<chapter id="ProfileMgmt">
<chapterinfo>
&author.jht;
<pubdate>April 3 2003</pubdate>
</chapterinfo>
<title>Desktop Profile Management</title>
<sect1>
<title>Features and Benefits</title>
<para>
Roaming Profiles are feared by some, hated by a few, loved by many, and a Godsend for
some administrators.
</para>
<para>
Roaming Profiles allow an administrator to make available a consistent user desktop
as the user moves from one machine to another. This chapter provides much information
regarding how to configure and manage Roaming Profiles.
</para>
<para>
While Roaming Profiles might sound like nirvana to some, they are a real and tangible
problem to others. In particular, users of mobile computing tools, where often there may not
be a sustained network connection, are often better served by purely Local Profiles.
This chapter provides information to help the Samba administrator to deal with those
situations also.
</para>
</sect1>
<sect1>
<title>Roaming Profiles</title>
<warning>
<para>
Roaming profiles support is different for Win9x / Me and Windows NT4/200x.
</para>
</warning>
<para>
Before discussing how to configure roaming profiles, it is useful to see how
Windows 9x / Me and Windows NT4/200x clients implement these features.
</para>
<para>
Windows 9x / Me clients send a NetUserGetInfo request to the server to get the user's
profiles location. However, the response does not have room for a separate
profiles location field, only the user's home share. This means that Win9X/Me
profiles are restricted to being stored in the user's home directory.
</para>
<para>
Windows NT4/200x clients send a NetSAMLogon RPC request, which contains many fields,
including a separate field for the location of the user's profiles.
</para>
<sect2>
<title>Samba Configuration for Profile Handling</title>
<para>
This section documents how to configure Samba for MS Windows client profile support.
</para>
<sect3>
<title>NT4/200x User Profiles</title>
<para>
To support Windows NT4/200x clients, in the [global] section of smb.conf set the
following (for example):
</para>
<para>
<smbconfblock>
<smbconfoption><name>logon path</name><value>\\profileserver\profileshare\profilepath\%U\moreprofilepath</value></smbconfoption>
</smbconfblock>
This is typically implemented like:
<smbconfblock>
<smbconfoption><name>logon path</name><value>\\%L\Profiles\%u</value></smbconfoption>
</smbconfblock>
where %L translates to the name of the Samba server and %u translates to the user name
</para>
<para>
The default for this option is <filename>\\%N\%U\profile</filename>,
namely <filename>\\sambaserver\username\profile</filename>.
The <filename>\\N%\%U</filename> service is created automatically by the [homes] service. If you are using
a samba server for the profiles, you _must_ make the share specified in the logon path
browseable. Please refer to the man page for &smb.conf; in respect of the different
semantics of %L and %N, as well as %U and %u.
</para>
<note>
<para>
MS Windows NT/2K clients at times do not disconnect a connection to a server
between logons. It is recommended to NOT use the <smbconfsection>homes</smbconfsection>
meta-service name as part of the profile share path.
</para>
</note>
</sect3>
<sect3>
<title>Windows 9x / Me User Profiles</title>
<para>
To support Windows 9x / Me clients, you must use the <smbconfoption><name>logon home</name></smbconfoption> parameter. Samba has
now been fixed so that <userinput>net use /home</userinput> now works as well, and it, too, relies
on the <command>logon home</command> parameter.
</para>
<para>
By using the logon home parameter, you are restricted to putting Win9x / Me
profiles in the user's home directory. But wait! There is a trick you
can use. If you set the following in the <smbconfsection>[global]</smbconfsection> section of your &smb.conf; file:
</para>
<para><smbconfblock>
<smbconfoption><name>logon home</name><value>\\%L\%U\.profiles</value></smbconfoption>
</smbconfblock></para>
<para>
then your Windows 9x / Me clients will dutifully put their clients in a subdirectory
of your home directory called <filename>.profiles</filename> (thus making them hidden).
</para>
<para>
Not only that, but <userinput>net use /home</userinput> will also work, because of a feature in
Windows 9x / Me. It removes any directory stuff off the end of the home directory area
and only uses the server and share portion. That is, it looks like you
specified <filename>\\%L\%U</filename> for <smbconfoption><name>logon home</name></smbconfoption>.
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3>
<title>Mixed Windows 9x / Me and Windows NT4/200x User Profiles</title>
<para>
You can support profiles for both Win9X and WinNT clients by setting both the
<smbconfoption><name>logon home</name></smbconfoption> and <smbconfoption><name>logon path</name></smbconfoption> parameters. For example:
</para>
<para><smbconfblock>
<smbconfoption><name>logon home</name><value>\\%L\%u\.profiles</value></smbconfoption>
<smbconfoption><name>logon path</name><value>\\%L\profiles\%u</value></smbconfoption>
</smbconfblock></para>
</sect3>
<sect3>
<title>Disabling Roaming Profile Support</title>
<para>
A question often asked is <quote>How may I enforce use of local profiles?</quote> or
<quote>How do I disable Roaming Profiles?</quote>
</para>
<para>
There are three ways of doing this:
</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>In &smb.conf;</term>
<listitem><para>
Affect the following settings and ALL clients
will be forced to use a local profile:
<smbconfblock>
<smbconfoption><name>logon home</name></smbconfoption>
<smbconfoption><name>logon path</name></smbconfoption>
</smbconfblock>
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>MS Windows Registry:</term>
<listitem><para>
By using the Microsoft Management Console gpedit.msc to instruct your MS Windows XP machine to use only a local profile. This of course modifies registry settings. The full path to the option is:
<!-- FIXME: Diagram for this ? -->
<!-- FIXME: Yes, a diagram will help - JHT -->
<programlisting>
Local Computer Policy\
Computer Configuration\
Administrative Templates\
System\
User Profiles\
Disable: Only Allow Local User Profiles
Disable: Prevent Roaming Profile Change from Propagating to the Server
</programlisting>
</para> </listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Change of Profile Type:</term>
<listitem><para>
From the start menu right click on the
My Computer icon, select <guimenuitem>Properties</guimenuitem>, click on the <guilabel>User Profiles</guilabel>
tab, select the profile you wish to change from Roaming type to Local, click <guibutton>Change Type</guibutton>.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
<para>
Consult the MS Windows registry guide for your particular MS Windows version for more
information about which registry keys to change to enforce use of only local user
profiles.
