Why you don't configure a server during the school year....

What a day!!  Because we couldn't track down our problems, we got to start from scratch.  What a great way to put into practice what we have learned.  (Insert sarcastic facial expression here.)

We reinstalled Server 2008 - quite without incident, actually.  By the end of the class period, we had almost caught up with the rest of the class.  Then, the trouble began.

We set up our network logon using the following:

1. Create a batch file with the following command.
2. Net use s: \\servername\shared  (use own server).
3. Save as login.bat in the Windows –> netlogon folder.

More detailed instructions from http://www.petri.co.il/setting-up-logon-script-through-gpo-windows-server-2008.htm

1. Open Group Policy Management Console from the Administrative Tools folder (or gpmc.msc from RUN).
2. Expand the domain tree, locate the OU where the users from are located. Right-click the OU and select Create and Link a GPO Here.
3. In the New GPO window, give the new GPO a descriptive name, such as "Test Logon Script GPO". Click OK.
4.  Right-click the new GPO and select Edit.
5. In the Group Policy Object Editor window, expand User Configuration > Windows Settings > Scripts.
6. Double-click Logon in the right-hand pane.
7. In the Logon Properties window, click Show Files.
8. A window will open. The path will be a folder similar to the following: \\domain.com\SYSVOL\Petri.local\Policies\{E4A62379-8423-4654-8DB6-01FB8F58582D}\User\Scripts\Logon. Paste the logon script you've copied in the previous part of this article. Close the window.
9. Back in the Logon Properties window, click Add.
10. In the Add a Script window, click Browse and you will see the logon script step #11. Whatever you do, DO NOT manually browse for the file, it should be in front of your eyes. If it's not there, check the previous steps for a mistake. Click OK.
11. Back in the Logon Properties window, see if the logon script is listed, and if it is, click OK.
12. Close the Group Policy Object Editor window.
13. Close the GPMC window.
14. Use the cmd "gpdate /force" to push/pull gp updates before the scheduled time.  My require log off/on or reboot.

OK, so we did that, but we had two problems.  One was that the file wasn't replicating properly.  We had only one-way communication with Lyle's server.  Lyle ended up fixing that with a change in a registry key - burflag set to D2 (found this solution on google).

The second one was that our share wouldn't work.  It just wasn't mapping the shared drive properly.  Honestly, I think Rocky and I would have been there forever if Lyle hadn't remembered a problem that he had had with Win NT and Win 2003.  It turns out that all our policy was correct and in the correct place.  What was happening was that Windows was operating the policy, but doing so before the logon was completely finished.  In essence, it was mapping the drive, but the drive wasn't showing up yet, so there was nothing to map.  In order to solve the problem, he applied the "always wait for the network at computer startup and logon" policy - first to our server, then to the entire network.  (You may express your gratitude in chocolate, fellow techies).


Creating a user (See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Js3H9jG67I)

1. In Active Directory Users and Computers
2. Right click on the folder that describes the user (eg. Students, Teachers, etc.)
3. Choose New --> User (Lyle also used InetOrgPerson)
4. Assign a username
5. Choose password settings (must change at logon, manual entry, etc.)
6. Close dialogue box.
7. In list of users, right click and choose properties.
8. Make changes to Description, Profile and other settings as necessary.  

So----onward and upward (because there really isn't any other direction to go.)  I'll looking forward to learning about folder redirection.  I'm hoping to be able to try it out at my school.  It may solve some of the profile corruption issues we have been having.