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We're in the process of adding DFS to our network setup and have a slight groggle regarding our automation processes.

We currently have a tool that creates the folder structure when a new project is created. This can be run by any Project admin. Projects reside on a network share.

The issue is that these new network shares need to be added to the DFS namespace.

If we were running locally on the Domain Controller we could call the DFSUtil.exe application from the Delphi application.

Is there any way that we can do this from a client machine on the Domain?

Dan Kelly
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  • I wonder why projects are on a network share... – Mad Hatter Jan 12 '12 at 13:04
  • We have 100+ active projects worked on by an average of 10 engineers per project (some have 20+ engineers), with engineers working on perhaps a dozen projects each, depending on how large the projects are. Why would we not have the Projects available to all? – Dan Kelly Jan 12 '12 at 13:09
  • IS this a software project or other kind of project? Anyway shared folders today are not the best way to share and control project artifacts. – Mad Hatter Jan 12 '12 at 13:13
  • "Project" in this sense refers to our Engineering projects - i.e. buildings! The fact that the storage is on a DFS is not the point here - whether the share can be added to the DFS is. – Dan Kelly Jan 12 '12 at 13:33
  • Wel, you're mangaing stuff like in the '80s. Good luck. DFS won' help you. – Mad Hatter Jan 12 '12 at 14:52
  • Dan, many projects (or files) times many engineers looks like the ideal scenario for version control instead of using network shares. – Leonardo Herrera Jan 12 '12 at 19:32
  • Do you really need to create a seperate share for each project? I mean can't you just create a projects share and make subfolders per project. Then use deep sharing to connect directly to the subfolder. – Remko Jan 13 '12 at 07:49
  • We've looked at version control and for our use it's too invasive to the culture here. The DFS itself is being managed by a colleague, I'm just trying to get the software to support the changes... We're using the DFS to unify three separate offices project shares into a single share, so think it needs to be at the upper level. – Dan Kelly Jan 13 '12 at 10:00

4 Answers4

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Have you considered using WMI and The WMI Delphi Code Creator tool?

Instead of invoking DFSUtil, the Delphi app would call the underlying API functions on the remote machine.

mjn
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You could always create an API on the domain controller that you call from the client. With IIS, you could even create your CGI program in Delphi.

Marcus Adams
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    Why IIS? Just use Indy or Synapse to write a Delphi HTTP server, running as a service. – mjn Jan 12 '12 at 13:52
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You can create a share remotely using the NetShareAdd api. Delphi declarations can be found in the Jedi Apilib.

Remko
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Looks like our best solution in the given timeframe will be to install the Remote Server Admin Tools on the few people with permission to create projects.

mjn - Your answer looks like it will be useful in the future, just not right now.

Dan Kelly
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