</para>
<note><para>
The specifics of how to convert a local profile to a roaming profile, or a roaming profile
to a local one vary according to the version of MS Windows you are running. Consult the
Microsoft MS Windows Resource Kit for your version of Windows for specific information.
</para></note>
</sect3>
</sect2>
<sect2>
<title>Windows Client Profile Configuration Information</title>
<sect3>
<title>Windows 9x / Me Profile Setup</title>
<para>
When a user first logs in on Windows 9X, the file user.DAT is created,
as are folders <filename>Start Menu</filename>, <filename>Desktop</filename>,
<filename>Programs</filename> and <filename>Nethood</filename>.
These directories and their contents will be merged with the local
versions stored in <filename>c:\windows\profiles\username</filename> on subsequent logins,
taking the most recent from each. You will need to use the <smbconfsection>[global]</smbconfsection>
options <smbconfoption><name>preserve case</name><value>yes</value></smbconfoption>, <smbconfoption><name>short preserve case</name><value>yes</value></smbconfoption> and
<smbconfoption><name>case sensitive</name><value>no</value></smbconfoption> in order to maintain capital letters in shortcuts
in any of the profile folders.
</para>
<para>
The user.DAT file contains all the user's preferences. If you wish to
enforce a set of preferences, rename their user.DAT file to user.MAN,
and deny them write access to this file.
</para>
<orderedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
On the Windows 9x / Me machine, go to <guimenu>Control Panel</guimenu> -> <guimenuitem>Passwords</guimenuitem> and
select the <guilabel>User Profiles</guilabel> tab. Select the required level of
roaming preferences. Press <guibutton>OK</guibutton>, but do _not_ allow the computer
to reboot.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
On the Windows 9x / Me machine, go to <guimenu>Control Panel</guimenu> -> <guimenuitem>Network</guimenuitem> ->
<guimenuitem>Client for Microsoft Networks</guimenuitem> -> <guilabel>Preferences</guilabel>. Select <guilabel>Log on to
NT Domain</guilabel>. Then, ensure that the Primary Logon is <guilabel>Client for
Microsoft Networks</guilabel>. Press <guibutton>OK</guibutton>, and this time allow the computer
to reboot.
</para>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>
<para>
Under Windows 9x / Me Profiles are downloaded from the Primary Logon.
If you have the Primary Logon as 'Client for Novell Networks', then
the profiles and logon script will be downloaded from your Novell
Server. If you have the Primary Logon as 'Windows Logon', then the
profiles will be loaded from the local machine - a bit against the
concept of roaming profiles, it would seem!
</para>
<para>
You will now find that the Microsoft Networks Login box contains
[user, password, domain] instead of just [user, password]. Type in
the samba server's domain name (or any other domain known to exist,
but bear in mind that the user will be authenticated against this
domain and profiles downloaded from it, if that domain logon server
supports it), user name and user's password.
</para>
<para>
Once the user has been successfully validated, the Windows 9x / Me machine
will inform you that <computeroutput>The user has not logged on before</computeroutput> and asks you
<computeroutput>Do you wish to save the user's preferences?</computeroutput>. Select <guibutton>yes</guibutton>.
</para>
<para>
Once the Windows 9x / Me client comes up with the desktop, you should be able
to examine the contents of the directory specified in the <smbconfoption><name>logon path</name></smbconfoption>
on the samba server and verify that the <filename>Desktop</filename>, <filename>Start Menu</filename>,
<filename>Programs</filename> and <filename>Nethood</filename> folders have been created.
</para>
<para>
These folders will be cached locally on the client, and updated when
the user logs off (if you haven't made them read-only by then).
You will find that if the user creates further folders or short-cuts,
that the client will merge the profile contents downloaded with the
contents of the profile directory already on the local client, taking
the newest folders and short-cuts from each set.
</para>
<para>
If you have made the folders / files read-only on the samba server,
then you will get errors from the Windows 9x / Me machine on logon and logout, as
it attempts to merge the local and the remote profile. Basically, if
you have any errors reported by the Windows 9x / Me machine, check the UNIX file
permissions and ownership rights on the profile directory contents,
on the samba server.
</para>
<para>
If you have problems creating user profiles, you can reset the user's
local desktop cache, as shown below. When this user then next logs in,
they will be told that they are logging in "for the first time".
</para>
<warning>
<para>
Before deleting the contents of the
directory listed in the ProfilePath (this is likely to be
<filename>c:\windows\profiles\username)</filename>, ask them if they
have any important files stored on their desktop or in their start menu.
