User Home Folder on separate partition

[brussell]

I am currently using a sym link to link /Users to a separate partition /Volumes/UserData/Users however, I understand that this is not the preferred method since some 3rd parties don't correctly follow a symlink.
Please give me some feedback on the preferred method to redirect /Users to a separate partition, at imaging time. Any help or recommendations are appreciated. I thought i heard something about autofs.

[dderusha]

Bonnie-

In our configurations, we use the tab "Additional Partitions", and create a 100GB Partition called Data_Storage.
At Imaging time, using Casper Imaging, we use the "Custom Install" button and click on the accounts tab. When you add a account, change the Default home directory from /Users/ to /Volumes/Data_Storage/username.

[Chris · Accepted solution]

You may want to read this thread

https://jamfnation.jamfsoftware.com/discussion.html?id=78

and bentom's writeup here:

http://macmule.com/2012/07/31/how-to-use-fstab-within-a-casper-imaging-workflow/

However, give this a REALLY good thought in case you are planning to use FileVault 2.
It's possible, but requires some fiddling...

[brussell]

THank you Dan. I am looking for a more automated technique, where all Users are automatically migrated to the other partition. RIght now we use a data partitioning script, that dynamically resizes the partitions based on the various whole disk size and then moves the users folder and creates the link. And since we are bound to A/D, any new user can log into an existing machine and their account will fall over to the second partition, following the sym link.

[brussell]

THank you Chris. I believe this would be preferred (using fstab). We haven't enabled FileVault yet so all should be okay. We have experimented with PGP WDE, but also had problems with that but thats another story!

[tkimpton]

Bens solution and only Bens solution worked for me.

Shame on those university folk giving us promises in the London conference of sharing the script but never did!