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 No. 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! For example, creating multiple folders simultaneously with identical names on different servers replicated using FRS causes FRS to rename the older folder(s). Run the DFSRADMIN.EXE command-line tool N times, or run N arguments as part of the BULK command-line option. Yes. Ultrasound and Sonar are only capable of monitoring FRS. If RDC is turned off, DFS Replication completely restarts the file transfer. DFS Replication supports volumes formatted with the NTFS file system only; the Resilient File System (ReFS) and the FAT file system are not supported. 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. Manually triggering a DFS sync (dfsrdiag syncnow) returns an error message of " [ERROR] Cannot find inbound DfsrConnectionInfo object to the given partner." I suspect that because I manually rebuilt the SYSVOL folder on DC1, and because Samba 4's implementation of Active Directory is wonky, the proper partitions were not created. 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 Run the following command from an elevated command prompt on the same server that you set as authoritative: You'll see Event ID 4602 in the DFSR event log indicating sysvol replication has been initialized. Accurate times are also important for garbage collection, schedules, and other features. 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. First published on TECHNET on Aug 20, 2013. For more information, see Add a Failover Cluster to a Replication Group (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=155085). This prevents DFS Replication from replicating these files until they are closed. A real attribute is an attribute that can be set by the Win32 function SetFileAttributes. Yes. The sample is useable for simpler setup cases and also demonstrates (with plenty of comments!) This can cause DFS Replication to continually retry replicating the files, causing holes in the version vector and possible performance problems. If the local path of the replicated folder on the destination server(s) is also a volume root, no further changes are made to the folder attributes. 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. Yes. Instead of making bulk operations easier, the DFSRADMIN command-line has given me nearly as many steps as the GUI! exactly how to write your very own DFSR scripts. Parity with old tools is not enough DFSR Windows PowerShell should bring new capabilities and solve old problems. Edited the Does DFS Replication replicate NTFS file permissions, alternate data streams, hard links, and reparse points? I start to poke around in DFSMGMT and see that undoing all these little nuggets is going to be a real pain in the tuchus, as there are hundreds of customizations. DFS Replication uses the topology defined by the administrator, which is independent of Active Directory Domain Services site costing. 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. To manage DFS Replication from other versions of Windows, use Remote Desktop or the Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7. * You can optionally disable cross-file RDC on Windows Server2012R2. For more information, see Automating DFS Replication Health Reports (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=74010). For a list of editions that support cross-file RDC, see Which editions of the Windows operating system support cross-file RDC? 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). 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. You must use hard quotas with caution. When a quota threshold is reached, it cleans out some of those files. 8 The legacy DFSR administration tools do not have the capability to clone databases. With those two simple lines, I just told DFSR to: 1. 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. RDC is not used on files smaller than 64KB and might not be beneficial on high-speed LANs where network bandwidth is not contended. Update managers work independently of one another. Customer questions about the previous entry, which incorrectly indicated that replicating .pst or Access files could corrupt the DFS Replication database. No. It's possible for individual members of a replication group to stay within a quota before replication, but exceed it when files are replicated. No. 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. 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? After a file exceeding that threshold has been replicated, updated versions of the file always use RDC, unless a large portion of the file is changed or RDC is disabled. However, you must open the proper ports in external firewalls. 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. We do not support creating a one-way replication connection with DFS Replication in Windows Server2008 or Windows Server2003R2. Number of replicated files on a volume: 70 million. This can result in sharing violations because an open file isn't replicated until the file is closed. Upgrade to Microsoft Edge to take advantage of the latest features, security updates, and technical support. Yes. DFS Management is included with Windows Server2012R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server2008R2, Windows Server2008, and Windows Server2003R2. The Standard Editions of Windows Server do not support cross-file RDC. Dfsrdiag.exe is a command-line tool that can generate a backlog count or trigger a propagation test. This is especially relevant if you ADDS Forest came from Windows Server 2000 or Windows Server 2003. Certain scenarios are supported when replicating roaming user profiles. DFSRdiag. The following attribute values are replicated by DFS Replication, but they do not trigger replication. What would DFSR Windows PowerShell do? entry to correct the potential impact of using DFS Replication with .pst and Access files. With tabbed autocomplete, parameters always in the same order, mandatory parameters where required, and everything else opt-in, it is very easy to pick up and start working right away. 2. Checking domain controller configuration DFS Configuration The disk, memory, and CPU resources used by DFS Replication depend on a number of factors, including the number and size of the files, rate of change, number of replication group members, and number of replicated folders. IT pros have strong feelings about Windows PowerShell, but if they can be turned, theyd be a powerful ally. Only the part of the file associated with the Access Control List (ACL) is replicated, although DFS Replication must still read the entire file into the staging area. Yes. For more information about the initial replication, see Create a Replication Group. Today we dig into the most comprehensive new feature, DFSR Windows PowerShell . All parameters are filled in contextually, from target properties. To remove DFSR memberships in a supported and recommended fashion, see note 2 above. To learn about different methods of tuning replication performance, see Tuning Replication Performance in DFSR on the Ask the Directory Services Team blog. 