Delete the contents of the directory ProfilePath (making a backup if any
of the files are needed).
</para>
<para>
This will have the effect of removing the local (read-only hidden
system file) user.DAT in their profile directory, as well as the
local "desktop", "nethood", "start menu" and "programs" folders.
</para>
</warning>
<orderedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
instead of logging in under the [user, password, domain] dialog,
press <guibutton>escape</guibutton>.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
run the <command>regedit.exe</command> program, and look in:
</para>
<para>
<filename>HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Windows\CurrentVersion\ProfileList</filename>
</para>
<para>
you will find an entry, for each user, of ProfilePath. Note the
contents of this key (likely to be <filename>c:\windows\profiles\username</filename>),
then delete the key ProfilePath for the required user.
</para>
<para>[Exit the registry editor].</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
search for the user's .PWL password-caching file in the <filename>c:\windows</filename>
directory, and delete it.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
log off the windows 9x / Me client.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
check the contents of the profile path (see <smbconfoption><name>logon path</name></smbconfoption> described
above), and delete the <filename>user.DAT</filename> or <filename>user.MAN</filename> file for the user,
making a backup if required.
</para>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>
<para>
If all else fails, increase samba's debug log levels to between 3 and 10,
and / or run a packet trace program such as ethereal or <command>netmon.exe</command>, and
look for error messages.
</para>
<para>
If you have access to an Windows NT4/200x server, then first set up roaming profiles
and / or netlogons on the Windows NT4/200x server. Make a packet trace, or examine
the example packet traces provided with Windows NT4/200x server, and see what the
differences are with the equivalent samba trace.
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3>
<title>Windows NT4 Workstation</title>
<para>
When a user first logs in to a Windows NT Workstation, the profile
NTuser.DAT is created. The profile location can be now specified
through the <smbconfoption><name>logon path</name></smbconfoption> parameter.
</para>
<para>
There is a parameter that is now available for use with NT Profiles:
<smbconfoption><name>logon drive</name></smbconfoption>. This should be set to <filename>H:</filename> or any other drive, and
should be used in conjunction with the new <smbconfoption><name>logon home</name></smbconfoption> parameter.
</para>
<para>
The entry for the NT4 profile is a _directory_ not a file. The NT
help on profiles mentions that a directory is also created with a .PDS
extension. The user, while logging in, must have write permission to
create the full profile path (and the folder with the .PDS extension
for those situations where it might be created.)
</para>
<para>
In the profile directory, Windows NT4 creates more folders than Windows 9x / Me.
It creates <filename>Application Data</filename> and others, as well as <filename>Desktop</filename>, <filename>Nethood</filename>,
<filename>Start Menu</filename> and <filename>Programs</filename>. The profile itself is stored in a file
<filename>NTuser.DAT</filename>. Nothing appears to be stored in the .PDS directory, and
its purpose is currently unknown.
</para>
<para>
You can use the <application>System Control Panel</application> to copy a local profile onto
a samba server (see NT Help on profiles: it is also capable of firing
up the correct location in the <application>System Control Panel</application> for you). The
NT Help file also mentions that renaming <filename>NTuser.DAT</filename> to <filename>NTuser.MAN</filename>
turns a profile into a mandatory one.
</para>
<para>
The case of the profile is significant. The file must be called
<filename>NTuser.DAT</filename> or, for a mandatory profile, <filename>NTuser.MAN</filename>.
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3>
<title>Windows 2000/XP Professional</title>
<para>
You must first convert the profile from a local profile to a domain
profile on the MS Windows workstation as follows:
</para>
<procedure>
<step><para>
Log on as the <emphasis>LOCAL</emphasis> workstation administrator.
</para></step>
<step><para>
Right click on the <guiicon>My Computer</guiicon> Icon, select <guimenuitem>Properties</guimenuitem>
</para></step>
<step><para>
Click on the <guilabel>User Profiles</guilabel> tab
</para></step>
<step><para>
Select the profile you wish to convert (click on it once)
</para></step>
<step><para>
Click on the button <guibutton>Copy To</guibutton>
</para></step>
<step><para>
In the <guilabel>Permitted to use</guilabel> box, click on the <guibutton>Change</guibutton> button.
</para></step>
<step><para>
Click on the 'Look in" area that lists the machine name, when you click
here it will open up a selection box. Click on the domain to which the
profile must be accessible.
</para>
<note><para>You will need to log on if a logon box opens up. Eg: In the connect as: <replaceable>DOMAIN</replaceable>\root, password: <replaceable>mypassword</replaceable>.</para></note>
</step>
<step><para>
To make the profile capable of being used by anyone select 'Everyone'
</para></step>
<step><para>
Click <guibutton>OK</guibutton>. The Selection box will close.
</para></step>
<step><para>
Now click on the <guibutton>Ok</guibutton> button to create the profile in the path you
nominated.
</para></step>
</procedure>
<para>
Done. You now have a profile that can be edited using the samba
<command>profiles</command> tool.
</para>
<note>
<para>
Under NT/2K the use of mandatory profiles forces the use of MS Exchange
storage of mail data. That keeps desktop profiles usable.
</para>
</note>
<procedure>
<title>Windows XP Service Pack 1</title>
<step><para>
This is a security check new to Windows XP (or maybe only
Windows XP service pack 1). It can be disabled via a group policy in
Active Directory. The policy is:</para>
<para><filename>Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\User
Profiles\Do not check for user ownership of Roaming Profile Folders</filename></para>
<para>...and it should be set to <constant>Enabled</constant>.
