11.3 Collaborative Storage
Novell Kanaka for Mac has the capability to automatically mount collaborative (group) storage on Mac OS X. It does this based solely on the identity of the user. Novell Kanaka for Mac uses the Home_Directory attribute, and now the login script attribute, to locate and mount the storage.
The concept of using the Home_Directory attribute to manage group storage originated with Novell Storage Manager, which is a policy-based storage-management solution that revolutionizes use of the Novell file system. Novell Storage Manager unites the user-provisioning functionality of Novell eDirectory solutions with the storage-provisioning capabilities of the Novell file system. As a result, Novell Storage Manager completely automates the creation, management, and deletion of personal and collaborative storage, delivering the industry's only identity-based storage management solution.
Novell Storage Manager extends the Home_Directory concept to the group by adding a Home_Directory attribute to the Group object. Therefore, much like a single user’s home directory, it is easy to locate the storage for the group simply by looking at the Home_Directory attribute of the group.
Novell Kanaka for Mac leverages the Home_Directory attribute of the user object to locate and mount the home directory for the given user. Novell Kanaka for Mac also leverages the group home directory concept invented by Novell Storage Manager by running the group membership list for the user and pulling the Home_Directory attribute for each group the user is a member of and mounting each group directory on the user's Mac OS X system.
However, Novell Storage Manager is not required for Novell Kanaka for Mac to deal with collaborative (group) storage. When the Novell Kanaka for Mac schema extensions are applied to the tree, the Novell Storage Manager group home directory is also added, if it is not already present. This Web interface provides a methodology for assigning the group Home_Directory attribute for each group in the tree, analogous to setting the home directory attribute on a user.
If all group storage is already managed with Novell Storage Manager, there is nothing that you need to do for Novell Kanaka for Mac to auto-mount group storage for all users. Otherwise, you should use Novell Kanaka for Mac to assign the Home_Directory attribute for each group that is not managed by Novell Storage Manager. Simply click in the menu to the left, locate the group, and click . This allows the administrator to browse to a destination path and set the home directory for the given group.
IMPORTANT:The Engine does not assign the chosen object as a trustee of the directory. You should perform this step via traditional methods.
Figure 11-1 Assigning the Home Directory Attribute to a Group
Figure 11-2 Specifying a Group Directory Path
Figure 11-3 Assigned Group Directories
Figure 11-4 Assigned Container Based Directory
