BRC - Windows Folder Redirection Guidelines (2024)

The default permission for Windows folder redirection is to grant the user exclusive rights.

This means an administrator does not have read access to the redirected folders to backthem up.

To set permissions so Axcient BRC can back up the folders, do the following:

1. Create a share folder as the root of all redirected folders on the server hosting theredirected folders. Set the permissions as follows:

  • Share Permissions:
    • Everyone – Full Control
    • Administrators – Full Control
    • System – Full Control
  • NTFS Permissions (in all cases except for note #1 below):
    • Everyone – Read and Execute
    • Administrators – Full Control
    • System – Full Control
  • NTFS Permissions (when note #1 applies):
    • Everyone – Create Folder/Append Data (This Folder Only)
    • Everyone – List Folder/Read Data (This Folder Only)
    • Everyone – Read Attributes (This Folder Only)
    • Everyone – Traverse Folder/Execute File (This Folder Only)
    • CREATOR OWNER – Full Control (Subfolders and Files Only)
    • System – Full Control (This Folder, Subfolders and Files)
    • Domain Admins – Full Control (This Folder, Subfolders and Files)

2. Start the Group Policy Manager (Start > Control Panel > Administration Tools > GroupPolicy Manager).

3. Create a new Group Policy Object (GPO) called Folder Redirection:

  • Open the tree to the target domain.
  • Right-click on Group Policy Objects and select New.
  • Enter the name Folder Redirection and click OK.

4. Expand the Group Policy Objects folder, right-click on the newly created Folder Redirection entry, and select Edit.

5. The Group Policy Management Editor window appears. Folder Redirection appears at the top of the tree.

6. Expand to User Configration > Polices > Windows Settings > Folder Redirection.

7. Enable folder redirection for a desired target (such as Desktop or Documents):

  • Select the target, right-click, and select Properties to display the properties window for that target.
  • Click the Target tab. In the Setting field, select “Basic – Redirect everyone’s folder to the same location.”
  • In the Root Path field, enter \\server_name\share_name\ where server_name is the name of the server and share_name is the name of the share folder you created in step 1.
  • Click the Settings tab. Uncheck the box next to “Grant the user exclusive rights to My Documents”.
  • When both the Target and Settings tab fields are correct, click the OK button.

8. Repeat step 7 for each desired target (Desktop, Documents, Pictures, and so on).

9. When all settings are configured, link the GPO to the appropriate target (the root level domain, child domain, or any organizational unit):

  • For the root level domain, return to the Group Policy Management window and right-click on the domain. (Adjust accordingly for other targets.)
  • Select “Link an Existing GPO”.
  • A link window appears. Select the newly created Folder Redirection GPO, and click OK.

10. To test that the configuration is correct, reboot the client machine and then log in as a user. If folder redirection is successful, the follow event appears in the application log:

Event ID: 401
Source: Folder Redirection
Description: Successfully redirected My Documents. The folder was redirected from
<original_path> to \\server_name\share_name\user_name\My Documents.

Notes:

1. Use the step 1-c NTFS permissions when group policy is configured to redirect to a location where the GPO will automatically create the destination folder (user’s individual Application Data, Desktop, or My Documents folder).

2. User configuration settings in Group Policy take effect at the first log in after the policy is saved and replicated to the user’s login service.

3. Computer configuration settings in Group Policy take effect when the machine reboots and logs on to Active Directory. Therefore, you must reboot a terminal server before new computer configuration settings are applied.

4. The following error message indicates the user still has exclusive rights. If you see this message, repeat step 7-d.

Event ID: 101

User: <name>

Computer: <name>

Description:
Failed to perform redirection of folder <name>.

The new directories for the redirected folder could not be created.

The folder is configured to be redirected to <path>.

The following error occurred: Access is denied.

BRC - Windows Folder Redirection Guidelines (2024)

FAQs

BRC - Windows Folder Redirection Guidelines? ›

Enable folder redirection for a desired target (such as Desktop or Documents): Select the target, right-click, and select Properties to display the properties window for that target. Click the Target tab. In the Setting field, select “Basic – Redirect everyone's folder to the same location.”

