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I have setup the latest Apple MDM server (Mavericks 10.9.2/Server 3.0.3) with Profile Manager and I'm able to push out configuration profiles to test Macs. One of my goals is to push out profiles that will cause Macs join our Active Directory and configure our Macs to use Portable Home Folders.

When I join a Mac to Active Directory by hand, I am able to get the Portable Home Folders working, however when I push out Mobility settings through Profile Manager I can't seem to get it to work. The error I receive when doing a sync is 'The sync could not complete because your network home at "(null)" does not allow writing.'

In my profile I have settings for Directory and Mobility.

Directory Settings (Active Directory domain): Directory screen in ProfileManager

Here are my settings for Mobility: Mobility screen in Profile Manager

After deploying a profile to a test Mac I can logout and then log in with Active Directory credentials. It prompts to have a mobile account created, but after creating it and attempting a sync I receive the aforementioned sync error.

I know the mobility settings are getting applied because it displays them as greyed out.

Image of Users & Groups showing disabled Mobile Account Settings

In addition, when I join the machine to AD without using a MDM profile, it uses the network path from the AD attribute called SMBHome for the network home folder, however this doesn't work when deploying the profile despite the fact the checkbox is still checked in Users & Groups on the machine. There's no way I can see to push this checkbox via the profile, however it is checked on the Mac anyway. The (null) in the error message leads me to believe it is not taking this checkbox setting or perhaps it is looking for a different attribute.

Images of Users & Groups showing UNC checkbox

Does anyone know how to get home folders working with AD when pushing out Mobility profiles? Alternative suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

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  • Ouch, over 2 years and no answers. This does not bode well for me... I've got the same problem... – Brian Knoblauch Jul 8 '16 at 17:56
  • @BrianKnoblauch, on the client Mac, log in as a local administrator, within System Preferences, Users & Groups try deleting the local account, log out and in as that AD user. Some of the mobility settings get set when the account is created and not after. This could be what's causing your 'null' error. It's been a while, but it seemed to go away for me once I knew this. – geekinit Jul 8 '16 at 18:32