Permissions are not correctly inherited in a DFS topology on Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003 (842604)

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition
Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition
Microsoft Windows Server 2003, 64-Bit Enterprise Edition
Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Web Edition
Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
Microsoft Windows 2000 Server

SYMPTOMS

When you use Windows Explorer to modify the folder permissions on a Distributed File System (DFS) topology, the permissions may be inherited from the DFS structure instead of from the target NTFS file system folder. For example, when you access the \\DomainName\DFSRoot structure directly, and you modify the folder permissions under that DFS root, the permissions may not be applied as you expect.

CAUSE

This behavior occurs because of the way that Windows Explorer applies inheritance for security descriptors on a DFS link.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this behavior, use the path of the physical folder to set permissions. For example, use the following path:

\\ServerName\ShareName

In this path, ServerName is a placeholder for the name of the server, and ShareName is a placeholder for the name of the target share in the DFS structure.

Important Do not use the DFS path to set permissions on a folder. When you use the DFS path to set permissions on a folder, the folder may inherit permissions from the parent folder in the DFS topology.

REFERENCES

For additional information about DFS, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

812487 Overview of DFS in Windows 2000

For more information about how to set permissions on DFS structures, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windowsserver2003/proddocs/deployguide/sdccc_fsv_ogmn.asp

Modification Type:	Major	Last Reviewed:	6/17/2004
Keywords:	kbwinservnetwork kbFilePrintservices kbprb KB842604 kbAudITPRO