What are the best practices for Folder Redirection permissions? ›

For optimal performance of the Folder Redirection feature, it is strongly recommended that you create only the root share on the server, and then let the system create the folders for each user. If you must create the folders for users, ensure that you correctly assign permissions.

How to do proper Folder Redirection in Windows server? ›

Right-click and select properties. Add the setting to “Basic — Redirect everyone's folder to the same location” and paste the network path that we copied in the previous step of the share folder to the root path. Click the Apply button and then the OK button.

What is the applying Folder Redirection policy? ›

Folder Redirection lets administrators redirect the path of a folder to a new location. You can use Group Policy to configure these locations. The location can be a folder on the local computer or a directory on a network file share.

How do I optimize Folder Redirection? ›

Under User Configuration, navigate to Policies, then Administrative Templates, then System, then Folder Redirection. Right-click Enable optimized move of contents in Offline Files cache on Folder Redirection server path change, and then select Edit. Select Enabled, and then select OK.

Is Folder Redirection a good idea why or why not? ›

Folder Redirection allows saving data regardless of storage location and separates user data from profile data decreasing the time required to log on. Other advantages include: Data is stored on a server where it can be backed up.

What is the best redirect method? ›

301 moved permanently

301 refers to the HTTP status code for this type of redirect. In most instances, the 301 redirect is the best method for implementing redirects on a website.

How do we know if the Folder Redirection is configured correctly? ›

To test Folder Redirection, sign in to a computer by using a user account that is configured to use redirected folders. Then confirm that the folders and profiles are redirected.

What is the difference between Folder Redirection and roaming profiles? ›

Roaming User Profiles is used to redirect a user profile to a network location, whereas Folder Redirection enables users and administrators to redirect the path of a known folder to a new location, manually or by using Group Policy. So, the latter may allow for more granularity.

How do I redirect everyone's folder to the same location? ›

The redirection of the AppData (roaming) folder is rarely used. Open the Documents folder properties and configure the following Folder Redirection options: Settings: – Basic, Redirect everyone's folder to the same location. Target folder location: Create a folder for each user under the root path.

What are the disadvantages of Folder Redirection? ›

Potential conflicts: If two users access the same redirected folder or file offline and make changes to it, conflicts can arise when they try to sync their changes back to the server. This can result in lost data or data corruption if the conflicts are not resolved properly.

What is the difference between Folder Redirection and UPD? ›

Folder redirection allows users to be logged in to multiple servers at once without issue accessing files whereas with UPDs, a user cannot be logged into more than one RDS concurrently as their UPD will be locked for use on one server and inaccessible from another until properly dismounted after logging off.

How do I fix user Folder Redirection? ›

Check the folder redirection settings in Group Policy to ensure that they are still pointing to the correct server. You can access these settings by opening the Group Policy Management Console, selecting the appropriate policy, and navigating to User Configuration > Policies > Windows Settings > Folder Redirection.

How often does Folder Redirection sync? ›

Changes are synced in the background every 120 minutes, by default, but synchronization is configurable by using the Configure Background Sync Group Policy setting. For more information, see Enable Always Offline mode for faster access to files.

What is the best practice for setting folder permissions in Windows server? ›

Set permissions at the highest level: Set permissions at the top level of your folder structure and let them propagate down to reduce the amount of permissions you need to manage. Avoid breaking inheritance: Do not break permission inheritance unless absolutely necessary.

What are the four settings you can use when applying custom folder permissions? ›

None – Users cannot see that the folder exists. View – Users can see the folder and what documents are in it. Use – Users can add documents to or remove documents from the folder. Manage – Users can delete the folder, add subfolders, and configure the folder permissions.

What does Folder Redirection allow you as an administrator? ›

Folder Redirection enables users and administrators to redirect the path of a known folder to a new location, manually or by using Group Policy. The new location can be a folder on the local computer or a directory on a file share.

Which type of permission should you set to control access to files and folders? ›

Therefore, you gain the greatest flexibility by using NTFS permissions to control access to shared folders. Moreover, NTFS permissions apply whether the resource is accessed locally or over the network. To do this, change the share permissions for the folder to “Full Control.”

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