blog: network junctions

[nikos]

here's the comment area for today's blog post found at
http://zabkat.com/blog/junction-to-network-share.htm

[snemarch]

All these filesystem objects originate from UNIX

Are you sure they didn't originate from VMS?

Joke aside, it's interesting it took so long before we got symlinks on NT. Junctions are nice, but I've always had the impression they were really lowlevel kernel feature that somebody figured wouldn't hurt too much exposing all the way up to user mode... reparse points are powerful vooodoo.

Too bad that it took so long before we got symlinks
[/quote]

[Kilmatead]

Are you sure they didn't originate from VMS?

They did originate in VMS (there's a reason the plural of VAX is VAXEN), which had networking back when UNIX was crawling out of its own primordial-[C]-ooze, and those Arboreal lads were still dreaming up opposable-thumbs and what they might be good for.

[Thracx]

[Blog Post]...Symbolic links were considered inferior because to create one you need full administrator rights...

Creating SymLinks require admin by default, but this behavior is a security policy which can be changed.  How-To or google 'SeCreateSymbolicLinkPrivilege' for further research.

I regret to say that I do not have a pre-made script for such a change, as while I use SymLinks quite heavily, I want them to stay guarded by the Admin requirement.

PS.  I found it best to learn the mklink program that comes with Win7, rather than breaking the principle of least privilege via elevating X² all the time (since X² doesn't support temporary, single-action elevation ).  WinKey->'cmd', Ctrl+Shift+Enter, Left->Enter (accept UAC prompt), then you are ready to use mklink as admin.  Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

[nikos]

not everybody can change policies, e.g. anyone with win7 home version. Not to mention that most people never heard of policies

[Thracx]

not everybody can change policies, e.g. anyone with win7 home version. Not to mention that most people never heard of policies

Workaround for the unfortunate Win7 Home Premium users out there.

No, it's not straightforward or intuitive, however, if you've never heard of the Windows Registry or Policies, you probably also want to steer clear of using SymLinks, except for maybe the most trivial of uses!