The reparse tag and reparse data buffers are not replicated to other servers because the reparse point only works on the local system. You can also force replication by using the Sync-DfsReplicationGroup cmdlet, included in the DFSR PowerShell module introduced with Windows Server2012R2, or the Dfsrdiag SyncNow command. However, RDC works more efficiently on certain file types such as Word docs, PST files, and VHD images. Make sure to install DFSR management tools. No. To get the most verbose information change the log severity level: > wmic /namespace:\\root\microsoftdfs path dfsrmachineconfig set debuglogseverity=5 DFSR uses GUIDs to identify the replicated files, which look like: AC759213-00AF-4578-9C6E-EA0764FDC9AC. .pst and Access files tend to stay open for long periods of time while being accessed by a client such as Outlook or Office Access. The client then requests the server send only the data for signatures that are not already on the client. If changed files have not been replicated, DFS Replication will automatically replicate them when configured to do so. It supports collections of servers, not just one at a time. Changes to these attribute values trigger replication of the attributes. For example, on server A, you can connect to a replication group defined in the forest with servers A and B as members. To back up files that are stored in a replicated folder, use Windows Server Backup or Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager. Choose the member that has the most up-to-date files that you want to replicate because the primary member's content is considered "authoritative." Yes, DFS Replication in Windows Server2012R2, Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server2008R2 includes the ability to add a failover cluster as a member of a replication group. No. To remove a server from a specific membership but leave them in an RG, set their membership state to disabled using Set-DfsrMembership DisableMembership $true . This wildcarding and pipelining capability is powerful stuff in the right hands. Install DFS Management Tools with PowerShell Run PowerShell as administrator and run the following cmdlet. Yes. Now watch this with DFSR Windows PowerShell : I just added RG, RF, and members with one pipelined command with minimal repeated parameters, instead of five individual commands with repeated parameters. Dfsrdiag which is included in Windows Server 2003 doesn't support filehash option. No. Find out more about the Microsoft MVP Award Program. CN=SYSVOL Subscription,CN=Domain System Volume,CN=DFSR-LocalSettings,CN=,OU=Domain Controllers,DC= msDFSR-Enabled=FALSE. When we force a DFS replication on a given connection while ignore schedule for n minutes, we should user the command like this Dfsrdiag SyncNow </Partner:name> </RGName:name> </Time:n> The </Time:n> is set duration in minutes. Ok, weve talked topology creation now lets see the ongoing management story. IT pros have strong feelings about Windows PowerShell, but if they can be turned, theyd be a powerful ally. To remove memberships from replication altogether in an RG, use Remove-DfsrMember (this is the preferred method). 76K views 5 years ago In this movie we show how to fix SYSVOL replication if it stops working with an Authoritative DFSR Synchronization. Can you hop into Event Viewer and look for Warnings or Errors in the DFS Replicationlog? It will only work in a domain. Yes. If the schedule is closed, files are not staged. No. To use cross-file RDC, one member of the replication connection must be running an edition of Windows that supports cross-file RDC. Yes. More info about Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge, DFS Namespaces: Frequently Asked Questions, DFS Namespaces and DFS Replication Overview, Changes in Functionality from Windows Server 2008 to Windows Server 2008 R2, Changes in Functionality from Windows Server 2003 with SP1 to Windows Server 2008, Migrate SYSVOL replication to DFS Replication, FRS2DFSR An FRS to DFSR Migration Utility, https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=195437, https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=182261, Add a Failover Cluster to a Replication Group, https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=155085, Testing Antivirus Application Interoperability with DFS Replication, https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=73990, https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=73991, https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125363, Delegate the Ability to Manage DFS Replication, https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=182294, Microsoft's Support Statement Around Replicated User Profile Data, https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=201282, DFS Replication Initial Sync in Windows Server 2012 R2: Attack of the Clones, https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=75043, https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=182264, Automating DFS Replication Health Reports, https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=74010, DFS Replication Management Pack for System Center Operations Manager 