Morphed folders: To prevent morphed folder names, DFS Replication stores conflicting data in a hidden DfsrPrivate\ConflictandDeleted folder (located under the local path of the replicated folder). First published on TECHNET on Aug 20, 2013. New-DfsReplicationGroup -GroupName "RG01" | New-DfsReplicatedFolder -FolderName "RF01" | Add-DfsrMember -ComputerName SRV01,SRV02,SRV03, Add-DfsrConnection -GroupName "rg01" -SourceComputerName srv01 -DestinationComputerName srv02, Set-DfsrMembership -GroupName "rg01" -FolderName "rf01" -ComputerName srv01 -ContentPath c:\rf01 PrimaryMember $true, Get-DfsrConnection -GroupName * | Set-DfsrConnectionSchedule -ScheduleType UseGroupSchedule, Get-DfsrMember -GroupName * | Update-DfsrConfigurationFromAD, Get-DfsrMember -GroupName "rg01 " | Set-DfsrMembership -FolderName "rf01" -StagingPathQuotaInMB (1024 * 32) -force, Get-DfsrMember -GroupName * | Set-DfsrServiceConfiguration -DebugLogSeverity 5 -MaximumDebugLogFiles 1250, Restore-DfsrPreservedFiles -Path "C:\RF01\DfsrPrivate\PreExistingManifest.xml" -RestoreToOrigin, Start-DfsrPropagationTest -GroupName "rg01 " -FolderName * -ReferenceComputerName srv01, Write-DfsrPropagationReport -GroupName "rg01 "-FolderName * -ReferenceComputerName srv01 -verbose, Get-DfsrBacklog -GroupName rg01 -FolderName * -SourceComputerName srv02 -DestinationComputerName srv01 -verbose, Get-DfsrBacklog -GroupName rg01 -FolderName * -SourceComputerName srv02 -DestinationComputerName srv01 -verbose | ft FullPathName, (Get-DfsrBacklog -GroupName "RG01" -FolderName "RF01" -SourceComputerName SRV02 -DestinationComputerName SRV01 -Verbose 4>&1).Message.Split(':')[2], Get-DfsrState -ComputerName srv01 | Sort UpdateState -descending | ft path,inbound,UpdateState,SourceComputerName -auto -wrap, Get-DfsrPreservedFiles -Path C:\rf01\DfsrPrivate\ConflictAndDeletedManifest.xml | ft preservedreason,path,PreservedName -auto, Get-DfsrMembership -GroupName * -ComputerName srv01 | sort path | % { Get-DfsrPreservedFiles -Path ($_.contentpath + "\dfsrprivate\conflictanddeletedmanifest.xml") } | ft path,PreservedReason, DFS Replication in Windows Server 2012 R2: If You Only Knew the Power of the Dark Shell, major new features in Windows Server 2012 R2, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJZc2idVEu4:0:0, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJZc2idVEu4), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1SuGREIOTE:0:0, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1SuGREIOTE), DFSR best practices info from Warren Williams. This is especially relevant if you ADDS Forest came from Windows Server 2000 or Windows Server 2003. Yes. If changed files have not been replicated, DFS Replication will automatically replicate them when configured to do so. On Site B's DC2 DFS Replication log, there's one error over a month ago. However, RDC works more efficiently on certain file types such as Word docs, PST files, and VHD images. No. DFS Replication does not continue to stage files outside of scheduled replication times, if the bandwidth throttling quota has been exceeded, or when connections are disabled. previously if it's a disaster recovery scenario on all DCs in the domain. The DFS Replication service uses remote procedure calls (RPC) over TCP to replicate data. Or you could do the test in lab. The steps below will help us verify and upgrade the replication model of the SYSVOL if required. This can delay when the file is available on the receiving member. dfsrdiag can also be used for inspecting SYSVOL backlog when DFS-R SYSVOL replication is enabled: dfsrdiag backlog /rgname:"Domain System Volume" /rfname:"SYSVOL Share" /smem:DC1 /rmem:DC2 A word of warning if you want to run commands like the one above in PowerShell: parameters with spaces are a major pain in the rear. However, when using RDC, the amount of data transferred is proportionate to the size of the ACLs, not the size of the entire file. If this were DFSRADMIN.EXE, it would take 406 commands to generate the same configuration. By default, a maximum of 16 (four in Windows Server2003R2) concurrent downloads are shared among all connections and replication groups. If the initial replication fails or the DFS Replication service restarts during the replication, the primary member sees the primary member designation in the local DFS Replication database and retries the initial replication. entry to clarify how DFS Replication handles hard links. 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). click Create Diagnostic Report. The DFS Replication service on versions of Windows prior to Windows Server2008R2 isn't designed to coordinate with a failover cluster, and the service won't fail over to another node. Servers running Windows Server 2003 R2 don't support using DFS Replication to replicate the SYSVOL folder. I guess I got a bit excited there. Here is the example: The client compares the server signatures to its own. In DFS Replication you set the maximum bandwidth you want to use on a connection, and the service maintains that level of network usage. This can fix an issue where your group policy objects are. When a conflict occurs, DFS Replication logs an informational event to the DFS Replication event log. 