Active Directory By the Numbers: Windows Server 2003

Tutorial: Sharing a Folder On the Network

Now that we have the basics of folder and printer sharing in AD, let's put that knowledge to work. The following tutorial outlines the process of creating a folder, sharing it on the network, and adding it to the Active Directory.

1. Open Windows Explorer , located on the Start Menu ˆ’ > All Programs ˆ’ > Accessories .

2. In the left column, expand the plus (+) sign next to My Computer , and click the Local Disk (D:) drive ( Note: the D drive is the second NTFS drive connected to the server ).

3. In the right column, right-click in any empty space, point to New , and choose Folder .

4. A new folder appears titled Untitled Folder . Type the name shares and hit the Enter key. We must now set parent NTFS permissions on this folder so that all subsequent folders created inside of shares will inherit the shares' permissions. To do this, right-click shares and choose Properties .

5. On the window that appears, click the Security tab and click the Advanced button at the bottom of the window. A new window appears showing the detailed, special permissions assigned to our new folder. Toward the bottom of the window, uncheck the item labeled Allow inheritable permissions from the parent to propagate to this object and all child objects.

6. A warning window appears. Click Remove and click OK .

7. Now notice that all user and group information has been removed, except for the Administrators group . For this folder, we want to give the Administrators the full control NTFS permission. In the bottom portion of the window, click the Full Control entry, which automatically selects all other items in the list. Click OK .

8. In the right column, double-click the new shares folder we just created. Create a new folder inside called marketing . Close Windows Explorer .

9. Open Computer Management on the Start Menu ˆ’ > Administrative Tools .

10. In the left hand column, click the plus (+) sign next to the Shared Folders item and click once on the Shares item. The right hand column shows all available shared folders currently in place on the server.

11. In the right column, right-click any blank space and click New Share.

12. The folder sharing wizard appears. Click Next to get past the introduction screen. Windows asks for a path to the folder that we wish to share. We wish to share the marketing folder inside the shares folder.

13. Click the Browse button. In the listing that appears, click the plus (+) sign next to local drive (D:) .

14. Click the plus (+) sign next to the shares folder. The marketing folder appears. Click marketing once and click OK . Click Next .

15. The wizard presents a summary of the information about our new share. If you desire , type some descriptive comments in the Description field ( e.g., Marketing group folder ). Click Next .

16. The next window asks us to configure the network share permissions. Select the option labeled Administrators have full access; other users have read and write access . This gives members of the Administrators group the Full Control network share permission while allowing other users on the network the Change network share permission. Click Finish and click Close .

17. The Marketing folder appears in the list of shares on the network. Double-click the Marketing folder and click the share permissions tab at the top of the window that appears.

18. Click the Everyone entry. Notice that the everyone group can read and write data to the share.

Our folder is now available on the network. But it's not integrated into our Active Directory. It also does not have the proper NTFS file permissions applied to it so the Marketing group has greater control than other groups in our domain.