2007, https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=182265, Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7, Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 8, Distributed File System Replication Cmdlets in Windows PowerShell, https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=182268, https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=182269, Make a Replicated Folder Read-Only on a Particular Member, https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=156740. Open DFS Management Tool On console tree - under the Replication node Select the appropriate replication group Select Connections tab Right-click the member you want to use to replicate And then click Replicate Now Forcing DFSR replication through Dfsrdiag You can also force the replication using Dfsrdiag SyncNow command The operation completed successfully. entry to add discussion of ReFS. The DFSR Windows PowerShell module in Windows Server2012R2 contains cmdlets for starting propagation tests and writing propagation and health reports. On the Problematic ADC, open ADSIEDIT.MSC tool and go to following distinguished name (DN) value and edit below attribute: If an application opens a file and creates a file lock on it (preventing it from being used by other applications while it is open), DFS Replication will not replicate the file until it is closed. On computers running Windows Server2012R2, Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server2008R2, Dfsrdiag.exe can also display the updates that DFS Replication is currently replicating. Yes, DFS Replication can replace FRS for SYSVOL replication on servers running Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008 R2, or Windows Server 2008. Use dfsrdiag on several files and if it returns the same hashes, then it's safe to assume that all other files were restored correctly too. The backlog count is the number of updates that a replication group member has not processed. all other DCs in the domain. DFS Configuration Checking The Backlog Check the DFS Replication status Using Powershell How to delete the particular Replication Group Replicated Folder list from a particular Replication Group Force Replication Last update DC name Test the Namespace servers. The Conflict and Deleted folder is not replicated, and this method of conflict resolution avoids the problem of morphed directories that was possible in FRS. After this errors there's only informational events telling everything is running smoothly. The tool used for migration is a command-line utility called DFSRMig.exe and can be found on a Server 2008's Windows\System32 folder. The amount of disk traffic is still proportional to the size of the files because the files must be read to and from the staging folder. 1 Mainly because they were pretty dumb and we found no one using them. You want to force the non-authoritative synchronization of sysvol replication on a domain controller (DC). DFS Management is included with Windows Server2012R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server2008R2, Windows Server2008, and Windows Server2003R2. By now, you know that DFS Replication has some major new features in Windows Server 2012 R2 . An example is shown below which ignores the schedule for a minute. Otherwise you'll see conflicts on DCs, originating from any DCs where you did not set auth/non-auth and restarted the DFSR service. 4. Yes. These are major pitfalls to DFSR administrators, especially when first learning the product. It moves the other file into the DfsrPrivate\ConflictandDeleted folder (under the local path of the replicated folder on the computer that resolved the conflict). Nonetheless, the bandwidth throttling is not 100% accurate and DFS Replication can saturate the link for short periods of time. No. In addition, DFS Replication has its own filter mechanism for files and folders that you can use to exclude certain files and file types from replication. There will also be connectivity errors noted in the DFS Replication event log that can be harvested using MOM (proactively through alerts) and the DFS Replication Health Report (reactively, such as when an administrator runs it). "DFSRDIAG SyncNow" for "DFS-R Replication Connection" "DFSRDIAG PollAD" for "DFS Replication Service" All tasks are executed in the "DFS Replication Monitoring Account" security context and are returning verbose output of the actions performed. Hi folks, Ned here again. For more information, see Automating DFS Replication Health Reports (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=74010). DFS Replication does not communicate with File Replication Service (FRS). No folders may exceed the quota before the quota is enabled. As such, DFS Replication can replicate folders on volumes that use Data Deduplication in Windows Server 2012, or Single Instance Storage (SIS), however, data deduplication information is maintained separately by each server on which the role service is enabled. Watch here as Windows PowerShell autocompletes all my typing and guides me through the minimum required commands to setup my RG: (If you can't see the preview, go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJZc2idVEu4). To prestage a replication group member, copy