This page refers to an older version of the product.
View the current version of the online Help.

In-location sync

In-location Sync (ILS) allow folders within the user’s profile to be mapped directly into File Director without the need for complex redirection or asking users to change their behaviors. The private map point does not have to be the default “home” map point - using the PrivateMapPoint engineering key, administrators can select any private map point in the map point listing but only one map point can be used for ILS.

ILS is an alternative to folder redirection and should not be used in conjunction with it.

Use the InLocationSyncFolders engineering key to configure a set of folders for ILS. This REG_MULTI_SZ key provides administrators with a single key to define all of the folders inside the user’s profile which are to be managed by File Director.

At log on,  File Director automatically creates the folder mappings as defined by the InLocationSyncFolders engineering key. The mapping creates the folder inside the private map point and synchronizes data directly from the user profile. When configured for ILS, the private map point will no longer be visible in the map point listings, as essentially the local locations are File Director folders. The user must log out and back into File Director for the settings to take effect.

It is possible to use InLocationSyncFolders to set an entire user profile - the user profile root folder - to be managed by File Director. This means, for example, that - regardless of a user's folder customization - any data under their profile is captured for backup or migration.

If you set the total user profile as a managed location. using other map points (Mapped Drives) is not supported.
The File Director folder is part of the user profile. Before you make the base user profile folder a managed location, you must first move the File Director folder out of the user profile. If you do not, you will get an error message when you log into the client.

You can set the user profile as a mapped location using environment variables or an absolute path. See the table below for examples. When you set a user profile as a managed location, some folders in the profile are ignored by File Director by default.

This is to save bandwidth and storage because the folders contain non-user data. You can add or override profile folders to ignore using the standard File Director exclusions and exclusion override functionality. For more information about default exclusions and exclusion overrides, see Exclusions and electives.

Values Description
Value Name: PrivateMapPoint

Value Type: REG_SZ

This map point is the only one that may have In-Location Sync folders mapped into it. If not operating In-location Sync mode, the private map point displays with the home overlay when viewed in the File Director folder. Enter the name of the private map point preceded by a forward slash.

If no value is present, /home is used as the private map point

Value Name: InLocationSyncFolders

Value Type: REG_MULTI_SZ

This key maps the local folders to the destinations inside the private map point. For example, a user’s My Documents or Desktop can be mapped so all files in these locations are automatically synced with File Director. Local locations can be paths or Microsoft CSIDL locations.

Multiple locations can be defined in the key, with each mapping on a separate line. Each mapping takes the format of destination, source (separated by a comma).

Examples include:

  • /My Documents,CSIDL_MYDOCUMENTS
  • /My Documents,%USERPROFILE%\Documents
  • /Desktop,CSIDL_DESKTOP,HIDE_OVERLAYS

    In last example above uses the HIDE_OVERLAYS flag so that the File Director overlays do not appear on desktop icons.

The destination can also include variables:

  • /Backup/%computername%/%username%/Documents,CSIDL_MYDOCUMENTS
  • /Backup/%Username%/Download,%userprofile%\Downloads

The following examples set an entire user profile as a managed location:

  • /Profile, %UserProfile%
  • /Profile, CSIDL_PROFILE

If the list is incorrectly defined, the File Director client will not login and an error message will be logged locally.

If you experience errors during configuration, see In-location sync errors for more information.

Related topics