Mac OS X Server: Do Not Use Spaces in Home Directory Share Point Name

Mac OS X Server clients (including Macintosh Manager clients) cannot find their users' home directories when the share point name contains a space.
Symptom

When the share point containing the users' home directories has a space in the name, clients are not able to locate their home directory while logging in. This symptom will also be observed in any automounting share point, but it is most commonly encountered with home directories.


Solution

For each user that stored his home directory in this share point, you will need to reconfigure the user's home directory settings by selecting the "No Home" option. Save the changes, then select the proper share point using either "Network" or "Advanced". If you select "Network", be sure to select the proper share point and then save the changes. If you select "Advanced", be sure to complete the requested information and then save the changes.

Additional information

When spaces are used in a share point's name, the space is indicated as "%2520" in the "home_loc" property in the NetInfo database. The "%2520" string is the unicode representation of a space. Client computers expect to receive "%20" to indicate a space in the path, which is the ASCII representation of a space.

You should not manually edit the user's home_loc value. Removing the space, as recommended above, is the preferred solution.
Published Date: Oct 11, 2016