the files to the appropriate folder on the destination server(s), create the replication group, and then choose a primary member. Accurate times are also important for garbage collection, schedules, and other features. Added How can I upgrade or replace a DFS Replication member. Computer: DC2.edu.vantaa.fi No. Restore-DfsrPreservedFiles is so cool that it rates its own blog post (coming soon). No. Windows SharePoint Services can be downloaded from the Microsoft Web site; it isn't included in newer versions of Windows Server. Yes. Ensure that each of the replicated folders has a unique root path and that they do not overlap. DFS Replication supports copying files to a replication group member before the initial replication. RDC can use an older version of a file with the same name in the replicated folder or in the DfsrPrivate\ConflictandDeleted folder (located under the local path of the replicated folder). In the ADSIEDIT.MSC tool, modify the following distinguished name (DN) value and attribute on each of the domain controllers (DCs) that you want to make non-authoritative: Force Active Directory replication throughout the domain. Yes, DFS Replication can replicate folders on volumes that use Data Deduplication in Windows Server. However, DFS Replication does require that the server clocks match closely. Windows SharePoint Services2.0 with Service Pack2 is available as part of Windows Server2003R2. Yes. For example, if all logon scripts were accidentally deleted and a manual copy of them was placed back on the PDC Emulator role holder, making that server authoritative and all other servers non-authoritative would guarantee success and prevent conflicts. DFS Replication can replicate numerous folders between servers. 8 The legacy DFSR administration tools do not have the capability to clone databases. Lets say Im the owner of an existing set of replication groups and replicated folders scattered across dozens or hundreds of DFSR nodes throughout the domain. Facepalm. RDC is not used on files smaller than 64KB and might not be beneficial on high-speed LANs where network bandwidth is not contended. The file system policy reapplies NTFS permissions at every Group Policy refresh interval. When a quota threshold is reached, it cleans out some of those files. DFS Replication replicates NTFS file permissions and alternate data streams. For more information about why .pst files cannot be safely accessed from across a network, see article 297019 in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=125363). Lets scale this up - maybe I want to create a 100 server, read-only, hub-and-spoke configuration for distributing software. Checking domain controller configuration DFS Configuration Yes. Yes. DFS Replication does not replicate the FILE_ATTRIBUTE_TEMPORARY value. Data replicates according to the schedule you set. Hope this can be helpful. The contents of the file are not replicated unless the contents change as well. I tried dfsrdiag syncnow /partner:BCN /RGName:"Domain System Volume" /Time:1 it came up successful but when I take a log of dcdiag it still has the error of The DFS Replication service failed to communicate with partner The strange part it stamps as yesterday date at 5:20pm it never shows today date and time Size of all replicated files on a server: 100 terabytes. Parity with old tools is not enough DFSR Windows PowerShell should bring new capabilities and solve old problems. Disabling RDC can reduce CPU utilization and replication latency on fast local area network (LAN) links that have no bandwidth constraints or for replication groups that consist primarily of files smaller than 64KB. If no changes are allowed on the branch servers, then there is nothing to replicate back, simulating a one-way connection and keeping WAN utilization low. Yes. No. No. 2. What would DFSR Windows PowerShell do? The old admin tools work against one node at a time DFSR Windows PowerShell should scale without extensive scripting. The following list provides a set of scalability guidelines that have been tested by Microsoft and apply to Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2016, and Windows Server 2019. For more information, see System Center Data Protection Manager (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=182261). Set all connections in all replication groups to use the replication group schedule instead of their custom connection schedules. DFS Replication won't replicate files or folders that are encrypted using the Encrypting File System (EFS). If you notice something missing then you can restore SYSVOL on DC1 and mark it as authoritative. DFS Replication is supported on Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) volumes and previous snapshots can be restored successfully with the Previous Versions Client. Worse, I have to understand that the options presented by these old tools are not always optimal for instance, DFS Management creates the memberships disabled by default, so that there is no replication. How to force an authoritative and non-authoritative synchronization for DFSR-replicated SYSVOL (like "D4/D2" for FRS), https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2218556, Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark