"The home folder for user X isn't located in the usual place or can't be accessed."

So, my problem persist on two out of 25 clients. Just reinstalled El Capitain on one of them, but is was not enough. I do not think it is an OD problem with the server, as all the anther clients are working, but something related to finder on the local machine...

Many Open Directory problems can be resolved by taking the following steps. Test after each one, and back up all data before making any changes.

1. The OD master must have a static IP address on the local network, not a dynamic address.

2. You must have a working DNS service, and the server's hostname must match its fully-qualified domain name. To confirm, select the server by name in the sidebar of the Server application window, then select the Overview tab. Click the Edit button on the Host Name line. On the Accessing your Server sheet, Domain Name should be selected. Change the Host Name, if necessary. The server must have at least a three-level name (e.g. "server.yourdomain.com"), and the name must not be in the ".local" top-level domain, which is reserved for Bonjour.

3. The primary DNS server used by the server must be 127.0.0.1 (that is, itself) unless you're using another server for internal DNS. The only DNS server set on the clients should be the internal one, which they should get from DHCP if applicable.

4. Follow these instructions to rebuild the Kerberos configuration on the master.

5. If you use authenticated binding, check the validity of the master's certificate. The common name must match the hostname and domain name. Deselecting and then reselecting the certificate in Server.app has been reported to have an effect in some cases.

6. Unbind and then rebind the clients in the Users & Groups preference pane. Use the fully-qualified domain name of the master.

7. Reboot the master and the clients.

8. Don't log in to the server with a network user's account.

9. As a last resort, export all OD users. In the Open Directory pane of Server, delete the OD server. Then recreate it and import the users. Ensure that the UID's are in the 1001+ range.

ArjunON wrote:

Hi all,

My network users aren't able to access their home directories on client machines. They can authenticate using all other services, and they can even log into the client machines. Upon login, however, they are prompted with the error (in the post title), "The home folder for user {$username} isn't located in the usual place or can't be accessed."

I have their home directories located on my Server HD and have tried restarting the server, but to no avail. I've done some Googling around as well, but no luck.

Any advice?

I am experiencing the same problem. Thus far, rebooting the client system is the only resolution which solves the issue.

Server: 10.9.2

Workstation: 10.9.4

I have a static OD master (& failover) with working DNS service.

Have you figured this out? I'm having the same issue; I can log into a user fine on a computer but if I try to change users on the same machine, I have to reboot.

I have had this issue with a couple of clients - latest under El Capitan. I have tried all suggestions from this thread and others, but none of them worked. I even tried to rebuild he system from the emergency partition - no effect. So I ended up wiping the whole computer and reinstall everything.

Frustrating not to know what this error is about. I have had it under Yosemite too. It is though my impression that client/server setup is more unreliable with El Capitan: Slow logins/logouts, sleep problems, many issues with restart after updates etc. Anyone else?

...And after several months no solution yet. When it happens, I have to reinstall the entire machine from a netinstall image (with all the troubles it causes for profile manager etc.