Windows NT Roaming profile on Terminal Servers

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Sam_Kedren

Hi,

This is my first post on the forum, I hope to come here often as we have
Terminal Servers set up in our network environment.

I have a problem with roaming profiles. Here's the scenario, there are
three terminal servers and they are set up for load balancing. When a user
log onto a TS server, the load balancing will work its magic and direct the
users to one of the three Terminal Servers, the profiles are located on
Terminal Server 1, however when the user gets redirected to another terminal
server, the profiles does not get moved acrossed. For example, the My
Document path is set for Terminal Server 1, but the path aren't pointing to
Terminal Server 1, rather they are pointing to the local computer.

This is just one example of the problem as there are others assocaited with
roaming profiles, such as printer settings, desktop shortcut icons etc. Any
help in this matter is greatly appreciated in advance.

Regards,

Sam
 
Sam_Kedren wrote:
> Hi,
>
> This is my first post on the forum, I hope to come here often as we have
> Terminal Servers set up in our network environment.
>
> I have a problem with roaming profiles. Here's the scenario, there are
> three terminal servers and they are set up for load balancing. When a user
> log onto a TS server, the load balancing will work its magic and direct the
> users to one of the three Terminal Servers, the profiles are located on
> Terminal Server 1, however when the user gets redirected to another terminal
> server, the profiles does not get moved acrossed. For example, the My
> Document path is set for Terminal Server 1, but the path aren't pointing to
> Terminal Server 1, rather they are pointing to the local computer.
>
> This is just one example of the problem as there are others assocaited with
> roaming profiles, such as printer settings, desktop shortcut icons etc. Any
> help in this matter is greatly appreciated in advance.
>
> Regards,
>
> Sam

You must use Roaming Profiles to address this.
Launch Active Directory Users and Computers and double click a user.
Under 'Terminal Services Profile Path' set something like
\\FILESERVER\PROFILES$\%USERNAME% where FILESERVER will be a server on
your network (preferably not one of the TSs) and PROFILES$ will be the
shared folder (for example create a folder called Profiles on your file
server and share it as PROFILES$).
If you do this, no matter which server they logon to, profiles will
always work.

--
Cláudio Rodrigues
CEO, TSFactory Inc.

Microsoft MVP
Windows Server - Terminal Services
http://www.tsfactory.com
 
What we do is set up a terminal server roaming profile path that points to a
file server share (\\fileservername\profiles\%username%), that way it
doesn't matter which terminal server the user logs onto their profile will
be copied from the file server share to the terminal server when they log on
and copied back to the share when they log off.

You should probably also consider giving the users a home directory on a
file server to save their documents in and setting this as their "My
Documents" path, for example map H: to \\fileservername\home\%usename% , so
as to avoid them storing large quantities of work files in their roaming
profiles, which may cause issues with logging on and logging off.

Peter Lawton

"Sam_Kedren" <Sam_Kedren@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:0E8FBCD3-E959-48EE-8DAA-966D955127C2@microsoft.com...
> Hi,
>
> This is my first post on the forum, I hope to come here often as we have
> Terminal Servers set up in our network environment.
>
> I have a problem with roaming profiles. Here's the scenario, there are
> three terminal servers and they are set up for load balancing. When a
> user
> log onto a TS server, the load balancing will work its magic and direct
> the
> users to one of the three Terminal Servers, the profiles are located on
> Terminal Server 1, however when the user gets redirected to another
> terminal
> server, the profiles does not get moved acrossed. For example, the My
> Document path is set for Terminal Server 1, but the path aren't pointing
> to
> Terminal Server 1, rather they are pointing to the local computer.
>
> This is just one example of the problem as there are others assocaited
> with
> roaming profiles, such as printer settings, desktop shortcut icons etc.
> Any
> help in this matter is greatly appreciated in advance.
>
> Regards,
>
> Sam
 
Hi Peter,

Thanks for your suggestion. I check the Active directory user settings per
your suggestions and they are actually in placed, meaning the settings are
the same as you pointed out.

