Identify users accessing or deleting files from server?

Simply, I do not know how to do this. But....

I do know how to audit such using Windows Security Audit and using the Event Viewer.

And... (maybe this will jog some experts memory who knows how to use this), I do know that you might be able to get some information using NetFileGetInfo and/or NetFileEnum.

I did a Google search on "Delphi NetFileGetInfo" and found some code to get connected users to a file, but nothing specific on who deleted a file.

Hope this gets you going. If you want details on setting up your audit policy let me know.

John

 First, what application would you think you need to be aware of?  Are people using Explorer to delete these files?  FTP?  Web Browser?  If you have a limited application set you need to be aware of then it may simplify the solution.

  There are functions in Windows to get notifications of when a directory is accessed, but I don't know that they tell you who did it just that it happened.

  I think, honestly, that you will need to do a file system level hook into windows on the machine you want to monitor.  Here is a link to many sources of information on doing Windows File System Drivers.  

http://www.acc.umu.se/~bosse/

  If you do a file system driver and replace the one window is using currently, but have your drivers calls pass through to the normal OS driver then you can look for things you want to be notified on.  Then you define an interface that programs can call to request notifications.  This is not a trivial project though.

  Rather than trying to start the project yourself you may be able to use some components from 3rd parties.  Check these out.
http://www.eldos.com/
http://www.vclcomponents.com/Delphi/Tools/WinDriver_for_Windows-info.html
http://uranus.it.swin.edu.au/~jn/linux/ext2ifs.htm

I hope this helps.

Firstly, determine if the system event logs contain sufficient information for you:

1. turn on auditing level that includes file Deletion detection
2. set your event log to wrap or make sure you dump/reset the log so that nothing is lost
3. delete files from a remote location
4. examine the logs to see what data is captured

If there is enough information in the event logs, you can monitor these logs in a service or application program.  There are also log-aggregating utilities you might consider, although they aren't cheap.

Similar EE question:
http://www.experts-exchange.com/OS/Microsoft_Operating_Systems/Server/Q_22976287.html
indicates events 560 and 564 should have this information.

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If the above doesn't work, you will probably have to hook your monitoring code into the server's shell as suggested earlier.

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At some point, the file system will change to WinFS and this monitoring should be easier.

Hi,

thnx for the answers ..dosent get me what i need :(
i am looking  doing a file system level hook into windows on the machine i need to monitor ..
the major problem here ican see is
i need to monitor 4 servers..
2 are windows and the other 2 are linux
i have ppl deleteing stuff from there from allover the lan... need to stop this

regards
pramod

Time for you to set directory permissions to prevent folks from being able to delete.  This is available with both NTFS and Linux file systems.

Forget about monitoring.  That is just a stick approach to your problem.

I have to agree with aikimark, that is the simple approach.  Writing file system level drivers to hook the OS is no small task (especially with two different OSes).

Hi aikimark,developmentguru,

I understand .. but im in a 3d environment(Maya with file referencing)
i cannot limit access
i am thinking of the 2 options here..

1:
how abt i write a basic application which checks shell events ..
logs a delete if the files deleted are not on local drives
then get this installed on all machines...
that way i can track deletions on the server  .. am i thinking rt here?

2:
also another way to look at this would be to hook a delete .. check what file is abt to be deleted then aloow or deny the delete ... can this be done

regards
pramod