Using XCACLS in VBS - why does it keep slowing down?

I have a csv file that contains about 8000 rows. Each row contains a student
username, professor username, and class name. I also have a vbs file that
loops through each row in the csv file, using %COMSPEC% with mkdir and
xcacls to create a directory structure for each class in our college. For
each class' directory, the professor is given full access and each student
is only given full access to their personal folder within the directory.
There is also a shared folder within each class directory; the students are
given read access to this folder and the professor is given full access.
Domain Admins are given full access to everything.

The script to create all of this works fine and all of the directories and
permissions are created perfectly. But here is what I don't understand: The
script starts off working very efficiently - creating about 1,600 folders in
the first hour. But it gradually slows down as it goes along. After about 10
hours of running, it is only creating about 600 folders/hour. The end result
is that it takes over 13 hours to complete when (based on the first hour) I
expected it to finish in 5 hours or less.

One possibility is that the script slows down because it has to modify the
ACLs on all those shared folders, some of which can contain up to 50 ACL
entries by the time it completes. Another possibility is hardware
limitiations, but I don't think so -- I'm running the script on a 3.0GHz
Intel P4 Dual Core processor with 2GB or RAM running WinXP Pro and the
performance monitor is indicating both the CPU and memory utilizations are
below 50%. I don't think it's a network issue either - I ran the script on
my local drive and it experiences the same slow down as it does running on a
network drive. Perhaps it is a Windows limitiation? I've run a Unix-based
script using the same logic against the same csv file using the same mkdir
and cacls commands, and it completes in about 4 hours. But for some reason
the unix solution causes inheritance problems in some of the directories,
which is why I tried using a Windows solution instead.

Does anyone have an idea why my vbs script is slowing down like this? Thanks
for any help out there...

Owen
Fri Jan 25 16:39:47 CST 2008

On Jan 25, 11:13=A0am, "D.P. Roberts" <dprobe...@nospampleeze.com>
wrote:
> I have a csv file that contains about 8000 rows. Each row contains a stude=
nt
> username, professor username, and class name. I also have a vbs file that
> loops through each row in the csv file, using %COMSPEC% with mkdir and
> xcacls to create a directory structure for each class in our college. For
> each class' directory, the professor is given full access and each student=

> is only given full access to their personal folder within the directory.
> There is also a shared folder within each class directory; the students ar=
e
> given read access to this folder and the professor is given full access.
> Domain Admins are given full access to everything.
>
> The script to create all of this works fine and all of the directories and=

> permissions are created perfectly. But here is what I don't understand: Th=
e
> script starts off working very efficiently - creating about 1,600 folders =
in
> the first hour. But it gradually slows down as it goes along. After about =
10
> hours of running, it is only creating about 600 folders/hour. The end resu=
lt
> is that it takes over 13 hours to complete when (based on the first hour) =
I
> expected it to finish in 5 hours or less.
>
> One possibility is that the script slows down because it has to modify the=

> ACLs on all those shared folders, some of which can contain up to 50 ACL
> entries by the time it completes. Another possibility is hardware
> limitiations, but I don't think so -- I'm running the script on a 3.0GHz
> Intel P4 Dual Core processor with 2GB or RAM running WinXP Pro and the
> performance monitor is indicating both the CPU and memory utilizations are=

> below 50%. I don't think it's a network issue either - I ran the script on=

> my local drive and it experiences the same slow down as it does running on=
a
> network drive. Perhaps it is a Windows limitiation? I've run a Unix-based
> script using the same logic against the same csv file using the same mkdir=

> and cacls commands, and it completes in about 4 hours. But for some reason=

> the unix solution causes inheritance problems in some of the directories,
> which is why I tried using a Windows solution instead.
>
> Does anyone have an idea why my vbs script is slowing down like this? Than=
ks
> for any help out there...

Just a guess, but maybe creating all those folders in itself might
slow the system down (small files and empty folders cause
fragmentation)
Or, maybe it's inefficiently querying the recordset, keeping stuff in
memory that doesn't need to be there, thereby slowing down gradually.

Owen

D
Fri Jan 25 18:23:24 CST 2008

Thanks for that info. I think the problem actually resulted from using
xcacls (and cscript). I replaced all of the xcacls statements with cacls
statements (piping a "Y" to handle the prompts) and set my default script
engine back to wscript, and the whole thing completed in about 45 minutes
with no slow down whatsoever. Not sure why xcacls would have such a
difficult time with this, but for this task cacls is far superior.

