multiple quotas for user home directories.

[BYTEJUNKIE]

I'm trying to configure quotas for home directories. the more research in the community section i do the more confused i am over what is and isn't possible.

so i've created a volume (users) and inside that a qtree (1GB).

/vol/users/1GB

I;ve used cifs.homedirs to allow the user to map their homedrive with \\filername\~ and that works lovely.

I've applied a quota of 1GB for users against this qtree. actually, i think its the default quota becuase of the * at the start of the quota line. in /etc/quotas it looks like

*

user@/vol/leeds_users/1GB

1048576K

-

-

972800K

-

this isn't currently working, ive got three users in the qtree and when they collectively take up 1GB, no more storage is allowed. but im fairly confident i'll get this working, as there are threads like this one that explain how this works.

when i do get this working, I'd like to create a new qtree, 5GB inside users and apply a quota to that,

/vol/users/5GB

will i be able to have two quotas that apply to users? and configure a quotas file like this?

*	user@/vol/users/1GB	1G	-	-	950M	-
*	user@/vol/users/5GB	5G	-	-	4.5G	-

if you can give me a link to docco to read to understand this properly, would be most appreciative.

[HARI_KRISHNA981]

Hi Matthew Short,

Go through this document., you may find an useful explanation.

http://www.netapp.com/us/system/pdf-reader.aspx?m=tr-3425.pdf&cc=us

Quotas are explained with use cases.

Regards,

Hari.

[BYTEJUNKIE]

thanks for the link Hari,

I've read through that document and specifically on page 10 found the section about user quotas. it states as i read it, that all users quotad on a volume or qtree contribute cumulatively to that qtree. would you agree to that statement?

is there a way to enforce a per user limit to their particular subfolder of the qtree without creating a specific entry for each user in \etc$\quotas? i can't see that the homedirs settings are all that useful without separate quotas

[bsnyder27]

Matthew,

That is correct that the default quota setting applies cumulatively on each qtree.

With home directories, it's typically the case that users only have access to their own homedir and it doesn't matter that it's cumulative to the qtree their homedir is contained in.

The same rules still apply for 'shared' qtrees except users will likely have content scattered across many subfolders within the qtree.

Just set the default user quota to a size that represents the '95th percentile' and then add exceptions for the other users that go above that.

There tends to be more confusion from the end user for this case because they think they filled up the entire share and other users are unable to then write to it.

Example:

/vol/users/share     tree     2T     # defined QTREE size

*     user@/vol/users/share     5G - - 4.5G -      # 5G quota per user

jdoe     user@/vol/users/share     10G - - 9.5G -      # Exception for John Doe

- Barry

[BYTEJUNKIE]

thanks, thats a great response.

it is however not the way my filer is working right now.

usera has 900MB of docs.

userb adds 100MB of docs and the 1GB limit is triggered.

This is why i described the quota as cumulative. although the rule in \etc\quotas is per user , the limit is being hit cumulatively across the data stored by two users and then both users are denied the ability to store docs. im not sure you've got the same understanding of cumulative as i have!

so after pausing to reread your response, have i made the following mistake?

- not setting the default quota for the whole qtree

- then setting the quota for the user folders on the qtree of 1GB rather than a share lower.

which would lead me to believe that the best way to operate is to create

\\filername\cifs_share\qtree\homedirs\usera

im going to do a bunch of testing on this now to try and answer that question for myself. will update the thread as i learn something.    

[bsnyder27]

What does a quota report return for, say, usera? 

The default user quota should be set at the qtree level.  That's the sole purpose of the default user quota.

If you haven't already, check the output of a quota report for the qtree in question.  If you have ssh access set up the command would be:

ssh <filername> quota report | grep <homedir qtree>

This should return a line showing your defined default user quota, the qtree quota, and all other lines will be individual users that own content in that qtree with their respective quota reports.

I was interpreting your cumulative comment differently.  Feels like you may have a 1GB qtree limit defined based on what you have described above w/ usera and userb.

I don't believe you need to set a qtree quota limit unless you desire to. 

Hope you are/were able to track down the cause.

[BYTEJUNKIE]

heres where i am.

three users on there. only one of those can write past 1GB for their homefolder.

however unlike previously, a cumulative count of all users home directories now measures more than 1GB.

I've got one user for whole \\filername\~ won't work, but I'm going to leave it overnight and see if that sorts itself out.

I've also just plugged in the second quota for the bigger homedirs at 5GB. I know it has been recommended above to have one rule and many exceptions, but I'm in a position where i can tear it all out if it doesn't work, so I thought I'd test it

seems like im getting somewhere finally.    

thanks for the help/