Copying Shared folders and retaining share and file permissions

I need to move several shared folders from 1 server running Windows 2000
Server to a new server running Windows Server 2003 SP2. I know when moving
shares on the same logical drive, the permissions remain. But what happens
when moved across the network to a new server in the same domain? How do I
keep the shared name, shared permissions, and all folder and file level
permissions entacted?

Create empty shared folders on the new machine.
Turn off inheritance of permissions to contained folders and files.

Use ROBOCOPY with the option /COPY:DATSO to move all folders and files from
the old shares to the new shares, preserving:
Data content
File Attributes
Timestamps
NTFS ACLs
Ownership

Based on your need, I'd like to recommend you using FSMT (File Server
Migration Toolkit) , which will preserve the share and NTFS security
settings of share folders after they are migrated to the new server. It
simplifies the file server migration process and minimize the impact of
file server migration on users.

Additional Suggestions:
=====================

You'd better to make the old windows 2000 file server and the new windows
2003 file server as the member server within a domain.

1. You may install File Server Migration Tool on the new file server.

2. Launch the File Server Migration Wizard.

3. Create a new migration project and save it in "C:\FileServerMigration"

4. When you add source file server, please input hostname (inputting IP
address of server is not supported)

5. Please unselect the checkbox of "Resolve invalid Security descriptors"
and select the checkbox of "Copy security settings"

6. You may find that all the files and folders with Share and Security
permission have been replicated to the target server.

7. Since the Security descriptors (users and groups) are stored in Active
Directory Database, all the folders and files can be accessible as normally.

8. Please remove old file server and rename new file server to the old
servers name.

9. Please note: you may perform the migration in the spare time since this
migration can be transplant to the clients.

References:
============

Download: Microsoft File Server Migration Toolkit
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...eae-930a-42b0-
b595-66f462f5d87b&DisplayLang=en

File Server Migration Toolkit Whitepaper
http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...5-a2af-35e0b81
046af/FSMT%20Whitepaper.doc

Alternative methods to keep share permission during file transfer:
=======================

You may use resource kit tool Permcopy.exe to copy share permissions (Full
Control, Read, and Change) from one existing share to another.

permcopy \\SourceComputer SourceShare \\TargetComputer TargetShare.

If there are a large number of shares or the shares are using complicated
permissions, we may use the method according to the following KB article:

Saving and Restoring Existing Windows Shares
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=125996

Note: This procedure applies only to NetBIOS shares and not to Macintosh
volumes.

For you convenience, I have summarized the steps below:

1.1) Copy all the data from the old file server to target file server using
Robocopy with /SEC switch. This will ensure that both the folder structures
and their NTFS permissions are fully copied the target file server.

Important Note: Please ensure that both the target file server and the
source file server have the same folder scheme (the shares' folder paths on
the target file server are the same as the ones on the source file server).

1.2) Copy the share permissions from the source file server

Actually, the share definitions are saved in the following registry key:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\lanmanserver\Shares]

Therefore, our steps in this section are:

1.2.1) Back up the above key on the target file server for recovery
purposes.

1.2.2) Back up the key on the source file server in to a reg file.

1.2.3) Merge the reg file to the target server.

I used the MSFT to move shared folder from one drive to the other one the
same server. I noticed it will create a new shared name on target, and upon
completion of the transfer, the source folder share still there. Is this
normal ?

To complete the move, is it just:
1. manual remove the source share
2. change the target share name

This is normal behavior that the share permissions are still there after
you complete share permission transfer. After you make sure that the share
folders have been successfully migrated, you can remove the olds and adjust
share name. However, if you use DFS for file sharing, you can simply adjust
the corresponding access path on DFS server.

Generally, we request one question per post in the newsgroups. In order to
concentrate fully on each of these issues and provide clarity for others
that may be following here. If you encounter other issues related to
permission transfer or need further assistance on this issue, we suggest
opening a new thread to ensure the issue can receive full attention.

[indiansam]

Goodday, we are replacing a server to a new pc so we wanna migrate all data and share permissions with the file migrate tool. What happens with open files?? are they copied too????

You should close open files.

Computer Management > Share Folders > sessions

I can recommend a software called CopyRight2 that I recently used to migrate some file shares. It even copied the user passwords.

You've responded to an old, expired post in the Microsoft Newsgroups, where many web-based forums pull/push posts to.

Regarding the ability to copy files keeping permissions intact, you can simply use Microsoft's Robycopy.