Properly Setting up Permissions moving from Windows server to ReadyNAS
Complicated post - I'm sorry....I'm a ReadyNAS newbie.
Had a Windows 2008 server. It was just a networked drive. Did not use it for policy setting, pushing updates or anything. Have 9 MACs and 7 PCs in the office.
I used ViceVersa (https://www.tgrmn.com) to copy over all of the files from the Windows Server to the ReadyNAS. 600+ gig. Any checkbox that said to carry over, keep or use or move permissions I did NOT check. I did not want any of the old Windows permissions to come with the files.... Our company has about 6 divisions so there were 6 main folders.
I created Users on the NAS and Groups.
My main SHARE on the ReadyNAS where the entire "server" was copied to is called "Data". Under that is my "FILE-SERVER" folder and under that are the files (600+ gig) and the main 6 folder structure.
In the ADMIN login page, under SHARES, i see DATA and clicking the cog wheel then SETTINGS and then under the tab FILE ACCESS it has Folder Owner and Folder Group set to "guest". I have Anonymous enabled also.
I have each machine connected with their user info. MACs with smb:// and PCs mapped the drive.
Now I have random fodlers that people cannot get into. They click the folder and it hangs...then the Finder window crashes or their PC folder window is Non-Responsive.
I did notice when i conencted a MAC with afp:// it accessed the folder, but another MAC connected with afp:// would not. And I have not set any permissions via Windows>Properties>Security on those folders at all...
It's like I'm missing something in copying these files over and setting people up to acces them.... ?
Shoudl I or should I NOT connect each person with their own user credentials? ONLY IF they need special permissions? I do have an ACCOUNTING folder and an EXECUTIVE folder that only certain people should get into and i set permission on those folders in the Windows right-click folder>Properties>Security and it worked perfect.
? what am I missing? Besides a comprehensive understanding of file permissions and setup on a NAS?
Thank you so much.
and no - I do not want to use Active Adirectory or any Windows machine for user management/access. I want to do it ALL from the ReadyNAS.
Re: Properly Setting up Permissions moving from Windows server to ReadyNAS
First of all, the default volume name of the NAS is also Data. That can be accessed over SMB with admin credentials - but there is a conflict if you also have a share named Data. So my advice is to rename the share to something else. Or (better), create multiple shares instead of putting everything into a single share.
Second, try going in the share page and reset the file permissions. You do that by clicking on the share settings wheel, and then select "file access". The reset button is on the left.
Shoudl I or should I NOT connect each person with their own user credentials? ONLY IF they need special permissions? I do have an ACCOUNTING folder and an EXECUTIVE folder that only certain people should get into and i set permission on those folders in the Windows right-click folder>Properties>Security and it worked perfect.
Windows is tightening up on anonymous access, so I think you should be connecting people with their own credentials. Though if that is burdensome, you can have groups of people share a single NAS account.
Overall, it is often simpler to control access using network access controls in the NAS instead of using file permissions. Network access is share-by-share (and that is one reason I suggested using multiple shares above).
Re: Properly Setting up Permissions moving from Windows server to ReadyNAS
Stephen - thank you.....the whole "DATA" naming thing - I wondered if that was an issue possibly.
So let me just run this by you. Here is my folder structure:
DATA
--CHAMBER
--CORPORATE
--ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
--GRAPHICS and PHOTOS
--PLANNING AND PROPERTY
--TECHNOLOGY
--AP_DRIVE
...so i thought last night, should I just create shares at the main root level PER main folder? Instead of trying to put those 7 main folders UNDER "DATA" or "FILE-SERVER" - that is your recommendation? The only problem with that is on my PCs the "old" server was mapped as the "S:\" drive so all file linking and such still works...becasue "S:\CHAMBER\Inner Folder 1\File1.doc" on the old server is still the sameon the new server and I have 216,000+ files. But if I make "CHAMBER" a share at the root of the NAS, then map that drive, I can only "map" ONE of the main SHARES as "S:\"....? They would have multiple mapped drives to get to each main folder....?
...another question - folder names - spaces? capitalization? symbols? (dashes, etc...) does that matter on a NAS?
...another question - folder names - spaces? capitalization? symbols? (dashes, etc...) does that matter on a NAS?
Capitialization rules for SMB are the same as with a Windows Server - you can enter case, but it is ignored when searching, etc. Similarly, rules for spaces and symbols are the same as with Windows.
International characters are allowed, but might not be rendered properly in some places.
But if I make "CHAMBER" a share at the root of the NAS, then map that drive, I can only "map" ONE of the main SHARES as "S:\"....? They would have multiple mapped drives to get to each main folder....?
Yes, if CHAMBER, EXECUTIVE, etc are their own shares, then you'd need to map them as different drive letters
A middle ground is to make ACCOUNTING, EXECUTIVE shares, and rename DATA. Then use network access to control access to ACCOUNTING and EXECUTIVE. That would limit the number of users with multiple drive letters.
Re: Properly Setting up Permissions moving from Windows server to ReadyNAS
To allow just one mapped drive, rename your "DATA" to "SHARES" (for "S:"). Of course, anything other than an existing share, volume, or user name will work, but that seems a natural choice. Doing so does restrict your ability to restrict users to specific areas, but you don't seem to need to do that.
