Shadow folder issues with Windows Server 2003

[WantingToLikeVault]

I have been fighting with Vault 3.0 (and 2.04 and 2.05...), trying to get Shadow Folders to play nice with Windows Server 2003, with no success. I have searched the forums, and have followed the 2 FAQs step-by-step and keep getting these errors (found in c:\%WINDIR%\Temp\VaultShadowFolderService.txt):

Vault's Shadow Folders encountered an exception attempting to get the repository structure for UWGI Dev. Access to the path "SourceGear\Vault_1\PluginWebService\8A462085-0DA4-4E44-9507-A3CFA91EAEBC\admin" is denied.

Vault Shadow Folder encountered a problem: Access to the path "SourceGear\Vault_1\PluginWebService\8A462085-0DA4-4E44-9507-A3CFA91EAEBC\admin" is denied.

I am using impersonation for both web.config files - I started off by just using identity impersonation in the VaultShadowService web.config, but when that didn't work, I also used it in the main Vault web.config file.

I have ensured that all permissions have been granted to the account that I am running vault under.

The problem is that the "C:\Documents and Settings\SGVaultAccount\Application Data\SourceGear\Vault_1\PluginWebService" folder is not being created.

Any ideas on this?

One comment I would make on this... if you want Vault to be a popular product, it needs to be user friendly. Windows Server 2003 is the new MS platform. Vault Shadow Folders are a PAIN to get working properly with this platform; I and another person have devoted literally WEEKS of man hours trying to get to getting shadow folders working. This is not the sign of a user-friendly product =)

Besides that, I must say that I *LOVE* the product - it is a very powerful and well-organized source control tool.

I understand there are technical hurdles, but it would be well worth your time resolve this design flaw =)))

[LikingVaultNow!]

I finally got Shadow Folders to work with Windows Server 2003! I will be posting a followup which will contain step-by-step instructions on how to accomplish this task.

My greatest source of frustration has been the fragmented documentation on getting this to work - unfortunately for all users trying to get this feature to work, there IS NO DOCUMENTATION in the help file that accompanies Vault, which seems to be a rather large oversight, since this feature is so widely used. A user should not have to rely on tech support forums, culling numerous posts, and quite a bit of experimentation just to get it working. OK, enough venting now... stay tuned for the followup... hopefully it will save users from similar experiences with this otherwise EXCELLENT product.

[mlippert]

Thanks in advance for posting your findings in a followup message.
It's definitely appreciated even though I don't think I care about Shadow folders yet.

Mike

[ldudex]

Well, it's finally finished... I completed my document that outlines all of the steps I took to get shadow folders to work under Windows Server 2003. It should work for the vast majority of cases, but I'm sure there's some configurations where the steps will need to be modified.

Please refer to this post to obtain the document:

http://support.sourcegear.com/viewtopic.php?p=9051

Hopefully this helps people save some time and get on with their development =)))) Ok, off to bed for me... I'm all written out =))