Mac OS X Server 10.2: Troubleshooting home directory creation

About Home directories in Mac OS X Server 10.2

User home directories are not created when the account is created in Mac OS X Server 10.2 or later. This behavior differs from previous versions of Mac OS X Server. In Mac OS X Server 10.2 and later, home directories are created the first time a user connects via AFP to the share point that contains his home directory. In Mac OS X Server 10.2.2 or later, you may also create Home directories by using the createhomedir command, as described in technical document 107245,"Mac OS X Server: How to Use createhomedir Command to Create Home Directories".

Macintosh Manager uses AFP to connect to the server, so the user's home directory does not need to be created prior to logging in with Macintosh Manager.

Managed Mac OS X clients can be configured to use AFP or NFS to connect to the user's home directory.

If configured to use AFP, the user's home directory does not need to be created prior to logging in. If configured to use NFS, the following apply:

• A user's home directory needs to be created by connecting via AFP to the volume that contains the home directory, or by using the createhomedir command described above.
• There will not be a 'home_loc' property in NetInfo. The 'home_loc' property is required by AFP, but not by NFS.
• The NFS export must either be configured to allow world access or to allow specific client IP Addresses. Do not configure more than one NFS export per volume for world access.

Connecting automatically at login

If home directories are not automatically created when logging on via AFP, verify that users can automatically connect to the share point ("automount"). This means that Guest Access must be selected in both Server Settings and Workgroup Manager. Use the following steps to verify this is properly configured:

1. In Server Settings, select "Configure Apple File Service".
2. Click the Access tab.
3. Select the Guest Access option.
4. In Workgroup Manager, select the share point that hosts user Home directories.
5. Click the Protocols tab.
6. Select the Guest Access option.
7. Click the General tab.
8. Allow at least Read Only access for everyone to this share point.
9. Repeat Steps 4 to 8 for each share point that hosts user home directories.

You should now restart bound Mac OS X clients, since automounts are configured for connection at system startup.

Note:

Delays in bringing up network interfaces can cause home directories to fail to mount. In particular, spanning tree can cause issues.

Reconfigure Home settings for affected users

If home directories are still not created when logging on via AFP, determine which users are affected and apply the following steps to one affected user, as a test:

1. Open Workgroup Manager and select the Home tab for the user account.
2. Select No Home, and then save the changes.
3. Configure a proper Home directory share point by selecting either Network or Advanced. If you select Network, be sure to select the proper share point and then save the changes. If you select Advanced, be sure to complete the requested information and then save the changes.

Notes

1. The "Network" home directory option is often the preferred option. The "Local" home directory option should only be used when the user will log on to the server itself, rather than a client over the network.

2. Macintosh Manager clients will not locate a user's home directory if the share point contains a space in the name. See technical document 107254, "Macintosh Manager 2: Do Not Use Spaces in Home Directory Share Point Name".

3. If the hostname or DNS name of the server changes, the 'home' and 'home_loc' values (in the user's NetInfo record) are not automatically updated. Update these values in NetInfo by reconfiguring the home settings for the affected users, as described above.