Managing Your File Server

Windows Server 2003 has a handy File Server Manager console, as shown in Figure 17-5. From this console, you can easily create new shares, set up the permissions for a share, or delete a share. To summon the File Server Manager, choose Start Administrative Tools Manage Your Server and then choose Manage File Server.

Figure 17-5: The File Server Manager console.

The following sections describe some of the more common procedures that you use when managing your file server.

Sharing a folder from the File Server Manager

To be useful, a file server should offer one or more shares-folders designated as publicly accessible on the network. You can see a list of the current shares available from a file server by opening the File Server Manager and clicking Shares in the console tree. The File Server Manager displays the share name, description, and network path for each share you already created.

To create additional shares, use the Share a Folder Wizard, as described in this procedure:

1. Select Shares from the console tree and then choose Action New Share.

   The Share a Folder Wizard appears, as shown in Figure 17-6.

   
   Figure 17-6: The Share a Folder Wizard comes to life.

2. Click Next.

   The wizard asks you which folder you want to share, as shown in Figure 17-7.

   
   Figure 17-7: Specify the folder you want to share.

3. Type the path of the folder that you want to share over the network and then click Next.

   Tip 

   If you aren't sure of the path, click the Browse button. This action displays a dialog box that lets you search the server's hard drive for a folder to share. You can also create a new folder from this dialog box if the folder you want to share doesn't yet exist. After you select or create the folder to share, click OK to return to the wizard.

   The dialog box, as shown in Figure 17-8, appears.

   
   Figure 17-8: Assigning a share name.

4. In the Share Name box, type the name that you want to use for the share, and type a description of the share in the Description box.

   The default name is the name of the folder being shared. If the folder name is long, you can use a more succinct name here.

   The description is strictly optional but can sometimes help users determine the intended contents of the folder.

5. Click Next.

   The dialog box, as shown in Figure 17-9, appears.

   
   Figure 17-9: The share was created successfully!

6. If you want to create another share, select the When I Click Close, Run the Wizard Again check box, click Finish, and return to Step 3; otherwise, click Finish to dismiss the wizard.

   If you click Finish, you return to the File Server Management console. The share or shares you created now appear in the list.

Granting permissions

When you first create a file share, all users are granted read-only access to the share. If you want to allow users to modify files in the share or allow them to create new files, you need to add more permissions. Follow these steps to do it from the File Server Manager:

1. Click Shares in the console tree.

   A list of all the server's shares appears.

2. Right-click the share you want to set permissions for, choose Properties, and then click the Share Permissions tab.

   The dialog box, as shown in Figure 17-10, appears. This dialog box lists all the users and groups to whom you granted permission for the folder. When you select a user or group from the list, the check boxes at the bottom of the list change to indicate which specific permissions you assigned to each user or group.

   
   Figure 17-10: The Share Permissions tab.

3. Click Add.

   The Select Users, Computers, or Groups dialog box appears. You can use it to indicate which users or groups should be allowed to access the share.

4. Type the name of the user or group to whom you want to grant permission and then click OK.

   You return to the Share Permissions tab, with the new user or group added.

5. Select the appropriate Allow or Deny check boxes to specify which permissions to allow for the user or group.

   Tip 

   Repeat Steps 3–5 for any other permissions you want to add.

6. When you're done, click OK.

Here are a few other thoughts to ponder when you add permissions:

• Tip 

  If you want to grant full access to everyone for this folder, don't bother adding another permission. Instead, select the Everyone group, and then select the Allow check box for each permission type.

• You can remove a permission by selecting it and then clicking Remove.

• Tip 

  If you'd rather not fuss with the File Server Manager, you can set the permissions from My Computer:

  1. Right-click the shared folder.

  2. Choose Sharing and Security.

  3. Click the Permissions button.

  You can then follow the first set of steps in this section, starting at Step 3.

• The permissions assigned in this procedure apply to only the share itself. The underlying folder can also have permissions assigned to it. If that's the case, whichever of the restrictions is more restrictive always applies. For example, if the share permissions grant a user Full Control but the folder permission grants the user only Read access, the user will have read-only access to the folder.