Does the new version of samba have an Active Directory analogue? If so,
then you may be able to set the policy through this.
</para>
<para>
If you cannot set group policies in samba, then you may be able to set
the policy locally on each machine. If you want to try this, then do
the following (N.B. I don't know for sure that this will work in the
same way as a domain group policy):
</para>
</step>
<step><para>
On the XP workstation log in with an Administrator account.
</para></step>
<step><para>Click: <guimenu>Start</guimenu>, <guimenuitem>Run</guimenuitem></para></step>
<step><para>Type: <userinput>mmc</userinput></para></step>
<step><para>Click: <guibutton>OK</guibutton></para></step>
<step><para>A Microsoft Management Console should appear.</para></step>
<step><para>Click: <guimenu>File</guimenu>, <guimenuitem>Add/Remove Snap-in...</guimenuitem>, <guimenuitem>Add</guimenuitem></para></step>
<step><para>Double-Click: <guiicon>Group Policy</guiicon></para></step>
<step><para>Click: <guibutton>Finish</guibutton>, <guibutton>Close</guibutton></para></step>
<step><para>Click: <guibutton>OK</guibutton></para></step>
<step><para>In the "Console Root" window:</para></step>
<step><para>Expand: <guiicon>Local Computer Policy</guiicon>, <guiicon>Computer Configuration</guiicon>,
<guiicon>Administrative Templates</guiicon>, <guiicon>System</guiicon>, <guiicon>User Profiles</guiicon></para></step>
<step><para>Double-Click: <guilabel>Do not check for user ownership of Roaming Profile Folders</guilabel></para></step>
<step><para>Select: <guilabel>Enabled</guilabel></para></step>
<step><para>Click: <guibutton>OK</guibutton></para></step>
<step><para>Close the whole console. You do not need to save the settings (this
refers to the console settings rather than the policies you have
changed).</para></step>
<step><para>Reboot</para></step>
</procedure>
</sect3>
</sect2>
<sect2>
<title>Sharing Profiles between W9x/Me and NT4/200x/XP workstations</title>
<para>
Sharing of desktop profiles between Windows versions is NOT recommended.
Desktop profiles are an evolving phenomenon and profiles for later versions
of MS Windows clients add features that may interfere with earlier versions
of MS Windows clients. Probably the more salient reason to NOT mix profiles
is that when logging off an earlier version of MS Windows the older format
of profile contents may overwrite information that belongs to the newer
version resulting in loss of profile information content when that user logs
on again with the newer version of MS Windows.
</para>
<para>
If you then want to share the same Start Menu / Desktop with W9x/Me, you will
need to specify a common location for the profiles. The &smb.conf; parameters
that need to be common are <smbconfoption><name>logon path</name></smbconfoption> and
<smbconfoption><name>logon home</name></smbconfoption>.
</para>
<para>
If you have this set up correctly, you will find separate <filename>user.DAT</filename> and
<filename>NTuser.DAT</filename> files in the same profile directory.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2>
<title>Profile Migration from Windows NT4/200x Server to Samba</title>
<para>
There is nothing to stop you specifying any path that you like for the
location of users' profiles. Therefore, you could specify that the
profile be stored on a samba server, or any other SMB server, as long as
that SMB server supports encrypted passwords.
</para>
<sect3>
<title>Windows NT4 Profile Management Tools</title>
<para>
Unfortunately, the Resource Kit information is specific to the version of MS Windows
NT4/200x. The correct resource kit is required for each platform.
</para>
<para>
Here is a quick guide:
</para>
<procedure>
<step><para>
On your NT4 Domain Controller, right click on <guiicon>My Computer</guiicon>, then
select the tab labelled <guilabel>User Profiles</guilabel>.
</para></step>
<step><para>
Select a user profile you want to migrate and click on it.
</para>
<note><para>I am using the term "migrate" loosely. You can copy a profile to
create a group profile. You can give the user 'Everyone' rights to the
profile you copy this to. That is what you need to do, since your samba
domain is not a member of a trust relationship with your NT4 PDC.</para></note>
</step>
<step><para>Click the <guibutton>Copy To</guibutton> button.</para></step>
<step><para>In the box labelled <guilabel>Copy Profile to</guilabel> add your new path, eg:
<filename>c:\temp\foobar</filename></para></step>
<step><para>Click on the button <guibutton>Change</guibutton> in the <guilabel>Permitted to use</guilabel> box.</para></step>
<step><para>Click on the group 'Everyone' and then click <guibutton>OK</guibutton>. This closes the
'choose user' box.</para></step>
<step><para>Now click <guibutton>OK</guibutton>.</para></step>
</procedure>
<para>
Follow the above for every profile you need to migrate.
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3>
<title>Side bar Notes</title>
<para>
You should obtain the SID of your NT4 domain. You can use smbpasswd to do
this. Read the man page.</para>
</sect3>
<sect3>
<title>moveuser.exe</title>
<para>
The W2K professional resource kit has moveuser.exe. moveuser.exe changes
the security of a profile from one user to another. This allows the account
domain to change, and/or the user name to change.
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3>
<title>Get SID</title>
<para>
You can identify the SID by using GetSID.exe from the Windows NT Server 4.0
Resource Kit.