Maybe I am not addressing the question properly. It is that the roaming
profiles are not copying over when the user logs on and is assigned to a
different Terminal Server. It is as though they are logging into the
Terminal Server for the very first time. Any input is appreciated.


Regards,

Sam

"Peter Lawton" wrote:

> What we do is set up a terminal server roaming profile path that points to a
> file server share (\\fileservername\profiles\%username%), that way it
> doesn't matter which terminal server the user logs onto their profile will
> be copied from the file server share to the terminal server when they log on
> and copied back to the share when they log off.
>
> You should probably also consider giving the users a home directory on a
> file server to save their documents in and setting this as their "My
> Documents" path, for example map H: to \\fileservername\home\%usename% , so
> as to avoid them storing large quantities of work files in their roaming
> profiles, which may cause issues with logging on and logging off.
>
> Peter Lawton
>
> "Sam_Kedren" <Sam_Kedren@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:0E8FBCD3-E959-48EE-8DAA-966D955127C2@microsoft.com...
> > Hi,
> >
> > This is my first post on the forum, I hope to come here often as we have
> > Terminal Servers set up in our network environment.
> >
> > I have a problem with roaming profiles. Here's the scenario, there are
> > three terminal servers and they are set up for load balancing. When a
> > user
> > log onto a TS server, the load balancing will work its magic and direct
> > the
> > users to one of the three Terminal Servers, the profiles are located on
> > Terminal Server 1, however when the user gets redirected to another
> > terminal
> > server, the profiles does not get moved acrossed. For example, the My
> > Document path is set for Terminal Server 1, but the path aren't pointing
> > to
> > Terminal Server 1, rather they are pointing to the local computer.
> >
> > This is just one example of the problem as there are others assocaited
> > with
> > roaming profiles, such as printer settings, desktop shortcut icons etc.
> > Any
> > help in this matter is greatly appreciated in advance.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Sam

>
>
 
That sounds like the roaming profiles aren't working for some reason

Are there any files being created, after the user has logged on and off
once, in the roaming profile path you've set for the user in "Profile Path"
in the "Terminal Services Profile" tab of the user in Active Directory Users
and Computers ?

Peter Lawton

"Sam_Kedren" <SamKedren@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:486AAA15-7D79-4F42-A965-42005EFE605F@microsoft.com...
> Hi Peter,
>
> Thanks for your suggestion. I check the Active directory user settings
> per
> your suggestions and they are actually in placed, meaning the settings are
> the same as you pointed out.
>
> Maybe I am not addressing the question properly. It is that the roaming
> profiles are not copying over when the user logs on and is assigned to a
> different Terminal Server. It is as though they are logging into the
> Terminal Server for the very first time. Any input is appreciated.
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Sam
>
> "Peter Lawton" wrote:
>
>> What we do is set up a terminal server roaming profile path that points
>> to a
>> file server share (\\fileservername\profiles\%username%), that way it
>> doesn't matter which terminal server the user logs onto their profile
>> will
>> be copied from the file server share to the terminal server when they log
>> on
>> and copied back to the share when they log off.
>>
>> You should probably also consider giving the users a home directory on a
>> file server to save their documents in and setting this as their "My
>> Documents" path, for example map H: to \\fileservername\home\%usename% ,
>> so
>> as to avoid them storing large quantities of work files in their roaming
>> profiles, which may cause issues with logging on and logging off.
>>
>> Peter Lawton
>>
>> "Sam_Kedren" <Sam_Kedren@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:0E8FBCD3-E959-48EE-8DAA-966D955127C2@microsoft.com...
>> > Hi,
>> >
>> > This is my first post on the forum, I hope to come here often as we
>> > have
>> > Terminal Servers set up in our network environment.
>> >
>> > I have a problem with roaming profiles. Here's the scenario, there are
>> > three terminal servers and they are set up for load balancing. When a
>> > user
>> > log onto a TS server, the load balancing will work its magic and direct
>> > the
>> > users to one of the three Terminal Servers, the profiles are located
>> > on
>> > Terminal Server 1, however when the user gets redirected to another
>> > terminal
>> > server, the profiles does not get moved acrossed. For example, the My
>> > Document path is set for Terminal Server 1, but the path aren't
>> > pointing
>> > to
>> > Terminal Server 1, rather they are pointing to the local computer.
>> >
>> > This is just one example of the problem as there are others assocaited
>> > with
>> > roaming profiles, such as printer settings, desktop shortcut icons etc.
>> > Any
>> > help in this matter is greatly appreciated in advance.
>> >
>> > Regards,
>> >
>> > Sam

>>
>>
 
Hi Peter,

Yes, it appears the roaming profiles are not working.

