Access-based enumeration in Windows Server 2012

Updated: November 9, 2016 | 20 comments | Tags: , , ,

Yesterday I migrated our main file server to Windows Server 2012.
After setting up the permissions I noticed that Access-based enumeration was not working.

In this environment I’m not running DFS since there is only one File server.
I could not initially find the Access-based enumeration setting, or any good information on the web.

First you need to add the File And Storage Services role to the server and reboot the server.
Then go to File And Storage Services in System Manager.

Press Shares, select your shared folder, right-click and press Properties.

Under Settings you will find the Enable access-based enumeration-setting.
Enable it and Apply your changes.

If this helped you let me know! :)

20 Comments

  1. William Reichert on 2013-01-06 at 23:16

    This definitely helped me – I am trying to revise my lab projects for 2012, and no Share and Storage Management (except under Remote Access Tools) so I was lost on how to do it!!! This really helped.

    Reply
  2. Matt Forchette on 2013-02-25 at 08:13

    This totally helped. Strange that this is enabled by default on 2K8 but not 2012.
    Thanks alot.

    Reply
  3. LedHed on 2013-03-01 at 21:09

    Thanks! Couldn't find this and it was driving me nuts.

    Reply
  4. Joakim on 2013-03-03 at 20:25

    Glad I could help!
    / J

    Reply
    • Greg on 2013-03-30 at 02:39

      Hi Joakim,

      I have followed the directions above.

      but a user account that I am testing this with still sees the shares.

      what would you suggest

      Reply
      • Joakim on 2013-04-02 at 10:15

        Hi Greg,
        Have you verified via Effective Permissions that the user(s) do not have permissions to the folder?

        / Joakim

  5. Ian on 2013-04-03 at 15:57

    ABE does not hide the share only the files and folders to which the user has no access i.e. at least read (NTFS) cheers

    Reply
  6. Binh Tang on 2013-06-16 at 10:24

    Thanks for sharing this. Very helpful as I'm setting up a RDS server with roaming profiles for users and couldn't find this option on the 2012 server.

    Reply
  7. JohnF on 2013-10-15 at 22:33

    Perfect, this is what I was looking for! Thank you Joakim!

    Reply
  8. DarkLurker on 2013-12-27 at 17:05

    I'm migrating from a Novell system to Windows/AD, and don't yet know where all the nooks and crannies are that MS hid their settings. Like you said, there's not much info on this out on the Internet, so your post here is very helpful. So thanks a bunch.

    Reply
    • Joakim on 2013-12-28 at 16:47

      Hey DarkLurker,

      Welcome to the Microsoft-universe! If you need help or find other interesting articles that relate to what we write about please let us know.

      Best regards,
      Joakim.

      Reply
  9. Chris on 2014-05-16 at 16:14

    Hi Joakim – I'm having the same issue, used your suggestion, and users can still see folders they don't have access to. Do you know whether this works with users coming in through remote desktop?

    Reply
  10. Charky on 2014-12-05 at 04:28

    Hi, Joakim,
    I'm having the same issue, users can still see folders they don't have access to.
    I double checked, all setup is correct, just update more windows hotfix by windows update.

    Reply
  11. Max on 2015-08-07 at 10:09

    Thank you so much !!! Very helpful..

    Reply
  12. prasit on 2016-02-14 at 10:49

    thank you very much

    Reply
  13. Anonymous on 2016-05-09 at 12:12

    thx a lot :D

    Reply
  14. Chia on 2016-06-02 at 09:53

    Thanks for this, it was very helpful!

    Reply
  15. Paul on 2016-07-07 at 15:32

    I spent weeks trying to get ABE to work until I found out this was the answer. Thanks SO MUCH. It was driving mey NUTS !!!

    Reply
  16. Art on 2016-11-08 at 04:50

    Running a single Windows Server Essentials 2012 R2 domain controller and 4 Windows 10 desktops which are members of the domain. I have gone through your instructions to enable access-based enumeration. Starting small, I enable ABE on 1 of the shares, logged into a desktop with "No access" to the folder and it was still visible. I rebooted both the server and the desktop and performed the same test with the same result.

    Any suggestions?

    Reply
    • Joakim on 2016-11-09 at 12:42

      Hi Art,

      Are you running the shares through a DFS? The "root" folders will always be shown when you browse the server, ABE only works for "subfolders".

      Reply

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *