Folder/file permissions showing "Fetching..." in place of a user account

[DEMinSoCAL]

I've done some research on this and see that it's been around for a while, but haven't seen many solutions.

Mac Mini running 10.10 w/Server. Have a handful of users and a departmental group that contains those users. We have a couple of shares where the group has read/write permissions at the top of the share, with permissions propagating down the tree. Simple.

Many of the files in the share show a user "Fetching..." along with the group. I've tracked down which user account is being shown as "Fetching". I went to an obscure folder and looked at permissions, went to add a user and noticed one of the users was greyed out. I removed the "fetching" user from the list of permissions for that folder, then went to add users again, and that account was now selectable. When I select it, though, it adds back as "Fetching...".

This user has issues with folders and files all the time. If he tried to copy a file from one folder to another (all in the same share or even within the same folder) he gets an error saying his username or password is incorrect. He can, though, copy the file to another drive and then back to the share fine, and can, of course, save files he works on.

What would be the correct course of action to fix this user account?

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

No one has any help for me?

 

[DJLC]

I've seen "Fetching..." in relation to OS X Server for many years. My only advice would be: 1) wipe out ACLs and recreate, 2) wipe out POSIX permissions and recreate, 3) delete the account and recreate, 4) redo OD master.

TBH, OS X Server is seldom the "right tool for the job." You'd probably be better off putting Linux or Windows Server on the Mini.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

I've seen "Fetching..." in relation to OS X Server for many years. My only advice would be: 1) wipe out ACLs and recreate, 2) wipe out POSIX permissions and recreate, 3) delete the account and recreate, 4) redo OD master.

TBH, OS X Server is seldom the "right tool for the job." You'd probably be better off putting Linux or Windows Server on the Mini.

I've felt that for a few years now, especially since Apple exited the real "server" business. It's basically worked for our small graphics department (we have a Windows server for the majority of the employees), but now with these permissions issues, it's becoming a chore to maintain.

If I delete the user account and recreate, how will that affect the users' account profile on their Mac Pro? Will they, when they log back in, get a new desktop, etc., or will they maintain their existing account on their Mac?

 

[DJLC]

I've felt that for a few years now, especially since Apple exited the real "server" business. It's basically worked for our small graphics department (we have a Windows server for the majority of the employees), but now with these permissions issues, it's becoming a chore to maintain.

If I delete the user account and recreate, how will that affect the users' account profile on their Mac Pro? Will they, when they log back in, get a new desktop, etc., or will they maintain their existing account on their Mac?

You're going to get varying answers to that question, and I'm sure my answer here isn't fully "right," but it works fine in my environment: if you delete and recreate the user with the same username, they will get the same profile when they log back in. However, you may need to update the Keychain password after doing so. In my experience it will prompt when they log in (enter old password, enter new password, even if they're the same b/c the SID changes). Others will tell you to delete some various caches and/or delete the entire Keychain, but in my experience this isn't necessary. macOS seems to be VERY forgiving with this (I wish Windows were as easy, but you get into USMT and a bunch of complex garbage).

 

[tvalleau]

No one has any help for me?

try this:
https://mactips.valleau.net/?p=396

 

[hobowankenobi]

I've felt that for a few years now, especially since Apple exited the real "server" business. It's basically worked for our small graphics department (we have a Windows server for the majority of the employees), but now with these permissions issues, it's becoming a chore to maintain.

In my experience...it has never been great. Sure, in some OS patches it would get fixed after server .x udates....but it has been finicky and fickle since ALL of OS X. 10.5 in particular was brutal as I recall. To be fair, there have been a few OSes that...were less bad. But none were great/flawless with regard to user sharing permissions.

I went to an obscure folder and looked at permissions, went to add a user and noticed one of the users was greyed out. I removed the "fetching" user from the list of permissions for that folder, then went to add users again, and that account was now selectable. When I select it, though, it adds back as "Fetching..."

Sounds like you doing this from the work station, not the server. Generally speaking, I had the best luck being sure permissions were set correctly on the server using the Server tool.

Though it varied a bit by OS, tweaking permissions on served files and folders from the workstation was spotty at best in my experience.