</para>
<para>
Windows NT 4.0 stores the local profile information in the registry under
the following key:
<filename>HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList</filename>
</para>
<para>
Under the ProfileList key, there will be subkeys named with the SIDs of the
users who have logged on to this computer. (To find the profile information
for the user whose locally cached profile you want to move, find the SID for
the user with the GetSID.exe utility.) Inside of the appropriate user's
subkey, you will see a string value named ProfileImagePath.
</para>
</sect3>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1>
<title>Mandatory profiles</title>
<para>
A Mandatory Profile is a profile that the user does NOT have the ability to overwrite.
During the user's session it may be possible to change the desktop environment, but
as the user logs out all changes made will be lost. If it is desired to NOT allow the
user any ability to change the desktop environment then this must be done through
policy settings. See previous chapter.
</para>
<note>
<para>
Under NO circumstances should the profile directory (or it's contents) be made read-only
as this may render the profile un-usable.
</para>
</note>
<para>
For MS Windows NT4/200x/XP the above method can be used to create mandatory profiles
also. To convert a group profile into a mandatory profile simply locate the NTUser.DAT
file in the copied profile and rename it to NTUser.MAN.
</para>
<para>
For MS Windows 9x / Me it is the <filename>User.DAT</filename> file that must be renamed to <filename>User.MAN</filename> to
affect a mandatory profile.
</para>
</sect1>
<sect1>
<title>Creating/Managing Group Profiles</title>
<para>
Most organisations are arranged into departments. There is a nice benefit in
this fact since usually most users in a department will require the same desktop
applications and the same desktop layout. MS Windows NT4/200x/XP will allow the
use of Group Profiles. A Group Profile is a profile that is created firstly using
a template (example) user. Then using the profile migration tool (see above) the
profile is assigned access rights for the user group that needs to be given access
to the group profile.
</para>
<para>
The next step is rather important. <emphasis>Please note:</emphasis> Instead of assigning a group profile
to users (ie: Using User Manager) on a "per user" basis, the group itself is assigned
the now modified profile.
</para>
<note>
<para>
Be careful with group profiles, if the user who is a member of a group also
has a personal profile, then the result will be a fusion (merge) of the two.
</para>
</note>
</sect1>
<sect1>
<title>Default Profile for Windows Users</title>
<para>
MS Windows 9x / Me and NT4/200x/XP will use a default profile for any user for whom
a profile does not already exist. Armed with a knowledge of where the default profile
is located on the Windows workstation, and knowing which registry keys affect the path
from which the default profile is created, it is possible to modify the default profile
to one that has been optimised for the site. This has significant administrative
advantages.
</para>
<sect2>
<title>MS Windows 9x/Me</title>
<para>
To enable default per use profiles in Windows 9x / Me you can either use the <application>Windows 98 System
Policy Editor</application> or change the registry directly.
</para>
<para>
To enable default per user profiles in Windows 9x / Me, launch the <application>System Policy Editor</application>, then
select <guimenu>File</guimenu> -> <guimenuitem>Open Registry</guimenuitem>, then click on the
<guiicon>Local Computer</guiicon> icon, click on <guilabel>Windows 98 System</guilabel>,
select <guilabel>User Profiles</guilabel>, click on the enable box. Do not forget to save the registry changes.
</para>
<para>
To modify the registry directly, launch the <application>Registry Editor</application> (<command>regedit.exe</command>), select the hive
<filename>HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Network\Logon</filename>. Now add a DWORD type key with the name
"User Profiles", to enable user profiles set the value to 1, to disable user profiles set it to 0.
</para>
<sect3>
<title>How User Profiles Are Handled in Windows 9x / Me?</title>
<para>
When a user logs on to a Windows 9x / Me machine, the local profile path,
<filename>HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ProfileList</filename>, is checked
for an existing entry for that user:
</para>
<para>
If the user has an entry in this registry location, Windows 9x / Me checks for a locally cached
version of the user profile. Windows 9x / Me also checks the user's home directory (or other
specified directory if the location has been modified) on the server for the User Profile.
If a profile exists in both locations, the newer of the two is used. If the User Profile exists
on the server, but does not exist on the local machine, the profile on the server is downloaded
and used. If the User Profile only exists on the local machine, that copy is used.
</para>
<para>
If a User Profile is not found in either location, the Default User Profile from the Windows 9x / Me
machine is used and is copied to a newly created folder for the logged on user. At log off, any
changes that the user made are written to the user's local profile. If the user has a roaming
profile, the changes are written to the user's profile on the server.
</para>
</sect3>
</sect2>
<sect2>
<title>MS Windows NT4 Workstation</title>
<para>
On MS Windows NT4 the default user profile is obtained from the location
<filename>%SystemRoot%\Profiles</filename> which in a default installation will translate to
<filename>C:\WinNT\Profiles</filename>. Under this directory on a clean install there will be
three (3) directories: <filename>Administrator</filename>, <filename>All Users</filename>, <filename>Default User</filename>.
</para>
<para>
The <filename>All Users</filename> directory contains menu settings that are common across all
system users. The <filename>Default User</filename> directory contains menu entries that are
customisable per user depending on the profile settings chosen/created.
