Default User Template for AD users with Win home dirs

[pat_mc_crotch]

[size=14]Hi all,

Is it possible for AD users with Windows based home directories to get a default user template given to them the first time they login to a Mac bound to AD?

I can give local users and users with home dirs on our Xserve my default user settings via the English.lproj template, but I cannot for the life of me get this to work for those users with Windows based home directories.

This is a biggie since my boss has mandated that ALL our student home directories are to be hosted under Windows from now on…

If not, can anyone suggest how this can be achieved with or without a default user template?

Thanks![/size]

[the_rug]

Hi Pat McCrotch,

I have setup an OSX image that does what I think you’re asking for. The problem is, it wasn’t easy.

I come from a Windows background, so I implemented the solution based on ‘trying to get OSX working the way I expect Windows to’, not the other way, so my implementation may not look very pretty:

Home Drives – once I bound OSX to AD, I made sure the following settings were set in ‘Directory Utility’:
Create Mobile Account: Unticked
Force local home directory on startup: Ticked
Use UNC path {blah blah}…..: Ticked and set to SMB
Default user shell: {your choice}

This effectively makes OSX create a local ‘profile’ (sorry, I’m a Windows boy) using the local ‘english.lproj’ template, and also connects the user’s ‘Home Dir’ specified in the user’s AD object and should place it on the dock automatically.

All that is left to do is modify the english.lproj template to include all the customisations and start-up items you want. There’s a few ‘gotchas’ in this process, especially with regards to modifying permissions on the english.lproj folder – suggest you keep a backup of that folder before messing around with it.

Specifically, I put shortcuts to network shares on the dock and a few scripts as well to automate Entourage configuration.

Hope this helps?!?

Cheers,
The_Rug

[pat_mc_crotch]

First up: thanks very much for replying.

Before I continue, I didn’t point out this is for a student lab, so the students never login to the same Mac twice.

I’ve tried your suggestion – which places a link to the network share on the desktop rather than via the home icon on the sidebar. The problem with this is that our students are accostomed to saving their files in the home folder icon in the sidebar (which is their network home directory), not on the HOME$ share on the desktop that results in your suggestion.

So – I think what we need do is use a login hook that will copy the contents of English.lproj into the users (Windows provided) home dir at login. The script will obvioulsy check that the files aren’t there first, and the users will still get the appropriate home icon in their sidebar.

Thanks again – still looking for a better solution if one exists!!

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