When the user logs onto the Terminal Servers, the profile are rebuilt even
though we have it set up to where the profiles are set to roam.


When they log on they get a message within a user environment dialogue box,
"windows cannot find local profile and is logging you on with a temporary
profile. Changes you make to this profile will be lost when you log off."

Any insights? Thank you

Regards,

Sam


"Peter Lawton" wrote:

> That sounds like the roaming profiles aren't working for some reason
>
> Are there any files being created, after the user has logged on and off
> once, in the roaming profile path you've set for the user in "Profile Path"
> in the "Terminal Services Profile" tab of the user in Active Directory Users
> and Computers ?
>
> Peter Lawton
>
> "Sam_Kedren" <SamKedren@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:486AAA15-7D79-4F42-A965-42005EFE605F@microsoft.com...
> > Hi Peter,
> >
> > Thanks for your suggestion. I check the Active directory user settings
> > per
> > your suggestions and they are actually in placed, meaning the settings are
> > the same as you pointed out.
> >
> > Maybe I am not addressing the question properly. It is that the roaming
> > profiles are not copying over when the user logs on and is assigned to a
> > different Terminal Server. It is as though they are logging into the
> > Terminal Server for the very first time. Any input is appreciated.
> >
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Sam
> >
> > "Peter Lawton" wrote:
> >
> >> What we do is set up a terminal server roaming profile path that points
> >> to a
> >> file server share (\\fileservername\profiles\%username%), that way it
> >> doesn't matter which terminal server the user logs onto their profile
> >> will
> >> be copied from the file server share to the terminal server when they log
> >> on
> >> and copied back to the share when they log off.
> >>
> >> You should probably also consider giving the users a home directory on a
> >> file server to save their documents in and setting this as their "My
> >> Documents" path, for example map H: to \\fileservername\home\%usename% ,
> >> so
> >> as to avoid them storing large quantities of work files in their roaming
> >> profiles, which may cause issues with logging on and logging off.
> >>
> >> Peter Lawton
> >>
> >> "Sam_Kedren" <Sam_Kedren@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> news:0E8FBCD3-E959-48EE-8DAA-966D955127C2@microsoft.com...
> >> > Hi,
> >> >
> >> > This is my first post on the forum, I hope to come here often as we
> >> > have
> >> > Terminal Servers set up in our network environment.
> >> >
> >> > I have a problem with roaming profiles. Here's the scenario, there are
> >> > three terminal servers and they are set up for load balancing. When a
> >> > user
> >> > log onto a TS server, the load balancing will work its magic and direct
> >> > the
> >> > users to one of the three Terminal Servers, the profiles are located
> >> > on
> >> > Terminal Server 1, however when the user gets redirected to another
> >> > terminal
> >> > server, the profiles does not get moved acrossed. For example, the My
> >> > Document path is set for Terminal Server 1, but the path aren't
> >> > pointing
> >> > to
> >> > Terminal Server 1, rather they are pointing to the local computer.
> >> >
> >> > This is just one example of the problem as there are others assocaited
> >> > with
> >> > roaming profiles, such as printer settings, desktop shortcut icons etc.
> >> > Any
> >> > help in this matter is greatly appreciated in advance.
> >> >
> >> > Regards,
> >> >
> >> > Sam
> >>
> >>

>
>
 
Hi Sam,

No it's very puzzling, if you have a terminal services roaming profile path
set in AD the terminal servers should use that and use roaming profiles
instead of local profiles.

The only time I've seen the message your users are getting is when our file
server that holds the roaming profiles is down and the share unavailable,
have you checked the rights on the share and NTFS rights on the directory
you're using to store the roaming profiles to make sure all users have the
necessary rights to read and write there?

