Forum Discussion
Write to workgroup fileserver from AzureAD joined device.
Hi, We currently have a situation where we are trying to install a program locally, but we want some of the data files (master data for projects, company settings for the most part) to be stored on ...
It sounds like the installer isn't using the alternate credentials you used to map the network drive. Many installers access the UNC path in the security context of the process that's running, so they ignore Explorer's mapped drive credentials.
A few things I'd check:
- Verify the share and NTFS permissions both allow Modify (not just Read/Write) for the local account on the workgroup server.
- Try connecting to the UNC path first using net use \\server\share /user:SERVER\localuser before launching the installer. This establishes a session that some installers can reuse.
- If the installer supports it, run it under the credentials that have access to the share (using runas or another elevation method), although this can be tricky with Azure AD accounts.
- Check whether the installer is trying to create temporary files, lock files, or change permissions on the share, as those operations often require more than basic write access.
If this is a permanent deployment, I'd also question whether a workgroup file server is the best fit. Joining the server to the same identity provider (or using a proper domain/Entra hybrid setup) eliminates many of these authentication issues and makes permission management much cleaner.
Out of curiosity, what operating system is the file server running, and is the installer failing immediately when validating the UNC path or only after it starts copying files?