How to Move Users & Create New Home Directories

Question:  What is the procedure to use EMU to move user accounts to a new OU and/or new server and create new empty home directories.

Background:  A school network administrator needs to:

• move student eDirectory accounts: 
  • from the ou=2012,ou=Students,ou=Middle-School,o=District
  • to ou=2012,ou=Students,ou=High-School,o=District.
• As part of this move:
  • existing home directories will be orphaned and removed from FS-MS\DATA\Users\Students\2012
  • and new home directories will be created on
    FS-HS\DATA\Users\Students\2012.

Steps:  The recommended procedures to move users within the same eDirectory/NDS tree and create new empty home directories are:

1. Use EMU to disable and move user accounts to a new OU container.
2. Use EMU to clear the Home Directory NWPath attribute.
3. Use EMU to create new home directories.
4. Use EMU to re-enable moved accounts.
5. Use EMU to remove orphan home directories previously assigned to the user accounts.

Move eDirectory User Accounts

To disable user accounts before moving them:

1. Locate and highlight the user(s) in the "NDS Information" pane, and right-click.
2. Choose "Modify Account(s)".
3. Select the "NDS" tab and the "Acct Restrictions & Env" button.
4. In the "Acct Restrictions & Env" detail page, check "Account Enable/Disable" and ensure "Disabled" is selected.
5. Click the "Modify" button.

To move user accounts using EMU:

1. Locate and highlight the user(s) in the "NDS Information" pane, and right-click.
2. Choose "Move Account(s) to New Container.
3. In the "Move Account(s) to New Container" window, navigate and select the OU container to move the user(s) to (e.g. ou=2012,ou=Students,ou=High-School,o=District) and click "OK".
4. In the "Are you sure?" window, verify the destination and choose "Yes" to continue, or "No" to cancel.
5. If you selected "Yes", choose "OK" in the "Refresh" window.
6. In the "NDS Information" pane, close the source OU container and expand the target OU container and confirm that the user(s) were moved correctly.

Clear the Home Directory Attribute

EMU cannot create a home directory for a user if the Home Directory value is already set to another directory.  EMU can be used to clear the home directory attribute so that a new home directory can be created.

1. In EMU, locate and highlight the user(s) in the "NDS Information" pane, and right-click.
2. Choose "Modify Account(s)".
3. Select the "NDS" tab and the "Advanced Values" button.
4. In the "Advanced Values" pane, check the Schema Name "Home Directory" attribute that has a Schema type of "NWPath". Leave the "Enter Value:" text box empty.
5. Click "Modify".

This will remove the value assigned to "Home Directory" for each of the users.  The previously assigned home directories on the FS-MS server will now be orphaned.

Use EMU to Create a New Home Directory

EMU can now be used to create new home directories for the users that were just moved:

1. In EMU, locate and highlight the user(s) in the "NDS Information" pane, and right-click.
2. Choose "Modify Account(s)".
3. Under the "Home Directory" tab click the "Create Home Dir" button.
4. Check "Create Home Directories" and click "Select Location".
5. In the Directory Location window, browse and select the new parent folder for the user home directories (e.g. FS-HS\DATA\Users\Students\2012).
6. (Optional) Enable and set any desired space restrictions.
7. Under the "Home Directory" tab select "Modify Home Dir".  Check "Set Owner's Home Directory Trustee Assignment" and select the desired file system rights to assign (e.g. uncheck "Access Control List").
8. Click the "Modify" button.

Use EMU to Re-enable Moved User Accounts

To re-enable user accounts after moving them:

1. Locate and highlight the moved user(s) in the "NDS Information" pane, and right-click.
2. Choose "Modify Account(s)".
3. Select the "NDS" tab and the "Acct Restrictions & Env" button.
4. In the "Acct Restrictions & Env" detail page, check "Account Enable/Disable" and ensure "Enabled" is selected.
5. Click the "Modify" button.

Use EMU to Remove Orphan Home Directories

Follow the steps described in How to remove orphan user home directories to remove the home directories that were orphaned on the Middle School server (e.g. FS-MS\DATA\Users\Students\2012).