Create home directories with expansion variables

When users access the cluster over SMB, home directory access is through SMB shares. You can configure settings with a path that uses a variable expansion syntax, allowing a user to connect to their home directory share.

Home directory share paths must begin with /ifs/ and must be in the root path of the access zone in which the home directory SMB share is created.

In the following commands, the --allow-variable-expansion option is enabled to indicate that %U should be expanded to the user name, which is user411 in this example. The --auto-create-directory option is enabled to create the directory if it does not exist:

isi smb shares create HOMEDIR --path=/ifs/home/%U \
  --allow-variable-expansion=yes --auto-create-directory=yes 
isi smb shares permission modify HOMEDIR --wellknown Everyone \
   --permission-type allow --permission full 
isi smb shares view HOMEDIR

The system displays output similar to the following example:

                                     Share Name: HOMEDIR
                                           Path: /ifs/home/%U
                                    Description: 
                     Client-side Caching Policy: manual
Automatically expand user names or domain names: True
Automatically create home directories for users: True
                                      Browsable: True
Permissions:
Account  Account Type Run as Root Permission Type Permission
------------------------------------------------------------
Everyone wellknown    False       allow           full      
------------------------------------------------------------
Total: 1
...

When user411 connects to the share with the net use command, the user's home directory is created at /ifs/home/user411. On user411's Windows client, the net usem: command connects /ifs/home/user411 through the HOMEDIR share:

net use m: \\cluster.company.com\HOMEDIR /u:user411

1. Run the following commands on the cluster with the --allow-variable-expansion option enabled. The %U expansion variable expands to the user name, and the --auto-create-directory option is enabled to create the directory if it does not exist:

   isi smb shares create HOMEDIR --path=/ifs/home/%U \
     --allow-variable-expansion=yes --auto-create-directory=yes 
   isi smb shares permission modify HOMEDIR --wellknown Everyone \
      --permission-type allow --permission full

2. Run the following command to view the home directory settings:

   isi smb shares view HOMEDIR

   The system displays output similar to the following example:

                                        Share Name: HOMEDIR
                                              Path: /ifs/home/%U
                                       Description: 
                        Client-side Caching Policy: manual
   Automatically expand user names or domain names: True
   Automatically create home directories for users: True
                                         Browsable: True
   Permissions:
   Account  Account Type Run as Root Permission Type Permission
   ------------------------------------------------------------
   Everyone wellknown    False       allow           full      
   ------------------------------------------------------------
   Total: 1
   ...

   If user411 connects to the share with the net use command, user411's home directory is created at /ifs/home/user411. On user411's Windows client, the net usem: command connects /ifs/home/user411 through the HOMEDIR share, mapping the connection similar to the following example:

   net use m: \\cluster.company.com\HOMEDIR /u:user411