</para>
<para>
When a new user first logs onto an MS Windows NT4 machine a new profile is created from:
</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>All Users settings</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Default User settings (contains the default NTUser.DAT file)</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>
When a user logs onto an MS Windows NT4 machine that is a member of a Microsoft security domain
the following steps are followed in respect of profile handling:
</para>
<procedure>
<step>
<para>
The users' account information which is obtained during the logon process contains
the location of the users' desktop profile. The profile path may be local to the
machine or it may be located on a network share. If there exists a profile at the location
of the path from the user account, then this profile is copied to the location
<filename>%SystemRoot%\Profiles\%USERNAME%</filename>. This profile then inherits the
settings in the <filename>All Users</filename> profile in the <filename>%SystemRoot%\Profiles</filename>
location.
</para>
</step>
<step>
<para>
If the user account has a profile path, but at it's location a profile does not exist,
then a new profile is created in the <filename>%SystemRoot%\Profiles\%USERNAME%</filename>
directory from reading the <filename>Default User</filename> profile.
</para>
</step>
<step>
<para>
If the NETLOGON share on the authenticating server (logon server) contains a policy file
(<filename>NTConfig.POL</filename>) then it's contents are applied to the <filename>NTUser.DAT</filename>
which is applied to the <filename>HKEY_CURRENT_USER</filename> part of the registry.
</para>
</step>
<step>
<para>
When the user logs out, if the profile is set to be a roaming profile it will be written
out to the location of the profile. The <filename>NTuser.DAT</filename> file is then
re-created from the contents of the <filename>HKEY_CURRENT_USER</filename> contents.
Thus, should there not exist in the NETLOGON share an <filename>NTConfig.POL</filename> at the
next logon, the effect of the previous <filename>NTConfig.POL</filename> will still be held
in the profile. The effect of this is known as <emphasis>tatooing</emphasis>.
</para>
</step>
</procedure>
<para>
MS Windows NT4 profiles may be <emphasis>Local</emphasis> or <emphasis>Roaming</emphasis>. A Local profile
will stored in the <filename>%SystemRoot%\Profiles\%USERNAME%</filename> location. A roaming profile will
also remain stored in the same way, unless the following registry key is created:
</para>
<para>
<programlisting>
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\
winlogon\"DeleteRoamingCache"=dword:00000001
</programlisting>
In which case, the local copy (in <filename>%SystemRoot%\Profiles\%USERNAME%</filename>) will be
deleted on logout.
</para>
<para>
Under MS Windows NT4 default locations for common resources (like <filename>My Documents</filename>
may be redirected to a network share by modifying the following registry keys. These changes may be affected
via use of the System Policy Editor (to do so may require that you create your owns template extension
for the policy editor to allow this to be done through the GUI. Another way to do this is by way of first
creating a default user profile, then while logged in as that user, run regedt32 to edit the key settings.
</para>
<para>
The Registry Hive key that affects the behaviour of folders that are part of the default user profile
are controlled by entries on Windows NT4 is:
</para>
<para>
<filename>HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders\</filename>
</para>
<para>
The above hive key contains a list of automatically managed folders. The default entries are:
</para>
<para>
<table frame="all">
<title>User Shell Folder registry keys default values</title>
<tgroup cols="2">
<thead>
<row><entry>Name</entry><entry>Default Value</entry></row>
</thead>
<tbody>
<row><entry>AppData</entry><entry>%USERPROFILE%\Application Data</entry></row>
<row><entry>Desktop</entry><entry>%USERPROFILE%\Desktop</entry></row>
<row><entry>Favorites</entry><entry>%USERPROFILE%\Favorites</entry></row>
<row><entry>NetHood</entry><entry>%USERPROFILE%\NetHood</entry></row>
<row><entry>PrintHood</entry><entry>%USERPROFILE%\PrintHood</entry></row>
<row><entry>Programs</entry><entry>%USERPROFILE%\Start Menu\Programs</entry></row>
<row><entry>Recent</entry><entry>%USERPROFILE%\Recent</entry></row>
<row><entry>SendTo</entry><entry>%USERPROFILE%\SendTo</entry></row>
<row><entry>Start Menu </entry><entry>%USERPROFILE%\Start Menu</entry></row>
<row><entry>Startup</entry><entry>%USERPROFILE%\Start Menu\Programs\Startup</entry></row>
</tbody>
</tgroup>
</table>
</para>
<para>
The registry key that contains the location of the default profile settings is:
</para>
<para>
<filename>HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders</filename>
</para>
<para>
The default entries are:
<table frame="all">
<title>Defaults of profile settings registry keys</title>
<tgroup cols="2">
<tbody>
<row><entry>Common Desktop</entry><entry>%SystemRoot%\Profiles\All Users\Desktop</entry></row>
<row><entry>Common Programs</entry><entry>%SystemRoot%\Profiles\All Users\Programs</entry></row>
<row><entry>Common Start Menu</entry><entry>%SystemRoot%\Profiles\All Users\Start Menu</entry></row>
<row><entry>Common Startup</entry><entry>%SystemRoot%\Profiles\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup</entry></row>
</tbody>
</tgroup>
</table>
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2>
<title>MS Windows 200x/XP</title>
<note>
<para>
MS Windows XP Home Edition does use default per user profiles, but can not participate
in domain security, can not log onto an NT/ADS style domain, and thus can obtain the profile
only from itself. While there are benefits in doing this the beauty of those MS Windows
clients that CAN participate in domain logon processes allows the administrator to create
a global default profile and to enforce it through the use of Group Policy Objects (GPOs).