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. Run the following command from an elevated command prompt on the same servers that you set as non-authoritative: You'll see Event ID 4114 in the DFSR event log indicating sysvol replication is no longer being replicated. Although DFS Replication will work at dial-up speeds, it can get backlogged if there are large numbers of changes to replicate. I went ahead and rebooted SSDC01 just for fun, and on DC02 it says its opened an inbound connection in the event logs. Propagation shows you if files are being replicated to all nodes. SYSVOL is replicated using DFSR. This script is intended only for disaster recovery and is provided AS-IS, without warranty. The server clocks must be set within five minutes of each other (by default) for Kerberos authentication to function properly. Files are also staged on the receiving member as they are transferred if they are less than 64 KB in size, although you can configure this setting between 16 KB and 1 MB. While were on the subject of ongoing replication: Tell me the first 100 backlogged files and the count, for all RFs on this server, with crazy levels of detail: Tell me the files currently replicating or immediately queued on this server, sorted with on-the-wire files first: Compare a folder on two servers and tell me if all their immediate file and folder contents are identical and they are synchronized: Tell me all the deleted or conflicted files on this server for this RF: Wait, I meant for all RFs on that computer: Tell me every replicated folder for every server in every replication group in the whole domain with all their details, and I dont want to type more than one command or parameter or use any pipelines or input files or anything! Files are staged on the sending member when the receiving member requests the file (unless the file is 64 KB or smaller) as shown in the following table. Yes. DFS Management is included with Windows Server2012R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server2008R2, Windows Server2008, and Windows Server2003R2. If any part of the file is already being transmitted, DFS Replication continues the transmission. In addition, some resources are harder to estimate. 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 replicates NTFS file permissions and alternate data streams. Size of all replicated files on a server: 100 terabytes. Disable DFSR Sysvol replication on problematic ADC; Then you should initiate DFSR Sysvol non-authoritative restore on that ADC; Steps to perform a non-authoritative restore of DFSR SYSVOL (like "D2" for FRS) Step 1. 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. To do so, install Services for Network File Systems (NFS) on the DFS Replication server. If the connection goes down, DFS Replication will keep trying to replicate while the schedule is open. Yes. The following file attribute values also trigger replication, although they cannot be set by using the SetFileAttributes function (use the GetFileAttributes function to view the attribute values). Hope this can be helpful. Yes. When DFS Replication detects a conflict, it uses the version of the file that was saved last. DFS Replication supports copying files to a replication group member before the initial replication. Changed portions of files are compressed before being sent for all file types except the following (which are already compressed): .wma, .wmv, .zip, .jpg, .mpg, .mpeg, .m1v, .mp2, .mp3, .mpa, .cab, .wav, .snd, .au, .asf, .wm, .avi, .z, .gz, .tgz, and .frx. Yes. For example, the Extensible Storage Engine (ESE) technology used for the DFS Replication database can consume a large percentage of available memory, which it releases on demand. 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). Yes. For example, you can set the schedule to 15-minute intervals, seven days a week. 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. 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. In the File Replication Service (FRS), it was controlled through the D2 and D4 data values for the Bur Flags registry values, but these values don't exist for the Distributed File System Replication (DFSR) service. DFS Replication overcomes three common FRS issues: Journal wraps: DFS Replication recovers from journal wraps on the fly. Doing so can cause numerous problems including health-check topology errors, staging issues, and problems with the DFS Replication database. Do not use DFS Replication in an environment where multiple users update or modify the same files simultaneously on different servers. However, you can export the values using Get-DfsrConnectionSchedule or Get-DfsrGroupSchedule and pipeline them with Out-File or Export-CSV. 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 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. Restore-DfsrPreservedFiles is so cool that it rates its own blog post (coming soon). "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. Then you can use Get-Content or Import-CSV to import them with Set-DfsrConnectionSchedule or Get-DfsrGroupSchedule . No. For information about the supported scenarios, see Microsoft's Support Statement Around Replicated User Profile Data (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=201282). DFS Replication interoperates with NFS on a server running a Windows Server operating system, but you can't replicate an NFS mount point. 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). To recover files directly from the ConflictAndDeleted or PreExisting folder, use the Get-DfsrPreservedFiles and Restore-DfsrPreservedFiles Windows PowerShell cmdlets (included with the DFSR module in Windows Server2012R2), or the RestoreDFSR sample script from the MSDN Code Gallery. 