Establishment of user home directories in a heterogeneous network environment

A method for creating and maintaining user home directories and providing for user access across a heterogeneous network of managed servers based on the user account information of the central server. Upon determination that the function of home directories is supported, the target server name is determined and the type of server is extracted from the target server. Based on the server type, appropriate commands are issued to create the necessary directories on the target server. After establishment of the directories, access rights are established to enable the directory to be shared and available to the user through client systems in the network. Connections to the home directory are then made when a request is initiated by the user.