Peter Lawton

"Sam_Kedren" <SamKedren@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:67D4A866-1783-4198-ABD6-0C737A52B68D@microsoft.com...
> Hi Peter,
>
> Yes, it appears the roaming profiles are not working.
>
> When the user logs onto the Terminal Servers, the profile are rebuilt even
> though we have it set up to where the profiles are set to roam.
>
>
> When they log on they get a message within a user environment dialogue
> box,
> "windows cannot find local profile and is logging you on with a temporary
> profile. Changes you make to this profile will be lost when you log off."
>
> Any insights? Thank you
>
> Regards,
>
> Sam
>
>
> "Peter Lawton" wrote:
>
>> That sounds like the roaming profiles aren't working for some reason
>>
>> Are there any files being created, after the user has logged on and off
>> once, in the roaming profile path you've set for the user in "Profile
>> Path"
>> in the "Terminal Services Profile" tab of the user in Active Directory
>> Users
>> and Computers ?
>>
>> Peter Lawton
>>
>> "Sam_Kedren" <SamKedren@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:486AAA15-7D79-4F42-A965-42005EFE605F@microsoft.com...
>> > Hi Peter,
>> >
>> > Thanks for your suggestion. I check the Active directory user settings
>> > per
>> > your suggestions and they are actually in placed, meaning the settings
>> > are
>> > the same as you pointed out.
>> >
>> > Maybe I am not addressing the question properly. It is that the
>> > roaming
>> > profiles are not copying over when the user logs on and is assigned to
>> > a
>> > different Terminal Server. It is as though they are logging into the
>> > Terminal Server for the very first time. Any input is appreciated.
>> >
>> >
>> > Regards,
>> >
>> > Sam
>> >
>> > "Peter Lawton" wrote:
>> >
>> >> What we do is set up a terminal server roaming profile path that
>> >> points
>> >> to a
>> >> file server share (\\fileservername\profiles\%username%), that way it
>> >> doesn't matter which terminal server the user logs onto their profile
>> >> will
>> >> be copied from the file server share to the terminal server when they
>> >> log
>> >> on
>> >> and copied back to the share when they log off.
>> >>
>> >> You should probably also consider giving the users a home directory on
>> >> a
>> >> file server to save their documents in and setting this as their "My
>> >> Documents" path, for example map H: to \\fileservername\home\%usename%
>> >> ,
>> >> so
>> >> as to avoid them storing large quantities of work files in their
>> >> roaming
>> >> profiles, which may cause issues with logging on and logging off.
>> >>
>> >> Peter Lawton
>> >>
>> >> "Sam_Kedren" <Sam_Kedren@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> >> news:0E8FBCD3-E959-48EE-8DAA-966D955127C2@microsoft.com...
>> >> > Hi,
>> >> >
>> >> > This is my first post on the forum, I hope to come here often as we
>> >> > have
>> >> > Terminal Servers set up in our network environment.
>> >> >
>> >> > I have a problem with roaming profiles. Here's the scenario, there
>> >> > are
>> >> > three terminal servers and they are set up for load balancing. When
>> >> > a
>> >> > user
>> >> > log onto a TS server, the load balancing will work its magic and
>> >> > direct
>> >> > the
>> >> > users to one of the three Terminal Servers, the profiles are
>> >> > located
>> >> > on
>> >> > Terminal Server 1, however when the user gets redirected to another
>> >> > terminal
>> >> > server, the profiles does not get moved acrossed. For example, the
>> >> > My
>> >> > Document path is set for Terminal Server 1, but the path aren't
>> >> > pointing
>> >> > to
>> >> > Terminal Server 1, rather they are pointing to the local computer.
>> >> >
>> >> > This is just one example of the problem as there are others
>> >> > assocaited
>> >> > with
>> >> > roaming profiles, such as printer settings, desktop shortcut icons
>> >> > etc.
>> >> > Any
>> >> > help in this matter is greatly appreciated in advance.
>> >> >
>> >> > Regards,
>> >> >
>> >> > Sam
>> >>
>> >>

>>
>>
 
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