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In a 2012 R2 environment, how does mapping a home folder via Active Directory using the "Connect:" box on the profile tab work? I'm not referencing or concerned about GPO, this is only for AD mapping. Specifically, how does the drive map on the users computer? What is the process that occurs when that drive is mapped? Is there any way to manually force it to sync and map the drive like you can with gpupdate? I've been Googling for a while now and can't find anything on it, so any knowledge you can share would be greatly appreciated.

Nick
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    It should happen when the user logs on. I'm not sure if there's a way to make it happen at other times. If it doesn't happen at logon it's usually been a permissions issue, IME. As to the mechanism behind it, i don't know. – Todd Wilcox Nov 28 '17 at 17:01

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The UNC path provided is mapped to the drive letter given, very similar to a NET USE x: \\server\share\path\to\subdir command.

It has the same failure modes as NET USE: If there is a local device using the drive letter, it will not be mapped. If the server, share, or folder cannot be accessed, it will not be mapped.

On DOS and classic Windows (3.x, 9x, ME) clients, it would always map to the root of the share, not any specified subdirectory.

This feature is not handled by the Group Policy engine -- it dates back to the earliest days of Windows NT. It is processed by the same codepaths that handle legacy logon scripts. As far as I know, there is no way to "refresh" it, short of logging back off and on again.

What problem are you trying to solve?

Ben Scott
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    I'm working on both a problem and project. For some reason, random users have not been having their H drives mapped. It's completely sporadic and nearly impossible to reproduce. I was hoping there was a way to refresh it without rebooting to see if we could recreate the issue. The other part of this is that I'm working to move all drive mappings from AD and login scripts to GPOs. Before switching H drives to GPO, I want to fully understand how it's done in AD to prevent potential issues and inconsistencies. I understand the GPO part but am unfamiliar with the mechanisms AD mapping. – Nick Nov 28 '17 at 19:31