roles automatically set the home folder properties in accord with this policy upon user account renaming in Active Directory, select Apply this home folder setting when user account is renamed.
   • To have Active Roles attempt creation or renaming of a (non-local) home folder on the file server when home folder properties are set or changed on a user account in Active Directory, select Create or rename home folder on file server as needed.

     If you want to configure the policy so that it not only sets home folder properties on user accounts in Active Directory but also creates or renames home folders and home shares in accord with the policy settings, you must keep the Create or rename home folder on file server as needed check box selected (this is the default setting). If the check box is cleared, then the policy can only set or verify home folder properties on user accounts in Active Directory.

   • Specify how you want the policy to configure permission settings on home folders. You can choose from the following options:
     • Copy user permissions on home folder from parent folder  Upon creation or renaming of a home folder for a user account, ensures that the user account has the same rights on the home folder as on the folder in which the home folder resides.
     • Set user as home folder owner  Upon creation or renaming of a home folder for a user account, ensures that the user account is set as the owner of the home folder.
     • Set user permissions on home folder  Upon creation or renaming of a home folder for a user account, ensures that the user account has the specified access rights on the home folder (such as Change Access or Full Access).

3. On the Home Share Management page, specify settings for user home shares. Do the following, and then click Next:
   • Select Create home share when home folder is created or renamed for the policy to create or rename the home share when creating or renaming the home folder.
   • Optionally, in Share name prefix and Share name suffix, type a prefix and suffix for the name of the home share. For details, see How to configure a Home Folder AutoProvisioning policy earlier in this chapter.
   • Optionally, in Description, type a comment to add to the home share.
   • If you want to limit the number of users that can connect to the share at a time, click Allow this number of users and specify the maximum number of users in the box next to that option. Otherwise, click Maximum allowed.
4. On the Enforce Policy page, you can specify objects to which this Policy Object is to be applied:
   • Click Add, and use the Select Objects dialog box to locate and select the objects you want.
5. Click Next, and then click Finish.

Using the built-in policy for home folder provisioning

If you want to configure Active Roles so that setting or changing home folder related properties on any user account in any managed domain does not result in an attempt to create or rename a folder on a file server, then you can use the Active Roles console to modify the built-in Policy Object:

1. In the console tree, select Configuration | Policies | Administration | Builtin.
2. In the details pane, double-click Built-in Policy - Default Rules to Provision Home Folders.
3. On the Policies tab, select the policy from the list and then click View/Edit.
4. On the Home Folder tab, clear the Create or rename home folder on file server as needed check box.
5. Click OK to close the dialog boxes you opened.

If you have any other Policy Objects containing policies of the Home Folder AutoProvisioning category, then you need to configure them as appropriate: select or clear the Create or rename home folder on file server as needed check box in each of those policies depending on whether or not Active Roles should attempt creation or renaming of home folders for user accounts that fall within the scope of the respective Policy Object.

Another scenario may require that Active Roles should create or rename home folders for user accounts that are outside a certain scope (such as a certain domain, organizational unit, or Managed Unit), whereas creation or renaming of home folders should not be attempted on user accounts that fall within that particular scope. In this scenario, you need to ensure that the Create or rename home folder on file server as needed option is selected in the built-in Policy Object. Then, you have to create and configure a Policy Object containing a policy of the Home Folder AutoProvisioning category with the Create or rename home folder on file server as needed option un-selected, and apply that Policy Object to the scope in question.