"D.P. Roberts" <dproberts@nospampleeze.com> wrote in message
news:%23AYkUZ4XIHA.1168@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>I have a csv file that contains about 8000 rows. Each row contains a
>student username, professor username, and class name. I also have a vbs
>file that loops through each row in the csv file, using %COMSPEC% with
>mkdir and xcacls to create a directory structure for each class in our
>college. For each class' directory, the professor is given full access and
>each student is only given full access to their personal folder within the
>directory. There is also a shared folder within each class directory; the
>students are given read access to this folder and the professor is given
>full access. Domain Admins are given full access to everything.
>
> The script to create all of this works fine and all of the directories and
> permissions are created perfectly. But here is what I don't understand:
> The script starts off working very efficiently - creating about 1,600
> folders in the first hour. But it gradually slows down as it goes along.
> After about 10 hours of running, it is only creating about 600
> folders/hour. The end result is that it takes over 13 hours to complete
> when (based on the first hour) I expected it to finish in 5 hours or less.
>
> One possibility is that the script slows down because it has to modify the
> ACLs on all those shared folders, some of which can contain up to 50 ACL
> entries by the time it completes. Another possibility is hardware
> limitiations, but I don't think so -- I'm running the script on a 3.0GHz
> Intel P4 Dual Core processor with 2GB or RAM running WinXP Pro and the
> performance monitor is indicating both the CPU and memory utilizations are
> below 50%. I don't think it's a network issue either - I ran the script on
> my local drive and it experiences the same slow down as it does running on
> a network drive. Perhaps it is a Windows limitiation? I've run a
> Unix-based script using the same logic against the same csv file using the
> same mkdir and cacls commands, and it completes in about 4 hours. But for
> some reason the unix solution causes inheritance problems in some of the
> directories, which is why I tried using a Windows solution instead.
>
> Does anyone have an idea why my vbs script is slowing down like this?
> Thanks for any help out there...
>

ThatsIT
Sun Jan 27 07:27:09 CST 2008


"D.P. Roberts" <dproberts@nospampleeze.com> wrote in message
news:OGtXrG7XIHA.4808@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> Thanks for that info. I think the problem actually resulted from using
> xcacls (and cscript). I replaced all of the xcacls statements with cacls
> statements (piping a "Y" to handle the prompts) and set my default script
> engine back to wscript, and the whole thing completed in about 45 minutes
> with no slow down whatsoever. Not sure why xcacls would have such a
> difficult time with this, but for this task cacls is far superior.

How long does it take if you use callcs and cscript? is it xcalcs or cscript
that's making the big difference?

I just dont like using wscript, and one day you may want to change back to
cscript


>
> "D.P. Roberts" <dproberts@nospampleeze.com> wrote in message
> news:%23AYkUZ4XIHA.1168@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>>I have a csv file that contains about 8000 rows. Each row contains a
>>student username, professor username, and class name. I also have a vbs
>>file that loops through each row in the csv file, using %COMSPEC% with
>>mkdir and xcacls to create a directory structure for each class in our
>>college. For each class' directory, the professor is given full access and
>>each student is only given full access to their personal folder within the
>>directory. There is also a shared folder within each class directory; the
>>students are given read access to this folder and the professor is given
>>full access. Domain Admins are given full access to everything.
>>
>> The script to create all of this works fine and all of the directories
>> and permissions are created perfectly. But here is what I don't
>> understand: The script starts off working very efficiently - creating
>> about 1,600 folders in the first hour. But it gradually slows down as it
>> goes along. After about 10 hours of running, it is only creating about
>> 600 folders/hour. The end result is that it takes over 13 hours to
>> complete when (based on the first hour) I expected it to finish in 5
>> hours or less.
>>
>> One possibility is that the script slows down because it has to modify
>> the ACLs on all those shared folders, some of which can contain up to 50
>> ACL entries by the time it completes. Another possibility is hardware
>> limitiations, but I don't think so -- I'm running the script on a 3.0GHz
>> Intel P4 Dual Core processor with 2GB or RAM running WinXP Pro and the
>> performance monitor is indicating both the CPU and memory utilizations
>> are below 50%. I don't think it's a network issue either - I ran the
>> script on my local drive and it experiences the same slow down as it does
>> running on a network drive. Perhaps it is a Windows limitiation? I've run
>> a Unix-based script using the same logic against the same csv file using
>> the same mkdir and cacls commands, and it completes in about 4 hours. But
>> for some reason the unix solution causes inheritance problems in some of
>> the directories, which is why I tried using a Windows solution instead.
>>
>> Does anyone have an idea why my vbs script is slowing down like this?
>> Thanks for any help out there...
>>
>
>

