On Windows Server 2008, is there an easy way to modify security permissions for multiple files at once (as with Windows Server 2003)? Right-click menu -> properties does not provide a "Security" tab if more than one file/directory is selected (i.e. ctrl-click multiple files).
Is there really a valid security reason for changing this in Windows Server 2008?
I don't know if there's a trick to do it with the gui but i think the Icacls command is what you're after.
Zow-- It looks like they've changed the behaviour from Windows XP! You used to be able to select multiple files and see a security tab, or select multiple folders and see a security tab. Selecting both, in XP, resulted in no security tab being displayed. I'm seeing a behaviour where I can't get a security tab with any combination of multiple files, folders, or both seleted on a Windows 7 machine. Ouch! What a misfeature.
Your best bet is probably going to be to use a command-line permission utility like SetACL ( http://setacl.sourceforge.net/), CACLS (built-in to Windows), or XCACLS (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=0ad33a24-0616-473c-b103-c35bc2820bda).
re: the "valid security reason" - Setting file permissions to what you need is a "valid" use of an operating system feature. A server OS w/o configurable file system permissions would be a pretty crappy server OS. (grin)
Apparently it was purposely removed, according to this thread in the Server forums: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/winserverfiles/thread/dbfa011b-7c27-4e1d-b1a4-f0f8839b2d46
Needless to say, this response has been greeted with derision by various others in that thread. Now maybe Nick's comment to the question basically highlights Microsoft's rationale, but tbh it's a pain in the neck for those admins that do know what they're doing...
A workaround (also described in the thread) is to access the server from a 2k3 or XP client, then permissions can still be modified directly through the GUI.