rweaver313
asked on
My Documents for Mac OS X clients
I was able to bind my mac os x clients to my active directory but now i want the users to be able to access their windows network home folders (My Documents). I want the user's my documents to be mounted on the desktop of the mac clients. The windows home folders (My Documents) are being managed by group policy folder redirection. All the documentation that i found explains how to mount the home directory if being managed in the user's profile of their account tab. How do i mount the my documents to the desktop on a mac. Once again, the my documents is managed via group policy folder redirection to a network shared folder. Here is an example of the folder redirection: \\server\share\group\%user
there's a lot of information in that article; basic rule of thumb on the AD account properties set the home folder to::
SMB://server.domain.com/us
SMB://server.domain.com/us
You need a WorkGroup Manager Server setup to auto mount that drive. Or if you mount it and drag it into the dock it auto mounts. Or if you mount the share then open System Preferences, then accounts, select the network account, click the login items tab at the top, then click the + sign and select the mapped drive. For a couple of users that is the way to go, for many users use the WorkGroup manager solution.
@Courjester he's indicated that he's already bound the system to an AD server. Once you're bound to AD you can login to the network account using domain/userid or userid@domain and all the necessary security is already in place. So as long as the network share works for windows users then it shouldn't be an issue.
@maestropsm True but he cannot manage ANY mac settings from GPMC. Mac doesnt care about windows policies. What would work best if you do not need ANY mac management is to setup the home folder path on the user account and the mac will place the OSX home folder in that folder so if he puts connect Z: to \\<server>\<share>\%userna
Also there is no issue binding to AD and to Open Directory LDAP at the same time.
@courtjesterr - you're just confusing things now.. ..that would never work on a mac; macs for one thing use / and not \ for their directory separators. Also macs by default use AFP so you definitely need to specify SMB:// or CIFS://
@roylong Your putting this entry in the AD user account and the mac can use it. Thats why you use the \ windows doesnt recognize the / . When you bind the Macs to the AD account you specify that you want it to connect the home folder using SMB or AFP. As I said before Work Group Manager is the best way but in its absence mapping the home forder in the AD user account works also.
ASKER
Since I don't have a work group manager server, would I have to map a network drive for every AD user account?
@courtjesterr FYI you obviously do not understand and have never done this.. ..windows does not interpret the / it simply passes this to OS X.
Tell you what, try it your way and report back to me :)
Tell you what, try it your way and report back to me :)
@roylong I have this setup for 4000+ users in a mixed PC and Mac environment with the users going back and forth and it works fine.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
This may not be the best way but I use admitmac from thursby since I mainly work inside schools and support very few macs and need a manageable platform with little maintenance. It actually allows you to make policies tied to a/d groups for the mac''s and mounts their home folder on the desktop amongst other things. Not sure if its a viable option for you price wise but may be worth the look
http://www.thursby.com/products/admitmac.html
Hope this helps
http://www.thursby.com/products/admitmac.html
Hope this helps
The thursby software is a good option, we use Dave (which is one of their apps for AD integration)
Btw; mounting Z: drive using \\ is never going to work for macintosh clients.
Btw; mounting Z: drive using \\ is never going to work for macintosh clients.
@roylong
Have you ever tried it. I promise it works. Like I said I have been using it for years. Try it with a test user.
Have you ever tried it. I promise it works. Like I said I have been using it for years. Try it with a test user.
@roylong
Just so we're clear using the \\ is only in the ad user account like I showed. You are correct in that you need a / when mounting a drive in osx. It occurred to me you might be thinking I was talking about mounting it like that on a Mac
Just so we're clear using the \\ is only in the ad user account like I showed. You are correct in that you need a / when mounting a drive in osx. It occurred to me you might be thinking I was talking about mounting it like that on a Mac
http://www.mactech.com/articles/mactech/Vol.20/20.11/ActiveDirectory/index.html