network user account

Yes.

Research "Open Directory" (and then install and configure on the server), then use the "Directory Service" application on the client machines to bind the clients to the server.

Use "Workgroup Manager" on the server to administer user and group accounts.

Do you have a specific question about the setup of a Mac OS X Server running Open Directory, or is this just a question in general? If you have even minimal experience with Mac OS X Server, this setup shouldn't be difficult at all.
 
Hey ElDiabloConCaca's,
thanks for the info, i got it working! wow its amazing, the only problem i am having is setting up a home folder for the user on the network server, i want the users to save work on their own personal folder on the server (dedicated hard drive on the server) i tried the sharepoint option but it seems to only save on the client home folder. Can someone help me out? thanks!
 
Can we use NFS for setting up home folders? if so who do i get it to automount using NFS, any guides?
 
this is my setup
i have a windows domain environment and i am installing a mac osx server along with 5 imacs.
My setup is as follows for the server

Network - static ip, for dns setting - we have two dns server in the windows environment so i have entered those and the domain search is the our domain (eg test.com) so thats my network setting on eth01 on the mac, nothing else

It is setup as a OD master and i am able to create network user account on it and have clients to authenticate with the server and the home folders are created on the clients machine they log on to. I want change that, so i implemented the use of afs and nfs but each time i create them, and then hit the create home folder button i get home directory can not be created an error has occurs, the user acct do have read & write permissions bu its a no go so can you give me so tips. thanks!
 
Strange... where are the network home folders being created? Are they within the guidelines of the Apple tech article I linked to in my last post?
 
Strange... where are the network home folders being created? Are they within the guidelines of the Apple tech article I linked to in my last post?

I have the setup as to be created on the server, but its not working out. If i try to log on to the server thru a client machine i can't log on and if i manage to it says the errors says the home directory can not be located or is unreachable, so i am lost! Help!
 
Ok, one more time... does the location on the server that you're trying to create the home directory in conform to the specifications listed in the Apple tech document I linked to?

Specifically, is the absolute path to the home directory location sufficiently short enough (89 characters or less)?

I know you're using 10.5, but in 10.4, spaces were not allowed in the pathname to the user's networked home folder. Just t make absolute sure, are their any spaces in the absolute path to the location in which you're trying to create home folders?
 
I am going have to get back to you on that one as i am rebuilding my server to begin from starch, then i will report, thanks for all your help bro.
 
Nope, don't think so. You mentioned that you're running other DNS servers, right? Those should suffice -- I would just think that you need to be able to resolve DNS on your network, so running the DNS service on your Mac OS X Server shouldn't be necessary as long as you're running it elsewhere.

It may not be needed at all, though.
 
Ok so i finished rebuilding my server and i have setup the OD along with a test account, but i haven't set a home dir for the test account. I set up the home dir for the diradmin account and tested it by logging out a client machine and i was able to log on and have the diradmin account work but he home dir is on the client machine. So how to make sure that i can setup network home dir for the account? please help!
 
The "network home" service will create two copies of the user's home folder -- one on the local machine and one on the server.

The two home directories will be synchronized when the user logs on and off.

You may want to read up about AD and OD in the server manual:

http://images.apple.com/server/macosx/docs/Open_Directory_Admin_v10.5_3rd_Ed.pdf

I don't know if it's possible to have a home folder solely located on the server without one on the local machine as well.
 
Ah man
again i get the same error, all i did was create the OD, started that service, added afp service then created a folder under the users folder called home shared it, then set the permissions for all as read & write,then went into file sharing tab on server admin, set the folder to automount, selected afp service for access, disabled the rest then went into workgroup manager, selected the user, then home tab, selected the afp command, then clicked create home now, clicked save then i get the message unable to create home directory- The home directory could not be created because an error occurred. help anyone!
 
Maybe clicking "create home" created the directory for you, and since you already manually created the directory, it's erroring...

Hey, it's worth a shot. Don't manually create the home folder.

Perhaps it's the ordering of commands as well -- first, do the "create home folder" button, THEN go into Server Admin and do the automount stuff.
 
Ok i will give that a shot,
first i will convert the server into a standalone then convert it back to od,
create a test user, then under the user's home option, type in the commands for afp to map home drive on the network, then go back to admin server file sharing tab, then set the folder to automount and set afp as the protocol to access the folder, sounds good?
 
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