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Managing home directories

You can use ONTAP home directory functionality to create users' home directories on the CIFS server and automatically offer each user a dynamic share to their home directory without creating an individual SMB share for each user.

  • How ONTAP enables dynamic home directories
    ONTAP home directories enable you to configure an SMB share that maps to different directories based on the user that connects to it and a set of variables. Instead of creating separate shares for each user, you can configure one share with a few home directory parameters to define a user's relationship between an entry point (the share) and the home directory (a directory on the SVM).
  • Adding a home directory share
    If you want to use the SMB home directory feature, you must add at least one share with the home directory property included in the share properties.
  • Adding a home directory search path
    If you want to use ONTAP SMB home directories, you must add at least one home directory search path.
  • Creating a home directory configuration using the %w and %d variables
    You can create a home directory configuration using the %w and %d variables. Users can then connect to their home share using dynamically created shares.
  • Configuring home directories using the %u variable
    You can create a home directory configuration where you designate the share name using the %w variable but you use the %u variable to designate the relative path to the home directory share. Users can then connect to their home share using dynamically shares created using their Windows user name without being aware of the actual name or path of the home directory.
  • Additional home directory configurations
    You can create additional home directory configurations using the %w, %d, and %u variables, which enables you to customize the home directory configuration to meet your needs.
  • Commands for managing search paths
    There are specific ONTAP commands for managing search paths for CIFS home directory configurations. For example, there are commands for adding, removing, and displaying information about search paths. There is also a command for changing the search path order.
  • Displaying information about an SMB user's home directory path
    You can display an SMB user's home directory path on the storage virtual machine (SVM), which can be used if you have multiple CIFS home directory paths configured and you want to see which path holds the user's home directory.
  • Managing accessibility to users' home directories
    By default, a user's home directory can be accessed only by that user . For shares where the dynamic name of the share is preceded with a tilde (~), you can enable or disable access to users' home directories by Windows administrators or by any other user (public access).