MacOS – Add ~/Downloads to Dock through Profile Manager

dockmacosprofile-manager

I am trying to create a minimal dock through Profile Manager (OS X 10.10.2/Server 4.0.3) but I need to include the users' Download directory. Profile Manager has an option to add the Documents folder but not Downloads. I figured I'd add it in the Dock Items, but so far it isn't working.

In Dock Items, I've tried:

~/Downloads
Downloads
/Network/Servers/<fully qualified servername>/Users/%short_name%/Downloads

The last configuration shows a proper folder on the client dock but it has a permission denied icon present and it clearly is not pointing to the right place.

I'm considering another approach which would involve allowing the dock items of the user to merge with those provided by Profile Manager as this keeps the Downloads on the dock. This approach would require me to create a dock template that is used when I create the users' accounts. This approach may be okay but I also may have to limit modifications to the dock, and so I'd like to get the first approach to work.

Any ideas on how to solve this?

Thanks.

Best Answer

Take a look at this blog post at nbalonso.com: Relative Paths in Configuration Profiles about including the Downloads folder into the Dock