</para>
</note>
<para>
When a new user first logs onto MS Windows 200x/XP machine the default profile is obtained from
<filename>C:\Documents and Settings\Default User</filename>. The administrator can modify (or change
the contents of this location and MS Windows 200x/XP will gladly use it. This is far from the optimum
arrangement since it will involve copying a new default profile to every MS Windows 200x/XP client
workstation.
</para>
<para>
When MS Windows 200x/XP participate in a domain security context, and if the default user
profile is not found, then the client will search for a default profile in the NETLOGON share
of the authenticating server. ie: In MS Windows parlance:
<filename>%LOGONSERVER%\NETLOGON\Default User</filename> and if one exits there it will copy this
to the workstation to the <filename>C:\Documents and Settings\</filename> under the Windows
login name of the user.
</para>
<note>
<para>
This path translates, in Samba parlance, to the &smb.conf; <smbconfsection>[NETLOGON]</smbconfsection> share. The directory
should be created at the root of this share and must be called <filename>Default Profile</filename>.
</para>
</note>
<para>
If a default profile does not exist in this location then MS Windows 200x/XP will use the local
default profile.
</para>
<para>
On logging out, the users' desktop profile will be stored to the location specified in the registry
settings that pertain to the user. If no specific policies have been created, or passed to the client
during the login process (as Samba does automatically), then the user's profile will be written to
the local machine only under the path <filename>C:\Documents and Settings\%USERNAME%</filename>.
</para>
<para>
Those wishing to modify the default behaviour can do so through three methods:
</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
Modify the registry keys on the local machine manually and place the new default profile in the
NETLOGON share root - NOT recommended as it is maintenance intensive.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Create an NT4 style NTConfig.POL file that specified this behaviour and locate this file
in the root of the NETLOGON share along with the new default profile.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Create a GPO that enforces this through Active Directory, and place the new default profile
in the NETLOGON share.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>
The Registry Hive key that affects the behaviour of folders that are part of the default user profile
are controlled by entries on Windows 200x/XP is:
</para>
<para>
<filename>HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders\</filename>
</para>
<para>
The above hive key contains a list of automatically managed folders. The default entries are:
</para>
<para>
<table frame="all">
<title>Defaults of default user profile paths registry keys</title>
<tgroup cols="2">
<thead><row><entry>Name</entry><entry>Default Value</entry></row></thead>
<tbody>
<row><entry>AppData</entry><entry>%USERPROFILE%\Application Data</entry></row>
<row><entry>Cache</entry><entry>%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files</entry></row>
<row><entry>Cookies</entry><entry>%USERPROFILE%\Cookies</entry></row>
<row><entry>Desktop</entry><entry>%USERPROFILE%\Desktop</entry></row>
<row><entry>Favorites</entry><entry>%USERPROFILE%\Favorites</entry></row>
<row><entry>History</entry><entry>%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\History</entry></row>
<row><entry>Local AppData</entry><entry>%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data</entry></row>
<row><entry>Local Settings</entry><entry>%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings</entry></row>
<row><entry>My Pictures</entry><entry>%USERPROFILE%\My Documents\My Pictures</entry></row>
<row><entry>NetHood</entry><entry>%USERPROFILE%\NetHood</entry></row>
<row><entry>Personal</entry><entry>%USERPROFILE%\My Documents</entry></row>
<row><entry>PrintHood</entry><entry>%USERPROFILE%\PrintHood</entry></row>
<row><entry>Programs</entry><entry>%USERPROFILE%\Start Menu\Programs</entry></row>
<row><entry>Recent</entry><entry>%USERPROFILE%\Recent</entry></row>
<row><entry>SendTo</entry><entry>%USERPROFILE%\SendTo</entry></row>
<row><entry>Start Menu</entry><entry>%USERPROFILE%\Start Menu</entry></row>
<row><entry>Startup</entry><entry>%USERPROFILE%\Start Menu\Programs\Startup</entry></row>
<row><entry>Templates</entry><entry>%USERPROFILE%\Templates</entry></row>
</tbody></tgroup></table>
</para>
<para>
There is also an entry called "Default" that has no value set. The default entry is of type <constant>REG_SZ</constant>, all
the others are of type <constant>REG_EXPAND_SZ</constant>.
</para>
<para>
It makes a huge difference to the speed of handling roaming user profiles if all the folders are
stored on a dedicated location on a network server. This means that it will NOT be necessary to
write the Outlook PST file over the network for every login and logout.
</para>
<para>
To set this to a network location you could use the following examples:
</para>
<para><filename>%LOGONSERVER%\%USERNAME%\Default Folders</filename></para>
<para>
This would store the folders in the user's home directory under a directory called <filename>Default Folders</filename>
You could also use:
</para>
<para><filename>\\<replaceable>SambaServer</replaceable>\<replaceable>FolderShare</replaceable>\%USERNAME%</filename></para>
<para>
in which case the default folders will be stored in the server named <replaceable>SambaServer</replaceable>
in the share called <replaceable>FolderShare</replaceable> under a directory that has the name of the MS Windows
user as seen by the Linux/UNIX file system.
</para>
<para>
Please note that once you have created a default profile share, you MUST migrate a user's profile
(default or custom) to it.
</para>
<para>
MS Windows 200x/XP profiles may be <emphasis>Local</emphasis> or <emphasis>Roaming</emphasis>.
A roaming profile will be cached locally unless the following registry key is created:
</para>
<para>
<programlisting>
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\
winlogon\"DeleteRoamingCache"=dword:00000001</programlisting></para>
<para>
In which case, the local cache copy will be deleted on logout.
</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1>
<title>Common Errors</title>
<para>
The following are some typical errors/problems/questions that have been asked.
</para>
<sect2>
<title>Setting up roaming profiles for just a few user's or group's?</title>
<para>
With samba-2.2.x the choice you have is to enable or disable roaming
profiles support. It is a global only setting. The default is to have
roaming profiles and the default path will locate them in the user's home
directory.
</para>
<para>
If disabled globally then no-one will have roaming profile ability.
If enabled and you want it to apply only to certain machines, then on
those machines on which roaming profile support is NOT wanted it is then
necessary to disable roaming profile handling in the registry of each such
machine.
</para>
<para>
With samba-3 you can have a global profile
setting in &smb.conf; _AND_ you can over-ride this by per-user settings
using the Domain User Manager (as with MS Windows NT4/ Win 2Kx).
</para>
<para>
In any case, you can configure only one profile per user. That profile can
be either:
</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>A profile unique to that user</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>A mandatory profile (one the user can not change)</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>A group profile (really should be mandatory ie:unchangable)</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</sect2>
<sect2>
<title>Can NOT use Roaming Profiles</title>
<para>
A user requested the following:
<quote>
I do not want Roaming profiles to be implemented. I want to give users a local profile alone. ...
Please help me I am totally lost with this error. For the past two days I tried everything, I googled
around but found no useful pointers. Please help me.
</quote></para>
<para>
The choices are:
</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Local profiles:</term>
<listitem><para>
I know of no registry keys that will allow auto-deletion of LOCAL profiles on log out
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Roaming profiles:</term>
<listitem><para>
As a user logs onto the network a centrally stored profile is copied to the workstation
to form a local profile. This local profile will persist (remain on the workstation disk)
unless a registry key is changed that will cause this profile to be automatically deleted
on logout.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
<para>
The <emphasis>Roaming Profile</emphasis> choices are:
</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Personal Roaming profiles</term>
<listitem><para>
These are typically stored in a profile share on a central (or conveniently located
local) server.
</para>
<para>
Workstations 'cache' (store) a local copy of the profile. This cached copy is used when
the profile can not be downloaded at next logon.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Group profiles</term>
<listitem><para>These are loaded from a central profile server</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Mandatory profiles</term>
<listitem><para>
Mandatory profiles can be created for a user as well as for any group that a user
is a member of. Mandatory profiles can NOT be changed by ordinary users. Only the administrator
can change or reconfigure a mandatory profile.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
<para>
A WinNT4/2K/XP profile can vary in size from 130KB to off the scale.
Outlook PST files are most often part of the profile and can be many GB in
size. On average (in a well controlled environment) roaming profile size of
2MB is a good rule of thumb to use for planning purposes. In an
undisciplined environment I have seen up to 2GB profiles. Users tend to
complain when it take an hour to log onto a workstation but they harvest
the fruits of folly (and ignorance).
</para>
<para>
The point of all the above is to show that roaming profiles and good
controls of how they can be changed as well as good discipline make up for
a problem free site.
</para>
<para>
Microsoft's answer to the PST problem is to store all email in an MS
Exchange Server back-end. This removes the need for a PST file.
</para>
<para>
LOCAL profiles mean:
</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>If each machine is used my many users then much local disk storage is needed for local profiles</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Every workstation the user logs into has it's own profile, these can be very different from machine to machine</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>
On the other hand, use of roaming profiles means:
</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>The network administrator can control the desktop environment of all users.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Use of mandatory profiles drasitcally reduces network management overheads.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>In the long run users will be experience fewer problems.</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</sect2>
<sect2>
<title>Changing the default profile</title>
<para>
<emphasis>Question:</emphasis>
<quote>
When the client logs onto the domain controller it searches for a profile to download,
where do I put this default profile?
</quote></para>
<para>
Firstly, the samba server needs to be configured as a domain controller.
This can be done by setting in &smb.conf;:
</para>
<smbconfblock>
<smbconfoption><name>security</name><value>user</value></smbconfoption>
<smbconfoption><name>os level</name><value>32 (or more)</value></smbconfoption>
<smbconfoption><name>domain logons</name><value>Yes</value></smbconfoption>
</smbconfblock>
<para>
There must be an <smbconfsection>[netlogon]</smbconfsection> share that is world readable.
It is a good idea to add a logon script to pre-set printer and
drive connections. There is also a facility for automatically
synchronizing the workstation time clock with that of the logon
server (another good thing to do).
</para>
<note><para>
To invoke auto-deletion of roaming profile from the local
workstation cache (disk storage) use the <application>Group Policy Editor</application>
to create a file called <filename>NTConfig.POL</filename> with the appropriate entries. This
file needs to be located in the <smbconfsection>netlogon</smbconfsection> share root directory.</para></note>
<para>
Windows clients need to be members of the domain. Workgroup machines do NOT use network logons so
they do not interoperate with domain profiles.
</para>
<para>
For roaming profiles add to &smb.conf;:
</para>
<para>
<smbconfblock>
<smbconfoption><name>logon path</name><value>\\%N\profiles\%U</value></smbconfoption>
<smbconfcomment>Default logon drive is Z:</smbconfcomment>
<smbconfoption><name>logon drive</name><value>H:</value></smbconfoption>
<smbconfcomment>This requires a PROFILES share that is world writable.</smbconfcomment>
</smbconfblock>
</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
</chapter>