them if they provide no help. For information about what's new in DFS Replication, see the following topics: DFS Namespaces and DFS Replication Overview (in Windows Server 2012), What's New in Distributed File System topic in Changes in Functionality from Windows Server 2008 to Windows Server 2008 R2, Distributed File System topic in Changes in Functionality from Windows Server 2003 with SP1 to Windows Server 2008. Windows Server 2012 and 2008 R2 dfsrdiag 1 dfsrdiag syncnow /RGName:"Domain System Volume" /Partner:OTHER_DC /Time:15 /v PowerShell 1 Sync-DfsReplicationGroup -GroupName "Domain System Volume" -SourceComputerName "AD-01" -DestinationComputerName "AD-02" -DurationInMinutes 15 Local time means the time of the member hosting the inbound connection. Yes. Description: The displayed schedule of the inbound connection and the corresponding outbound connection reflect time zone differences when the schedule is set to local time. If this happens, use the Dfsradmin membership /set /isprimary:true command on the primary member server to restore the primary member designation manually. Run the DFSRADMIN.EXE command-line tool N times, or run N arguments as part of the BULK command-line option. pollad - checks in with Active Directory. To overwrite the configured schedule, use the WMI method ForceReplicate(). 5 The DFSRADMIN SUB DELETE command was only necessary because of the non-recommended DFSRADMIN MEMBERSHIP DELETE command. Examples below: Dashboards The staging folder location is configured on the Advanced tab of the Properties dialog box for each member of a replication group. With those two simple lines, I just told DFSR to: 1. And if you used DFSMGMT.MSC, youd have to navigate through this: With the underlying DFSR Windows PowerShell , you now have very easy scripting options to tie together cmdlets into basic do everything for me with one command functions, if you prefer. For a list of recent changes to this topic, see the Change history section of this topic. You can configure DFS Replication to use a limited amount of bandwidth on a per-connection basis (bandwidth throttling). No. Next, run the following command from an elevated command prompt on the same servers that you set as non-authoritative: DFSRDIAG POLLAD. Additional Information: section with results from tests on Windows Server2012R2. TechEd North America 2014 with live demos and walkthroughs: Its the age of Windows PowerShell, folks. Consequently, there are custom DFSR replication schedules all over the connections and RGs. Original KB number: 2218556. Microsoft does not support creating NTFS hard links to or from files in a replicated folder doing so can cause replication issues with the affected files. In addition, DFS Replication can be used to replicate standalone DFS namespaces, which was not possible with FRS. Since things are going so well, I think Ill kick back and read some DFSR best practices info from Warren Williams . So you will most likely need to install recent RSAT tools for Windows 7 or Windows 8 on your desktop. To upgrade or replace a DFS Replication member, see this blog post on the Ask the Directory Services Team blog: Replacing DFSR Member Hardware or OS. However, when hosting multiple applications or server roles on a single server, it is important that you test this configuration before implementing it in a production environment. The conflict could reside on a server different from the origin of the conflict. Applies to: Windows Server 2012 R2 However, when using RDC, the amount of data transferred is proportionate to the size of the ACLs, not the size of the entire file. During these intervals, replication is enabled. For example, DFS Replication uses time stamps to determine which file takes precedence in the event of a conflict. Windows and DFS Replication support folder paths with up to 32thousand characters. Hmmm. RDC can be disabled on a per-connection basis using DFS Management. Start the DFSR service on the other non-authoritative DCs. This is because DFS Replication throttles bandwidth by throttling RPC calls. I went ahead and rebooted SSDC01 just for fun, and on DC02 it says its opened an inbound connection in the event logs. DFSR logs are located in C:\Windows\debug. Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click DFS Management. Yes, DFS Replication can replace FRS for SYSVOL replication on servers running Windows Server2012R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server2008R2, or Windows Server 2008. If small changes are made to existing files, DFS Replication with Remote Differential Compression (RDC) will provide a much higher performance than copying the file directly. For example, if a user copies a 10megabyte (MB) file onto serverA (which is then at the hard limit) and another user copies a 5MB file onto serverB, when the next replication occurs, both servers will exceed the quota by 5 megabytes. If Remote Differential Compression (RDC) is disabled on the connection, the file is staged unless it is 256KB or smaller. For each block in a file, it calculates a signature, which is a small number of bytes that can represent the larger block. entry to correct