2 Paradoxically, these old commands leaves servers in a non-recommended state. Sharing best practices for building any app with .NET. Can you hop into Event Viewer and look for Warnings or Errors in the DFS Replicationlog? RDC is a general purpose protocol for compressing file transfer. 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. Added How can files be recovered from the ConflictAndDeleted or PreExisting folders? 1 Mainly because they were pretty dumb and we found no one using them. For more information about initial replication, see Create a Replication Group. Files with the IO_REPARSE_TAG_DEDUP, IO_REPARSE_TAG_SIS or IO_REPARSE_TAG_HSM reparse tags are replicated as normal files. 6 Use the Get-AdObject Active Directory cmdlet against the DFSR objects in AD to retrieve this information (with considerably more details). 76K views 5 years ago In this movie we show how to fix SYSVOL replication if it stops working with an Authoritative DFSR Synchronization. Changes to these attribute values trigger replication of the attributes. If you are using Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server2008R2, you can create a read-only replicated folder that replicates content through a one-way connection. Replication groups can span across domains within a single forest but not across different forests. 100 read-only servers added in a hub and spoke, using four commands, a text file, and some variables and aliases used to save my poor little nubbin fingers. However, if you're replicating data across multiple sites and users won't edit the same files at the same time, DFS Replication provides greater bandwidth and simpler management. That domain controller has now done a D2 of sysvol replication. These included the options to configure debug logging on or off, maximum debug log files, debug log verbosity, maximum debug log messages, dirty shutdown autorecovery behavior, staging folder high and low watermarks, conflict folder high and low watermarks, and purging the ConflictAndDeleted folder. Steps to create a propagation report for DFS Replication: 1. 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. Windows SharePoint Services provides tight coherency in the form of file check-out functionality that DFS Replication doesn't. Weve been beating the Windows PowerShell drum for years now, but sometimes, new cmdlets dont offer better ways to do things, only different ways. Yes. You know how it is. Files are tracked using a unique ID, so renaming a file and moving the file within the replica has no effect on the ability of DFS Replication to replicate a file. Hi folks, Ned here again. To migrate replication of the SYSVOL folder to DFS Replication, see Migrate SYSVOL replication to DFS Replication. Or you can select No topology and manually configure connections after the replication group has been created. The Sparse attribute is preserved on the receiving member. Because connections and replication group updates are not serialized, there is no specific order in which updates are received. This is useful for users who travel between two branch offices and want to be able to access their files at either branch or while offline. You can also use the SMB/CIFS client functionality included in many UNIX clients to directly access the Windows file shares, although this functionality is often limited or requires modifications to the Windows environment (such as disabling SMB Signing by using Group Policy). 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. TechEd North America 2014 with live demos and walkthroughs: Its the age of Windows PowerShell, folks. For example, with RDC, a small change to a 2MB PowerPoint presentation can result in only 60kilobytes (KB) being sent across the networka 97percent savings in bytes transferred. Local time means the time of the member hosting the inbound connection. 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). This prevents DFS Replication from replicating these files until they are closed. The client then requests the server send only the data for signatures that are not already on the client. Certain scenarios are supported when replicating roaming user profiles. I can scheduled this easily too which means I can have an ongoing, lightweight, and easily understood view of what replication performance is like in my environment. SIS is used by Remote Installation Services (RIS), Windows Deployment Services (WDS), and Windows Storage Server. There is no longer a limit to the number of replication groups, replicated folders, connections, or replication group members. Next, run the following command from an elevated command prompt on the same servers that you set as non-authoritative: DFSRDIAG POLLAD. No. DFS Replication uses new objects in the domain-naming context of Active Directory Domain Services to store configuration information. DFS Replication uses the RPC Endpoint Mapper (port135) and a randomly assigned ephemeral port above 1024. No, using WindowsBackup (Ntbackup.exe) on a computer running Windows Server2003 or earlier to back up the contents of a replicated folder on a computer running Windows Server 2012, Windows Server2008R2, or Windows Server2008 isn't supported. Error: 1722 (The RPC server is unavailable.) To view or manage replication groups that contain read-only replicated folders or members that are failover clusters, you must use the version of DFS Management that is included with Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008 R2, the Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 