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Thread: Windows Server 2008 Folder Redirection

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Posts
    2

    Windows Server 2008 Folder Redirection

    Can someone explain to me how folder redirection really works? How can I use it to manage roaming profiles that will be loaded on a Windows XP machine as well as a Windows Server 2008 terminal server. What I would like for it to do is provide a way for Windows Server 2008 to load the already created roaming profile. When users log into the 2008 server a new 'Username.V2' folder is created on the network share that stores the profiles. If a user saves a document to the desktop on the 2008 server machine they will not see the document when they log into there XP machine.
    Thanks in advance.

  2. #2
    Ace Fekay [Microsoft Certified Trainer] Guest

    Re: Windows Server 2008 Folder Redirection

    See if this blog helps. Read the articles discussing the differences between
    XP and Vista redirection (they are different, hence what you are seeing).
    ==================================================================================================== ==
    Folder Redirection

    I believe Folder Redirection with using Offline Files will be the better
    solution for many environments. I have it implemented in all my customer
    sites. All data with redirection set, as well as offline files, are cached
    locally and only synch up at scheduled, manually set times, or when logging
    on or off. It vastly reduces client to server traffic. Here are some links
    regarding redirection.

    Using Folder Redirection for the My Docs, App data, Start Menu and Desktop,
    a user will get their data no matter where they login. Enabling Offline
    Files as well, will provide an additional performance increase on the user
    side, as well as the ability to take machines off-site (such as laptops) and
    the folks will have their data no matter where they are. However, I usually
    just implement Folder Redirection with the My Documents folder, and not the
    others, due to the overhead of data and backup capacities on the server. You
    know how large the application folder can get, and not always a good choice
    to implement redirection with. Keep that in mind when you implement this
    feature.

    There are a few things that need to be setup in place to make redirection
    work. If in a mixed Vista/XP environment, as many are going through right
    now, it may be a little challenging, but they can use the same home folder
    setting, but the user must stick with one OS or the other, not logon to an
    XP, then to a Vista, or things may get skewed.

    1. The user accounts need to be in the OU the Redirection Policy will apply
    to. It doesn't matter where the computer accounts are. This is because
    Redirection is a User based Policy.

    2. More than likely, the Redirection policy is probably setup to apply to a
    group. Therefore, make sure the user account is part of that group.

    3. Only the internal DNS servers must show up in a machine's IP properties.

    4. They way I setup the shares, is create a root folder called Users. I
    share it out as Users$ and set share permissions to only System=FC and
    Domain Admins=FC.

    5. Then I would create child folders, one for each user. For example, for a
    user named Bill, I create a BIll folder, then share it out as Bill$, and set
    the share permissions to Domain Admins=FC, System=FC, and Bill=FC. The share
    permissions for the user MUST BE FC or it won't work. Then I set the NTFS
    permissions (the Security tab), to Domain Admins=FC, System=FC, and Bill=FC.
    The user MUST have FC for both the share and the NTFS permissions.

    6. In the user's AD properties, Profile tab, you want to configure a home
    folder, and this is assuming you want their stuff redirected to the home
    folder, such as clicking on G, H, or whatever letter, then configuring
    something like \\servername\%username%$ (the $ makes it hidden). Whether to
    hide it or not depends on corporate SOP. The %username% is a variable that
    will create the folder for you, but I usually do it manually, as in the
    previous steps.

    7. Create the Redirect policy based on the group membership, for example the
    My Documents folder, should be redirected to \\servername\username$\. You
    can also create it as \\servername\username$\MyDocuments Documents, which I
    like because their data goes into a subfolder under the user folder as My
    Documents. Now many places simply use \\servername\username$ and is easy,
    and it works. However, with this method, ALL of their documents wind up
    directly in the root of the home folder. However, this could be a little
    problematic with Vista. For more info on Vista and XP in a mixed
    environment, and problems that may occur, read the bottom to articles in the
    list of links provided below.

    8. In the policy, select "Basic - Redirect everyone's folder to the same
    location. For the target folder location, Redirect to the following
    location, and it will create a UNC in the form of: \\%HOMESERVER%%HOMEPATH%.
    Under the settings tab, check the box that says Grant the user exclusive
    rights to My Docs. Also select to Move the Contents, as well as Leave the
    Folder in the new location when the policy is removed.

    9. I usually create a logon bat script, place it in the NETLOGON share, and
    specify the script name in thier AD properties, to manually map the same
    drive letter specified under the Profile tab for the home folder to the home
    folder, such as with a command line of "net use h: \\servername\username$".
    It can also be done using VB and a logon script in their GPOs. The script
    normally does multiple other things as well. I'm just pointing out this
    portion of it. It is your choice of using VB, CMD or bat files when creating
    a script.

    10. Enable Offline Use for the redirected My Documents.

    11. Repeat for the other folders, if you choose to include them. I would set
    them to use subfolders, such as Application Data, so the data doesn't get
    intermixed with the My Docs.

    Recommendations for Folder Redirection: Group Policy
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l.../cc785925.aspx

    Folder Redirection feature in Windows
    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/232692

    How To Configure Folder Redirection, Aug 22, 2007 ... How to use Group
    Policy
    to redirect the "Desktop", "My Documents", "Start Menu" and "Application
    Data" folders.

    How to Configure Folder Redirection
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l.../cc782799.aspx

    How To Configure Folder Redirection

    User Profiles and Folder Redirection FAQ
    http://www.microsoft.com/technet/com...anage_faq.mspx

    Enabling the administrator to have access to redirected folders
    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/288991

    Folder Redirection in a mixed environment XP/Vista

    Folder redirection in Vista creates duplicate Music, Pictures, Desktop
    folders.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Posts
    2

    Re: Windows Server 2008 Folder Redirection

    Quote Originally Posted by KPurchase View Post
    Can someone explain to me how folder redirection really works? How can I use it to manage roaming profiles that will be loaded on a Windows XP machine as well as a Windows Server 2008 terminal server. What I would like for it to do is provide a way for Windows Server 2008 to load the already created roaming profile. When users log into the 2008 server a new 'Username.V2' folder is created on the network share that stores the profiles. If a user saves a document to the desktop on the 2008 server machine they will not see the document when they log into there XP machine.
    Thanks in advance.
    I have the same problem, I have roaming profiles in a Windows server 2003 and had a Windows XP client. I changed the windows XP client to Windows server 2008 and the server 2008 doesn't pick up the roaming desktops

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Posts
    2,291

    Re: Windows Server 2008 Folder Redirection

    Quote Originally Posted by WallyP View Post
    I have the same problem, I have roaming profiles in a Windows server 2003 and had a Windows XP client. I changed the windows XP client to Windows server 2008 and the server 2008 doesn't pick up the roaming desktops
    Could you please explain where exactly are you wanting to place these shortcuts? Not ALL folders of a user profile propagate to/from the profile folder on the server. And the "Startup" folder is one of those folders that does not get stored on the server, so it won't propagate.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Posts
    1,736

    Re: Windows Server 2008 Folder Redirection

    I have seen that this problem arises because the redirected documents folder on the server is messed. There one to rearrange the redirection folder path, and to do the same I would recommend to modify the "My Documents" UAC path to "%HOMESHARE%%HOMEPATH%\My documents" to see if it works. If there are users still facing more problems even after not getting the result from the above solution then they can refer to more information about folder redirection in Windows 2008 R2 and Windows 7 in the below link:
    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l.../cc732275.aspx

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