Q: Strange problem on Mac Server 5
I have a very strange problem on my Mac server (in reality an early 2009 iMac running Server.app 5.2). I am not sure when the problem started, but here is what happens.
The Mac has one internal disk (SSD) for system and apps and an external firewire disk for the users home directories. The only user directory which exists on the system disk (let's call it ServerSSD) is admin's home directory. All other user directories are located on the external disk (let's call it UserHomes). Those additional users are Open Directory users (Local Network Directory).
If I log in the server using admin's account, I can see all disks and everything is fine. If I log in using the user name of a local network user, who doesn't have admin permissions, everything is fine until I log out. When I log out, and log in again as the administrator, then what I find is:
- The UserHomes disk has been dismounted from the system.
- An empty directory called UserHomes has been created in /Volumes, owned by the non-privileged user I used to log in before.
If I erase that directory, I can remount the UserHomes disk and everything is back to normal. But if another, non-privileged user tries to log in, he obviously can't log in, because his user directory does not exist. The only way I can get out of this condition, is by rebooting the computer.
I've tried formatting the UserHomes disk and copying over the user directories from a backup, no improvement (probably the backup is made after the problem started). I've tried reinstalling El Capitan still no change.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Posted on Oct 3, 2016 6:13 AM