the potential impact of using DFS Replication with .pst and Access files. For instance, if youre troubleshooting with Microsoft Support and they say, I want you to turn up the DFSR debug logging verbosity and number of logs on all your servers, you can now do this with a single easy command: Or what if I just set up replication and accidentally chose the empty folder as the primary copy, resulting in all my files moving into the hidden PreExisting folder, I can now easily move them back: Dang, that hauls tail! For more information, see "DFS Replication security requirements and delegation" in the Delegate the Ability to Manage DFS Replication (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=182294). For a list of scalability guidelines that have been tested by Microsoft for Windows Server2003R2, see DFS Replication scalability guidelines (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=75043). If I change GroupName to use *, and I had a reference computer that lived everywhere (probably a hub), I can easily create propagation tests for the entire environment. For information about DFS Namespaces, see DFS Namespaces: Frequently Asked Questions. Don't use DFS Replication with Offline Files in a multi-user environment because DFS Replication doesn't provide any distributed locking mechanism or file checkout capability. The service will retry the connection periodically. Heres a simple example put together by our Windows PowerShell developer, Daniel Ong, that shows this off: Its pretty nifty, check out this short demo video. Yes. Yes. Windows SharePoint Services provides tight coherency in the form of file check-out functionality that DFS Replication doesn't. Do not use DFS Replication in an environment where multiple users update or modify the same files simultaneously on different servers. Or just keep using the old tool, I suppose. The following list provides a set of scalability guidelines that have been tested by Microsoft on Windows Server 2012, Windows Server2008R2, and Windows Server2008: Size of all replicated files on a server: 10 terabytes. How to perform an authoritative synchronization of DFSR-replicated sysvol replication (like D4 for FRS) Windows Server 2012 R2 introduced these capabilities for the first time as in-box options via Windows PowerShell. 2. From those, I hope you end up creating perfectly tailored solutions to all your day-to-day DFSR administrative needs. For more information, Testing Antivirus Application Interoperability with DFS Replication (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=73990). Files with the IO_REPARSE_TAG_DEDUP, IO_REPARSE_TAG_SIS or IO_REPARSE_TAG_HSM reparse tags are replicated as normal files. Meanwhile, asMVP mentioned, you couldtake a system state backup of DC1. As a result, various buffers in lower levels of the network stack (including RPC) may interfere, causing bursts of network traffic. DFS Replication does replicate files that are encrypted by using non-Microsoft software, but only if it does not set the FILE_ATTRIBUTE_ENCRYPTED attribute value on the file. However, DFS Replication does replicate folders used by non-Microsoft applications, which might cause the applications to fail on the destination server(s) if the applications have interoperability issues with DFS Replication. DFS Replication and FRS can run on the same server at the same time, but they must never be configured to replicate the same folders or subfolders because doing so can cause data loss. If you choose to disable RDC on a connection, test the replication efficiency before and after the change to verify that you have improved replication performance. This is the command line tool for DFSR - useful commands are: dfsrdiag ReplicationState /all - verbose output. DFS Replication sets the System and Hidden attributes on the replicated folder on the destination server(s). No. This occurs because Windows applies the System and Hidden attributes to the volume root folder by default. DFS Replication replicates volumes on which Single Instance Storage (SIS) is enabled. Edited the Does DFS Replication work on ReFS or FAT volumes? State 0 means that all DCs are . If remote differential compression (RDC) is enabled on the connection, inbound replication of a file larger than 64KB that began replicating immediately prior to the schedule closing (or changing to No bandwidth) continues when the schedule opens (or changes to something other than No bandwidth). For example, D:\Sales and D:\Accounting can be the root paths for two replicated folders, but D:\Sales and D:\Sales\Reports cannot be the root paths for two replicated folders. Otherwise you will see conflicts on DCs, originating from any DCs where you did not set auth/non-auth and restarted the DFSR service. If RDC is turned off, DFS Replication completely restarts the file transfer. If I was still using DFSRDIAG.EXE POLLAD, Id be on server 8 of 100 by the time that cmdlet returned from doing all of them. All parameters are filled in contextually, from target properties. DFS Replication then uses Remote Differential Compression (RDC) to perform a synchronization that determines whether the data is the same on the sending and receiving members.