asked on 7/23/2008

Home Directory migration

I did a search and did not find a solution.
I currently have all my users Home drives on Windows Server 2000. I have built the new Windows Server 2003 server. I have created the Users folder on the new server, configured the share and rights; only the users have access to their H: drives - not even Administrators.
I attmepted to restore a backup using Veritas and it does not allow the data to be written to the new location. I assumed this was rights on the new folder so I created a generic folder just to test; same error.
I need to migrate the data (Home Folders) to the new server preserving the rights.
How do I migrate the users drives (H: drives) to the new server?

Microsoft Legacy OS Windows OS

Last Comment

kerrycorcoran

7/23/2008

Shift-3

7/23/2008

If you can't restore from backups then that is something that needs to be addressed. Perhaps the account Veritas is running under doesn't have Read permission to the folders. Likewise, if Administrators don't have Read permission then you can't copy the folders.

The simplest solution is probably to take ownership of the folders, copy them to the new location, then reset permissions on them. I've included an example here.

Taking ownership:
http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver/en/library/6f097abe-d1d9-4d16-93c5-7326aa1f33791033.mspx

Paste the script below into a text file with a .cmd extension. Customize the value of the folder variable with the location of the folder containing the users' home folders. Running it will grant each user Full Control of his/her folder.

@echo off
setlocal
 
set folder=d:\home folders
 
for /F "tokens=*" %%G in ('dir "%folder%" /A:D /B') do cacls "%folder%\%%G" /T /E /C /G "%%G":F

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kerrycorcoran

7/23/2008

ASKER

Certainly a good solution, however I can not take ownership due to Company policy.

This would not work in my circumstances.

I do appreciate hte insight though.

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

Shift-3

7/23/2008

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kerrycorcoran

7/23/2008

ASKER

I need to clarify, I can currently backup the data without issue. I was just mentioning Veritas in that I was hoping I could use a restore to migrate all the User folders.

Shift-3

7/23/2008

You indicated that you were not able to restore the folders from backup.

kerrycorcoran

7/23/2008

ASKER

I am unable to use Veritas to restore to the other server. The Veritas job will end incomplete due to rights issues.

As for general backup/restore on the original server all is working without issue. Hope this clarifies.

Shift-3

7/23/2008

If the backup will not restore on another server then you've got a problem. What are you going to do if that server dies?

kerrycorcoran

7/23/2008

ASKER

This is not the issue I am addressing. However, if this current server dies I would restore to a new server with the same name. Please adhere to the topic I am address. I realize there maybe underlying issues unrelated, however I need to address them as I prioritize.

kerrycorcoran

7/23/2008

ASKER

I am looking into Robocopy, and have done some limited testing - I think this will accomplish my goal.
I'd like to test before fully committing a copy (have approximately 1000) job. In regards to Robocopy, is it possible to select only certain folders, for instance all folders that start wit the letter 'p' ? I saw that is allows wildcard, but from my testing I can only make that work for fies, not the actual source folders.
Any insight appreciated.