8, or the Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7. For more information, see SetFileAttributes Function in the MSDN library (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=182269). Yes. You can configure DFS Replication to use a limited amount of bandwidth on a per-connection basis (bandwidth throttling). It's possible for individual members of a replication group to stay within a quota before replication, but exceed it when files are replicated. Ultrasound and Sonar are only capable of monitoring FRS. To setup only two servers with DFSMGMT, I have to go through all these dialogs: To setup a simple hub and two-spoke environment with DFSRADMIN, I need to run these 12 commands: dfsradmin rf new /rgname:software /rfname:rf01, dfsradmin mem new /rgname:software /memname:srv01, dfsradmin mem new /rgname:software /memname:srv02, dfsradmin mem new /rgname:software /memname:srv03, dfsradmin conn new /rgname:software /sendmem:srv01 /recvmem:srv02, dfsradmin conn new /rgname:software /sendmem:srv02 /recvmem:srv01, dfsradmin conn new /rgname:software /sendmem:srv01 /recvmem:srv03, dfsradmin conn new /rgname:software /sendmem:srv03 /recvmem:srv01, dfsradmin membership set /rgname:software /rfname:rf01 /memname:srv01 /localpath:c:\rf01 /isprimary:true, dfsradmin membership set /rgname:software /rfname:rf01 /memname:srv02 /localpath:c:\rf01, dfsradmin membership set /rgname:software /rfname:rf01 /memname:srv03 /localpath:c:\rf01. 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. Set all connections in all replication groups to use the replication group schedule instead of their custom connection schedules. Lets start with the simple case of creating a replication topology with two servers that will be used to synchronize a single folder. For more information, see the following Microsoft Web sites: There is one update manager per replicated folder. 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. During initial replication, the primary member's files will always take precedence in the conflict resolution that occurs if the receiving members have different versions of files on the primary member. You can force replication immediately by using DFS Management, as described in Edit Replication Schedules. Accurate times are also important for garbage collection, schedules, and other features. Administrators instead had to make direct WMI calls via WMIC or Get-WmiObject/Invoke-WmiMethod . Windows Server 2012 R2 introduced these capabilities for the first time as in-box options via Windows PowerShell. Now: I just added the hub and spoke connections here with a pair of commands instead of four, as the PowerShell creates bi-directionally by default instead of one-way only. Better yet, it defaults to recommended configurations. ------- Mahesh Unnikrishnan 1 Like Like You must be a registered user to add a comment. No. Upgrade to Microsoft Edge to take advantage of the latest features, security updates, and technical support. 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. entry to correct the potential impact of using DFS Replication with .pst and Access files. 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. I can create a simple one-server-per-line text file named spokes.txt containing all my spoke servers perhaps exported from AD with Get-AdComputer then create my topology with DFSR Windows PowerShell . If you configure bandwidth throttling when specifying the schedule, all connections for that replication group will use that setting for bandwidth throttling. DFS Replication uses RDC, which computes the blocks in the file that have changed and sends only those blocks over the network. To secure data transfers across the Internet, the DFS Replication service is designed to always use the authentication-level constant, RPC_C_AUTHN_LEVEL_PKT_PRIVACY. No folders may exceed the quota before the quota is enabled. Ensure that each of the replicated folders has a unique root path and that they do not overlap. 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. Customer questions about the previous entry, which incorrectly indicated that replicating .pst or Access files could corrupt the DFS Replication database. Now that I have an updated schedule, I must wait for all the DFSR servers to poll active directory individually and pick up these changes, right? 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). Distributed File System Replication (DFS-R or DFSR) is a native replication service in Windows that organizations can use to replicate folders across file servers in distributed locations. DFS Replication does not perform bandwidth sensing. For example, creating multiple folders simultaneously with identical names on different servers replicated using FRS causes FRS to rename the older folder(s). 2. DFS Replication supports remote management using the DFS Management console and the Add Replication Group command. Yes. DFS Replication doesn't support replicating files on Cluster Shared Volumes. DFSRDIAG is part of the DFS Management Tools and it's not being installed by default. If making any DC authoritative, the PDC Emulator as authoritative is preferable, since its sysvol replication contents are most up to date. On the same DN from Step 1, set msDFSR-Enabled=TRUE. DFSRDIAG POLLAD Wait a few minutes you will see Event ID 4602 in the DFSR event log (Open up event viewer and navigate to Applications and Services Logs -> DFS Replication) indicating SYSVOL has been initialized.