StephenYorke
Sun Jan 27 21:11:01 CST 2008

You say you are using XCACLS, are you using this on the command line or are
you using Microsofts XCACLS.VBS file?
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/825751

-Stephen

"D.P. Roberts" wrote:

> I have a csv file that contains about 8000 rows. Each row contains a student
> username, professor username, and class name. I also have a vbs file that
> loops through each row in the csv file, using %COMSPEC% with mkdir and
> xcacls to create a directory structure for each class in our college. For
> each class' directory, the professor is given full access and each student
> is only given full access to their personal folder within the directory.
> There is also a shared folder within each class directory; the students are
> given read access to this folder and the professor is given full access.
> Domain Admins are given full access to everything.
>
> The script to create all of this works fine and all of the directories and
> permissions are created perfectly. But here is what I don't understand: The
> script starts off working very efficiently - creating about 1,600 folders in
> the first hour. But it gradually slows down as it goes along. After about 10
> hours of running, it is only creating about 600 folders/hour. The end result
> is that it takes over 13 hours to complete when (based on the first hour) I
> expected it to finish in 5 hours or less.
>
> One possibility is that the script slows down because it has to modify the
> ACLs on all those shared folders, some of which can contain up to 50 ACL
> entries by the time it completes. Another possibility is hardware
> limitiations, but I don't think so -- I'm running the script on a 3.0GHz
> Intel P4 Dual Core processor with 2GB or RAM running WinXP Pro and the
> performance monitor is indicating both the CPU and memory utilizations are
> below 50%. I don't think it's a network issue either - I ran the script on
> my local drive and it experiences the same slow down as it does running on a
> network drive. Perhaps it is a Windows limitiation? I've run a Unix-based
> script using the same logic against the same csv file using the same mkdir
> and cacls commands, and it completes in about 4 hours. But for some reason
> the unix solution causes inheritance problems in some of the directories,
> which is why I tried using a Windows solution instead.
>
> Does anyone have an idea why my vbs script is slowing down like this? Thanks
> for any help out there...
>
>
>

D
Mon Jan 28 12:19:53 CST 2008

xcacls.vbs


"Stephen Yorke" <StephenYorke@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:63ECAA9B-AC9F-4536-901D-395C6BBF4EE3@microsoft.com...
> You say you are using XCACLS, are you using this on the command line or
> are
> you using Microsofts XCACLS.VBS file?
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/825751
>
> -Stephen
>
> "D.P. Roberts" wrote:
>
>> I have a csv file that contains about 8000 rows. Each row contains a
>> student
>> username, professor username, and class name. I also have a vbs file that
>> loops through each row in the csv file, using %COMSPEC% with mkdir and
>> xcacls to create a directory structure for each class in our college. For
>> each class' directory, the professor is given full access and each
>> student
>> is only given full access to their personal folder within the directory.
>> There is also a shared folder within each class directory; the students
>> are
>> given read access to this folder and the professor is given full access.
>> Domain Admins are given full access to everything.
>>
>> The script to create all of this works fine and all of the directories
>> and
>> permissions are created perfectly. But here is what I don't understand:
>> The
>> script starts off working very efficiently - creating about 1,600 folders
>> in
>> the first hour. But it gradually slows down as it goes along. After about
>> 10
>> hours of running, it is only creating about 600 folders/hour. The end
>> result
>> is that it takes over 13 hours to complete when (based on the first hour)
>> I
>> expected it to finish in 5 hours or less.
>>
>> One possibility is that the script slows down because it has to modify
>> the
>> ACLs on all those shared folders, some of which can contain up to 50 ACL
>> entries by the time it completes. Another possibility is hardware
>> limitiations, but I don't think so -- I'm running the script on a 3.0GHz
>> Intel P4 Dual Core processor with 2GB or RAM running WinXP Pro and the
>> performance monitor is indicating both the CPU and memory utilizations
>> are
>> below 50%. I don't think it's a network issue either - I ran the script
>> on
>> my local drive and it experiences the same slow down as it does running
>> on a
>> network drive. Perhaps it is a Windows limitiation? I've run a Unix-based
>> script using the same logic against the same csv file using the same
>> mkdir
>> and cacls commands, and it completes in about 4 hours. But for some
>> reason
>> the unix solution causes inheritance problems in some of the directories,
>> which is why I tried using a Windows solution instead.
>>
>> Does anyone have an idea why my vbs script is slowing down like this?
>> Thanks
>> for any help out there...
>>
>>
>>