Fixing Folder Views on Vista/Server 2008 using Citrix UPM
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by Nicholas Dille on 04/23/2009 | 5 Comments | 5,153 Views
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In a previous article, I described how Windows XP and Server 2003 handle folder views, why those configured for network drives are lost upon logoff and how to correct this behaviour. The last article explained the new design for storing folder views introduced by Windows Vista and Server 2008. But it only hints at a solution using a profile management product and lacks a proper description how to achieve this. Fortunately, Citrix User Profile Manager (UPM) can be configured to resolve this issue which I will expand on in this article.
Configuring UPM
Citrix UPM allows for registry and file system objects to be included in the synchronization process to the user store upon logoff. This can either be configured in the INI file located in the installation directory of UPM (%ProgramFiles%\Citrix\User Profile Manager) or a group policy applied to the corresponding computer object.
In the INI file locate the section called SyncFileList and add an additional line as in the following example:
[SyncFileList]
…
AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\UsrClass.dat=
In a group policy edit the “Computer Configuration \ Administrative Templates \ Citrix \ User Profile Manager \ File System \ Synchronization \ Files to synchronize” and add a line containing AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\UsrClass.dat.
Remember to apply group policies to the affected machine(s) before confirming the issue to be resolved. Also note that adding an entry to the include list, prevents the UPM from processing the corresponding section of the INI file. Therefore, you need to repeat entries in the section SyncFileList in your group policy.
Side Effects
Due to the fact that folder views are stored under the Classes key of the user’s registry hive, including the file mentioned above result in synchronizing all information stored under HKCU\Software\Classes. In general, this is beneficial because the configuration of file type associations now roams with a user. But depending on your setup, this fix might as well cause unexpected behaviour if the program configured for a file type is not present on another system.
Be sure to have tested your systems before deploying this fix in a production environment.
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Hi Nicholas, More or less,
Hi Nicholas,
More or less, the things needed to get explorer settings to roam from machine to machine in Vista/2008 is:
1. HKCU\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell
(this is automatically being pulled already with the user from machine to machine since its in their registry (this is done by MS already, not UPM related, no?)
2. AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\UsrClass.dat
(not normally being migrated, but can be done via UPM).
Is that a fair assessment? No other files/reg keys needed?
Thanks for the information, I appreciate it. If your ever in the Birmingham, Alabama area let me know and I will buy you a beer!
Josh
Josh, thanks a lot for your
Josh,
thanks a lot for your participation in this topic. I appreciate you asking and providing further input!
As you know HKCU is saved in the NTUSER.DAT in a user's profile. But HKCU\Software\Classes is pulled in from AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\UsrClass.dat. Unfortunately all files in AppData\Local are lost upon logoff so that HKCU\Software\Classes is lost and, therefore, cannot roam.
As a consequence, getting HKCU\Software\Classes to roam is the same as getting AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\UsrClass.dat to roam. The downside is that Windows does not provide a mechanism to synchronize local settings (located under AppData\Local) with the central store. Therefore, you either need to add a profile solution to your environment to fix this or you hack your way out of this issue by using logon/logoff scripts to import/export these settings.
Mind that I do not recommend UPM because it was originally developed by sepago and now belongs to Citrix. It is a tool that gets the job done!
Regards,
Nicholas
Nicholas, Just wanted to
Nicholas,
Just wanted to post for you and anyone else that comes across this same issue.
As you suggested, I set up a script that copies the HKCU\Software\Classes key and subkeys on logon and logoff.
I tested this and have had it in production a little under a week and it works very well. My setup is pretty vanilla, a Server 2008 cluster, and users use TS's only (not sure if that would matter, but I have a feeling this could break some stuff if they were working locally on XP/Vista).
I found this to be helpful on explaining registry hives and where they lived:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms724877.aspx
I found this interesting on why they call it a hive :)
http://blogs.msdn.com/oldnewthing/archive/2003/08/08/54618.aspx
Thanks again for all the good information, you saved me a lot of time and headaches (not to mention my users!).
Take care,
Josh
Does this also working with
Does this also working with Windows 7 and XenDesktop + UPM?
This should be working on
This should be working on Windows 7 and XenDesktop as well - although I have not tested this.
Regards,
Nicholas