samba - Apr 2015 - roaming profile doubles in size at client logout

Hello all,

I have a FreeBSD 10.1-RELEASE amd64 VM, with 4GB RAM and ZFS, running on an
ESX host.

I installed and configured samba 4 with the following configuration:

[global]
workgroup = TST-DOM
realm = TST-DOM.TLD.COM
netbios name = SAMBA4
server role = active directory domain controller
idmap_ldb:use rfc2307 = yes
        logon path = \\%L\Profiles\%U

[netlogon]
path = /var/db/samba4/sysvol/tst-dom.tld.com/scripts
read only = No

[sysvol]
path = /var/db/samba4/sysvol
read only = No

[Profiles]
     path = /samba/Profiles/
     read only = no
     store dos attributes = Yes
     create mask = 0600
     directory mask = 0700
     profile acls = yes
     csc policy = disable

I've connected a Windows 7 client and logged in with a roaming profile
user, copied some 4GB of data in the profile and logged out. Surely enough,
the data was synchronized but when I login and logout again, the profile
gets copied on the samba server in full versus just the modified data.

For instance, if the profile on the server has 4GB and I logout from the
client, the profile will grow up to 8GB and then drop down to 4GB (in case
no new data get's added meanwhile). This looks to me like instead of doing
an incremental diff, the whole profile get's copied and then compared and
the same data deleted.

Is there some setting that I'm missing in the conf or is this normal?


-- 
Best regards,
Claudiu Vasadi

Greetings, claudiu vasadi!
> I've connected a Windows 7 client and logged in with a roaming profile
> user, copied some 4GB of data in the profile and logged out. Surely enough,
> the data was synchronized but when I login and logout again, the profile
> gets copied on the samba server in full versus just the modified data.
> For instance, if the profile on the server has 4GB and I logout from the
> client, the profile will grow up to 8GB and then drop down to 4GB (in case
> no new data get's added meanwhile). This looks to me like instead of
doing
> an incremental diff, the whole profile get's copied and then compared
and
> the same data deleted.
> Is there some setting that I'm missing in the conf or is this normal?
This is, unfortunately, "normal". As much as the Microsoft's
definition of
"normality" goes.
What I'm doing is I'm excluding local Documents and a number of other
folders
from profile sync (through GPO) and then doing a manual rsync in background
every now and then. That is for folders that are not located in the network
already.
This also helps with profile size that is getting copied back and forth
between server and client. 4Gb multiplied by sixteen users? I don't want to
see it happening to my network.


-- 
With best regards,
Andrey Repin
Tuesday, April 28, 2015 22:58:35

Sorry for my terrible english...

Hello all,

I repeated the same test with a windows 2012 server and oddly enough, the
profile folder of the user did not double in size; actually it did not even
grow over the 4GB size of the client (same computer, same 1x 4GB iso on
desktop).

I think that excluding certain folders and running background rsync's
breaks the whole concept of roaming profiles and would prefer, if possible
at all, avoiding it all together.

Does samba 3.x behave the same?


PS: Surely enough, MIcrosoft's normality is something I've grown weary
of.


On Tue, Apr 28, 2015 at 10:03 PM, Andrey Repin <anrdaemon at yandex.ru>
wrote:
> Greetings, claudiu vasadi!
>
> > I've connected a Windows 7 client and logged in with a roaming
profile
> > user, copied some 4GB of data in the profile and logged out. Surely
> enough,
> > the data was synchronized but when I login and logout again, the
profile
> > gets copied on the samba server in full versus just the modified data.
>
> > For instance, if the profile on the server has 4GB and I logout from
the
> > client, the profile will grow up to 8GB and then drop down to 4GB (in
> case
> > no new data get's added meanwhile). This looks to me like instead
of
> doing
> > an incremental diff, the whole profile get's copied and then
compared and
> > the same data deleted.
>
> > Is there some setting that I'm missing in the conf or is this
normal?
>
> This is, unfortunately, "normal". As much as the Microsoft's
definition of
> "normality" goes.
> What I'm doing is I'm excluding local Documents and a number of
other
> folders
> from profile sync (through GPO) and then doing a manual rsync in background
> every now and then. That is for folders that are not located in the network
> already.
> This also helps with profile size that is getting copied back and forth
> between server and client. 4Gb multiplied by sixteen users? I don't
want to
> see it happening to my network.
>
>
> --
> With best regards,
> Andrey Repin
> Tuesday, April 28, 2015 22:58:35
>
> Sorry for my terrible english...



-- 
Best regards,
Claudiu Vasadi

On 28/04/15 22:03, Andrey Repin wrote:
> Greetings, claudiu vasadi!
>
>> I've connected a Windows 7 client and logged in with a roaming
profile
>> user, copied some 4GB of data in the profile and logged out. Surely
enough,
>> the data was synchronized but when I login and logout again, the
profile
>> gets copied on the samba server in full versus just the modified data.
>> For instance, if the profile on the server has 4GB and I logout from
the
>> client, the profile will grow up to 8GB and then drop down to 4GB (in
case
>> no new data get's added meanwhile). This looks to me like instead
of doing
>> an incremental diff, the whole profile get's copied and then
compared and
>> the same data deleted.
>> Is there some setting that I'm missing in the conf or is this
normal?
> This is, unfortunately, "normal". As much as the Microsoft's
definition of
> "normality" goes.
> What I'm doing is I'm excluding local Documents and a number of
other folders
> from profile sync (through GPO) and then doing a manual rsync in background
> every now and then. That is for folders that are not located in the network
> already.
> This also helps with profile size that is getting copied back and forth
> between server and client. 4Gb multiplied by sixteen users? I don't
want to
> see it happening to my network.
>
>
Hi
Redirecting say the Desktop folder (if you have a lot of stuff there) 
eases the back and forth copying and speeds up logins. It''s easy to do 
via a GPO.
HTH

>
>> I've connected a Windows 7 client and logged in with a roaming
profile
>> user, copied some 4GB of data in the profile and logged out. Surely
enough,
>> the data was synchronized but when I login and logout again, the
profile
>> gets copied on the samba server in full versus just the modified data.
>
>> For instance, if the profile on the server has 4GB and I logout from
the
>> client, the profile will grow up to 8GB and then drop down to 4GB (in
case
>> no new data get's added meanwhile). This looks to me like instead
of doing
>> an incremental diff, the whole profile get's copied and then
compared and
>> the same data deleted.
>
(...)
>
> This is, unfortunately, "normal". As much as the Microsoft's
definition of
> "normality" goes.
> What I'm doing is I'm excluding local Documents and a number of
other folders
> from profile sync (through GPO) and then doing a manual rsync in background
> every now and then. That is for folders that are not located in the network
> already.
> This also helps with profile size that is getting copied back and forth
> between server and client. 4Gb multiplied by sixteen users? I don't
want to
> see it happening to my network.
>
>
>
Roaming profiles are, generally speaking, outdated technology. Folder  
redirection is much more effective. It covers most of the benefits of  
roaming profiles without the penalties.