Windows 2003 Terminal Server - Prevent roaming profile changes from propagating to the server for certain users
Scenario:
There a two types of terminal server users and they need to have profiles setup in 2 different ways:- First group - use single shared profile located on the network \\Server\ShareName\TMS-Profile. Any changes user makes to the profile are not propagated to the network copy of the profile - every time users log on they receive a fresh profile copy.
- Second group - every user have an individual user profile located on the network \\Server\ShareName\UserName. All changes are saved back to the network profile copy on log-off.
Solution:
Normally I would use group policy to setup all terminal server settings, including user profiles. In this scenario problem is that "Prevent Roaming Profile changes from propagating to the server" is part of Group Policy Computer Configuration section, therefore policy can't be filtered for different user groups.I resolved this by setting Terminal Server Profile Path in AD user object Properties.
- First group of users had profile path set to the \\Server\ShareName\TMS-Profile. To prevent changes propagating back to the server profile was made mandatory. To make profile mandatory you simply rename NTUSER.DAT to NTUSER.MAN which is located in profile root folder (this is hidden system file). Read more about mandatory profiles here.
- Second group of users had profile path set simply to \\Server\ShareName\UserName without any additional configuration.
Windows cannot log you on because your profile cannot be loaded - Indexing Service (cidaemon.exe) locks files in roaming profiles.
A quick check in Event Viewer Application logs revealed following errors:
Source: Userenv
Even ID: 1509
Type: Error
Description:
Windows cannot copy file \\server2\tms\profile_path\user\Favorites\File.url. Possible causes of this error include network problems or insufficient security rights. If this problem persists, contact your network administrator.
DETAIL - Access is denied.
Source: Userenv
Even ID: 1500
Type: Error
Description:
Windows cannot log you on because your profile cannot be loaded. Check that you are connected to the network, or that your network is functioning correctly. If this problem persists, contact your network administrator.
DETAIL - Access is denied.
cidaemon.exe is Windows Indexing Service component. It is supposed to release all its file locks as soon as other process tries to access the file, but for reasons better known to Microsoft is often not doing this. There is not much use of Indexing Service on Windows 2003 (especially Terminal Server) so we disabled it completely which immediately fixed the problem.
There are two ways to disable Indexing Service:
- Windows Explorer > Search > Change preferences > Without Indexing Service > No, do not enable Indexing Service > OK
- Start > Run > services.msc
Stop Indexing Service and set Startup type to Disabled
VMware vSphere Client error - Error parsing the se...
VMware vSphere Client error - Error parsing the server "[server]" "clients.xml" file
The type initializer for VirtualInfrastructure.Utils.HttpWebRequestProxy' threw an exception.
These errors are caused by an updated Microsoft .NET version.
You have couple of options here.
Probably easiest fix is to download latest version of vSphere Client from VMware. If for some reason you can't do this follow instructions below
- Download system.dll file. This file is taken from older version of Microsoft .NET installation.
- Copy this file to C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\lib
On 64 bit OS path would be: C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\lib
If lib folder doesn't exist then create it. - Open file C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\VpxClient.exe.config in a text editor and just before last line </configuration> paste following code:
<runtime>
<developmentMode developerInstallation="true"/>
</runtime> - Control Panel > System > Advanced > Environment Variables
In System Variables click New and add following system variable:
Name: DEVPATH
Value: C:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\lib
Remember that on 64 bit system instead of Program Files you have to use Program Files (x86) - Launch VMware vSphere Client again. This time it should run without any errors.
Logon Failure: The target account name is incorrect
Background
Windows Server 2003 domain
Windows XP SP3 clients
Problem
Domain administrator is trying to access remote computer's file system via UNC administrative share e.g \\computer01\c$Operation fails with error:
\\computer01\c$ not accessible you might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions.
Logon failure: The target account name is incorrect
Solution
This issue is often caused by an incorrect DNS entry for the client computer on the DNS server. Sometimes it happens after computer is assigned a static IP address and DNS server still have a record for the old IP. Try accessing computer using its IP address. e.g. \\192.168.1.105\c$. If this works update computer's DNS record on your DNS server. Ensure that DNS server is functioning properly.- Message rejected as spam by Content Filtering
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