[Casper] Alias for AD network folder (script?)

[Slutzky, Ben]

No, with our Casper setup, we're wiping/re-imaging everything each week on
most machines, so users must save files to their network folder. (Don't
confuse this with their actual Mac home with Library, Music, etc. - I'm
talking about a mounted location specified by AD, which would normally be
mapped on a Windows workstation, and is mounted as a network volume in the
Finder sidebar on Macs, where they can save files.)

The user's network folder itself is not actually mounted, because each
user's network folder is located *inside another folder in the actual server
share* for all users' network folders. Users can theoretically navigate to
their network folder inside that mounted volume (on the sidebar and desktop
like you say), but that doesn't go directly to their own folder.

For instance, our file server is MPHFS2, the share for all student folders
is ST_HOME, and inside ST_HOME are a bunch of folders representing each
graduating class. So the folder for John Smith, in the graduating class of
2008, would be at smb://MPHFS2/ST_HOME/08/JSMITH. The Mac would mount the
ST_HOME volume on the sidebar and desktop, but John probably wouldn't know
to find his folder in the 08 folder. We'd like a way to automatically create
an alias to JSMITH on his desktop and sidebar.

Thanks


On 8/27/08 4:01 PM, "Criss  Myers" <cmyers at uclan.ac.uk> wrote:

> hmm
> 
> not at my server at the moment,
> 
> i have exaclty the same setup as us, AA and OD, and my users folder get
> mounted correctly as their home folder, you can find it by the home icon
> and this is accessable in programs save box, so how do you mount yours?
> 
> do they not save files to their Home folder???
> 
> with WGM you can also mount the users home folder at login as a folder
> on the desktop, you should also be able to navigate this from a save as
> box, but not at my server to test
> 
> Criss
> 
> Criss Myers
> Senior Customer Support Analyst (Mac Services)
> Apple Certified Technical Coordinator v10.5
> LIS Business Support Team
> Library 301
> University of Central Lancashire
> Preston PR1 2HE
> Ex 5054
> 01772 895054
>>>> "Slutzky, Ben" <bslutzky at mph.net> 27/08/08 8:52 PM >>>
> Hi,
> This isn©öt much of a Casper question, but maybe someone can help.
> Our Macs have single sign-on enabled with Active Directory, and are also
> bound to our Open Directory server for managed preferences. Users save
> to
> their network folder (their user folder listed in AD). But because the
> user
> network folders are stored in hard-to-find subfolders in a server share
> containing all network folders, it's difficult for users to find theirs
> when
> trying to save documents. (For instance, the path to a user's folder
> might
> be smb://file1/users/bsmith.)
> The actual server share (e.g., "users") is mounted by OS X as a volume
> when
> a user logs in, but they'd have to find their folder inside another
> folder
> in that volume. Although OS X automatically creates an alias directly to
> their folder on the dock, that alias isn't accessible from a file saving
> window. I couldn't find a way of "copying" the dock alias to the
> desktop.
> 
> Can anyone think of a way (possibly with a script) for OS X to create an
> alias on the user's desktop that links directly to the current user's AD
> home directory - like the one that appears on the dock, but on the
> desktop?
> 
> Any ideas would be appreciated.
> Ben Slutzky
>