Link to home
Start Free TrialLog in
Avatar of osxman
osxman

asked on

OSX 10.6 sync local documents to AD documents

I have bound osx 10.6 to OD and AD 2008 server. I use the force local folders option. The students also have a network folder which points to the AD documents. I find a lot of the time students save to the local mydocuments and not there network docs so when they move around there files are not available. Is there a way to snyc my docs local to the mydocs on 2008 server?

TIA
Avatar of gmbaxter
gmbaxter
Flag of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland image

Why do you use the force local home?
If you deselect that option, you can get the OS to log users in with a network home.
Avatar of osxman
osxman

ASKER

Well, I inherited it as it is and was told that you have to force local homes to avoid problems with software like Logic, Sibelius, etc - is there any truth in that?
Yes certain software has issues accessing it's files in a network home folder especially if it's not AFP based (Adobe CS products also).  In theory it should all work fine but it doesn't.  The ~/Library/ folder is the most problematic.  It also depends how large these files are and your network capacity.  

You can either try and re-direct those problem files somewhere locally as problems occur in testing or do as you're doing and turn on the Syncing options in Sys Prefs  > Accounts > Mobile Settings.  Just choose Documents if that's all you need and set it to Logout.  Students will now get a sync error message if something isn't quite right when it occur, so user education is needed.  (newer file on the network vs locally)  Personally I have trouble with it and it using alot of CPU, especially if your users put lots of photos / vidoes in their Docs folder.  You could try something like iBackup and a logout scipt / hook to copy the files. http://www.grapefruit.ch/iBackup/

Aleternatively (storage space dependent) you could leave it as is & copy their local docs to their network folder, delete their local Docs folder and create a Symbolic link to the network Docs folder.  So to the user it looks local but is actually a shortcut to their network docs folder.  There's also a feature in Workgroup Managers MCX to set RedirectedFolders which does much the same thing I believe (haven't tested it)

I'd suggest reading the forums over at afp548.com and check out MacEnterprise.org.  Apple + Directory services has plenty of issues / cavaets.  You should definetly do some testing / research before making any changes.

Regards,
Matt
Avatar of osxman

ASKER

Mattosaur4,

Thanks for the advice. "turn on the Syncing options in Sys Prefs  > Accounts > Mobile Settings" - where is this function, I can't see it? - I'm runnning 10.6.6

Also, what set up works best for your organisation?

TIA
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
Avatar of mattosaur4
mattosaur4

Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial