Folder Redirection (2024)

At Composition > Actions By Type > Files and Folders > Folder Redirection, you can configure the redirection of Microsoft Windows User Shell Folders. Folder redirection enables the administrator to redirect the location of certain folders of the user profile to a different path, such as a shared network location. For example, the local folder C:\Users\<username>\My Documents can be redirected to a different Target folder location (e.g. <networkshare>\Users\<username>\My Documents). Up till now, folder redirection could only be done by creating a User Registry Setting or by defining a GPO. If the folder does not exist in the target location of the user session, it will be created automatically, if possible in the user context.

Some of the advantages of folder redirection are:

• user documents are available from any computer
• helps to reduce logon and logoff times (data is stored outside the user profile)
• reduces the risk of profile corruption
• increased security and availability of user data (safe storage and recovery on network location)

The following folders can be redirected:

Configuration of Redirections

• The Redirections tab shows the redirected folders, for example, Favorites may be redirected to <networkshare>\Users\<username>\Favorites. If several Folder Redirections have been configured, you can change the order in which the redirections will be carried out by clicking Change order of execution and using the arrow up and down icons.
• Select the Windows folder which must be redirected in the user session. See the table above for possible folders for redirection and the OS version to which they apply.
• Specify for Target folder location, the required type of folder redirection and applicable Root path. When specifying the Root path, keep in mind that this applies to the user session environment. For example, a network location that is accessible to an administrator, is not necessarily also accessible to the user.
  • Redirect to the following location
    • Specify a full network path for Root path. Example: \\server\Redirection\%username%\<foldername>.
  • Create a folder for each user under the Root path
    • Specify a network path without %username%\<foldername> for Root path.
      Example: for a redirection of the Documents folder, specifying \\server\Redirection for Root path, for user John, this folder will be redirected to \\server\Redirection\John\Documents.
  • Redirect to the local user profile location
    • %USERPROFILE%\ is automatically specified for Root path. This value cannot be changed.
• Move the contents to the new location - Select this option to perform a one-time move of the contents of the specified Windows folder to the Root path (target folder location). When changing the Root path, the content of the current root path will be moved to the new root path. This is also a one-time move.
  Please note that if this option is selected for an existing folder redirection in a Workspace Control environment without changing the Root path, the one-time move will not be executed for users that logged on, at least once, to a Workspace Control user session. The original content in the Windows folder will remain there. When changing the Root path at a later stage will cause the contents of the redirected folder in the initial root path to be moved to the new root path.
• Make the contents available offline - Select this option if the contents of the redirected Windows folder should be made available offline (using the Microsoft Windows technology "Offline files and folders"). At session logon, redirected Windows folders are synchronized for offline use to the Offline Files cache. When this option is not selected, Workspace Control will clean up the Offline Files cache for the configured redirected Windows folder.
  For this option to work correctly, Microsoft Windows must be configured for Offline Files and disk space for the Offline Files cache must be sufficient.
• The Required connection state field specifies the required connection state that allows folder redirection. For example, this allows you to configure folder redirection that will only take place if a computer is online. See Connection State Settings.
• Click the Access Control tab to configure the Access Control criteria of the Folder Redirection.
• Click the Workspace Control tab to configure to which Workspace Container(s) the Folder Redirection applies.

Configuration of Settings

• Shows whether Folder redirection has been enabled or disabled.
• With the option Use localized names for redirected Windows folders selected, when an Operating System is set to any other language than English, the redirected folder is displayed in the local language of the system the user session is running on.
• You can override the global settings of this feature for specific Workspace Containers.

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