It is suitable for all sized environments and can accommodate your users even when your company grows larger.There are a few simple graphical boxes to click on and select, then a button to enable or disable the options.
#MAPPED DRIVE GPO HOW TO#
It is simple to set up and requires no need to understand how to write scripts.The main reasons that you would want to map network drives with a group policy are: There are instances where more command intensive scripts need to be run, like a PowerShell script, so running start-up scripts make more sense in these scenarios. Logon scripts can cause slow boot times when there are problems resolving the network communications, making the user wait while the script either finishes or fails.įor this reason, most administrators prefer using group policies to accomplish the same thing, mapping drives, but in a more streamlined and uniform way through Group Policies. Startup Scripts work great if you have an optimal network with no connectivity issues, but there can be bigger issues.
#MAPPED DRIVE GPO WINDOWS#
This was traditionally a command such as net use x: \\server\share wrapped up in a simple batch file and placed in the user’s ‘startup’ folder.Īll items in this folder such as executables, batch files and shortcuts to programs, will launch when a user logs into their Windows PC. The only way to get a mapped network drive in the past was by creating a login script. We will also look at other determining characteristics of each mapping instance such as the OS of the computer, Organizational Unit membership, and more.
We will look at a few different implementations of this idea, for both single users and for groups within Active Directory. One of the key advantages of this method is that it is very easy to setup and it requires almost no scripting experience. This isn’t the only way to accomplish this kind of result, but it is definitely one of the best ways to get it done in an Active Directory environment. This option lets you leverage the power of your network’s capabilities to run drive mapping functions in the background. The solution we will be looking at today is to use Group Policies to accomplish this instead. This works fine for smaller networks, but when you have hundreds of computers to load scripts onto it becomes an issue. One solution is to create login scripts for the computers on your network to use. Setting these connections up manually is not the most practical solution though because after your computer restarts you will need to recreate the connection.
#MAPPED DRIVE GPO UPDATE#
Step 11: Open the command prompt and execute the gpupdate command to update the group policies.Mapping network drives is very useful for accessing files over the network. Step 10: Go to the common tab, and choose Run in logged-on user's security context option.
Step 9: Provide the shared folder location, check the Reconnect checkbox, and give a meaningful label as well as a drive letter. Step 8: On the General tab, choose 'Create' from the action drop down. Step 7: Right-click on Drive Maps and then click New -> Mapped Drive. User Configuration -> Preferences -> Windows Settings -> Drive Maps Step 6: Now, go to the following location: Step 5: Right-click on the newly created GPO and choose Edit. Step 4: Give a meaningful name to the GPO. Step 3: Click " Create a GPO in this domain, and Link it here". Step 2: Right-click on your domain or any specific user's OU for which you want to map the network drive. Step 1: Open the group policy management console. You can check my recent article on setting correct permissions for a shared folder. I assume you have already shared a folder with the right permissions. I am focusing on the latter method of using a group policy. There are two methods for mapping a shared folder to a network drive (using GUI and group policy) in Windows.