How to Use %LOGONSERVER% to Distribute User Profiles (141714)
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
- Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.5
- Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.51
- Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0
This article was previously published under Q141714 SUMMARY
If you want to specify a domain server that validates a user logon, use
the environment variable %LOGONSERVER% in a PATH statement. This article
describes how you can use %LOGONSERVER% to distribute user profiles.
MORE INFORMATION
Environment variables do not work in user profile paths unlike logon
scripts which are designed to run on the server that validates its logon
request. This makes it difficult to provide redundancy for user profiles.
When a user logs on, %LOGONSERVER% is defined and set to the name of the
validating computer. It is not propagated to a user's environment
variables prior to NT 4.0 SP3. Therefore, you cannot use the %LOGONSERVER%
environment variable in logon scripts before NT 4.0 SP3. For example, if
the user's profile path is %logonserver%\profiles\user1.man and the name
of the validating server is MYSERVER, the user profile path is set to
\\MYSERVER\profiles\user1.man. Therefore, if you maintain a copy of the
user profiles on each domain controller, users can access their user
profiles when the primary domain controller is unavailable. %LOGONSERVER%
is an undocumented environment variable.
When you specify a path statement for the user profile path, the following
entry in User Manager is valid:
%logonserver%\<share name>\<profile>.<usr or man>
NOTE: To simplify the maintenance of user profiles on multiple servers,
use Directory Replication to copy the user profiles from the primary
domain controller (PDC) to the backup domain controllers (BDCs).
Roaming User Profiles Under Windows NT 4.0
If you use %LOGONSERVER% with roaming user profiles under Windows NT 4.0,
roaming user profiles are saved to the logon server (typically a BDC) when
users log off. If the user is validated by different logon server the next
time he or she logs on, a message appears indicating the local copy of the
roaming user profile is newer than the copy on the logon server (assuming
that the user logs on to the same computer). If the user logs on to a
different computer, and is validated by a logon server that does not
contain the latest copy of his or her roaming user profile, it appears to
the user that his or her changes to the roaming user profile have been
lost. This can cause confusion and increase internal support costs for
companies using roaming user profiles.
For this reason, it is best to use %LOGONSERVER% with only mandatory user
profiles, and not with roaming user profiles.
| Modification Type: | Major | Last Reviewed: | 5/7/2003 |
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| Keywords: | kbnetwork KB141714 |
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