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 turn off RDC through the property page of a given connection. Backlog shows you how many files still need to replicate before two computers are in sync. These are major pitfalls to DFSR administrators, especially when first learning the product. Added How can files be recovered from the ConflictAndDeleted or PreExisting folders? Lets scale this up - maybe I want to create a 100 server, read-only, hub-and-spoke configuration for distributing software. The DFSR Windows PowerShell module in Windows Server2012R2 contains cmdlets for starting propagation tests and writing propagation and health reports. Ok, weve talked topology creation now lets see the ongoing management story. 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 Conflict and Deleted folder is not replicated, and this method of conflict resolution avoids the problem of morphed directories that was possible in FRS. 3. The DFS Replication service uses remote procedure calls (RPC) over TCP to replicate data. RDC is used only for files that are 64KB or larger by default. 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. Changes to these attribute values trigger replication of the attributes. There is no longer a limit to the number of replication groups, replicated folders, connections, or replication group members. Yes. 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. State 0 means that all DCs are . Yesassuming that there's a private Wide Area Network (WAN) link (not the Internet) connecting the branch offices. 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 DFS Management has an in-box diagnostic report for the replication backlog, replication efficiency, and the number of files and folders in a given replication group. Yes. . It also assumes you have the ability to restore data that was deleted, overwritten, damaged, and so on. 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. The DFSRADMIN tool requires remembering to create connections in both directions; if I dont, I have created an unsupported and disconnected topology that may eventually cause data loss problems. Added How can I improve replication performance? SIS is used by Remote Installation Services (RIS), Windows Deployment Services (WDS), and Windows Storage Server. I went ahead and did a non-authoritative once more on DC02, and ran a DFSRDIAG SYNCNOW. Do not use DFS Replication in an environment where multiple users update or modify the same files simultaneously on different servers. For more information about how to specify the RPC Endpoint Mapper, see article154596 in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=73991). DFS Replication uses RDC, which computes the blocks in the file that have changed and sends only those blocks over the network. For this reason, specify the primary member manually only if you are certain that the initial replication has irretrievably failed. However, replicating an entire volume can cause the following problems: If the volume contains a Windows paging file, replication fails and logs DFSR event 4312 in the system event log. For more information, see Make a Replicated Folder Read-Only on a Particular Member (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=156740). Updated the What are the supported limits of DFS Replication? That domain controller has now done a D2 of sysvol replication. However, it is automatically enabled when you upgrade to an edition that supports cross-file RDC, or if a member of the replication connection is running a supported edition. For a list of attribute values and their descriptions, see File Attributes on MSDN (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=182268). From those, I hope you end up creating perfectly tailored solutions to all your day-to-day DFSR administrative needs. If the schedule is closed, files are not staged. 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). During the recovery, this volume is not available for replication in either direction. No, DFS Replication does not replicate files for which the only change is a change to the timestamp. Otherwise, register and sign in. Open an Administrative Command Prompt. If a user encrypts a file that was previously replicated, DFS Replication deletes the file from all other members of the replication group. Windows SharePoint Services can be downloaded from the Microsoft Web site; it isn't included in newer versions of Windows Server. TechEd North America 2014 with live demos and walkthroughs: Its the age of Windows PowerShell, folks. Edited the Does DFS Replication replicate NTFS file permissions, alternate data streams, hard links, and reparse points? Replication Group ID: A241B44A-1857-4136-8293-E8BA1FC875E9. However, DFS Replication does require that the server clocks match closely. DFS Replication can't be used to replicate mailboxes hosted on Microsoft Exchange Server. Because connections and replication group updates are not serialized, there is no specific order in which updates are received. Start the DFSR service on the domain controller that was set as authoritative in Step 2. If you have feedback for TechNet Support, contact tnmff@microsoft.com. On Site B's DC2 DFS Replication log, there's one error over a month ago. Therefore, it is not possible to disable the use of encrypted RPC by the DFS Replication service. DFSRDIAG - DFS SyncNow - n StopNow - n PollAD - Active Directory DumpAdCfg - AD DumpMachineCfg - DFS Windows Server 2012 R2 introduced these capabilities for the first time as in-box options via Windows PowerShell. More info about Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge. Local time means the time of the member hosting the inbound connection. If two schedules are opened, updates are generally received and installed from both connections at the same time. To back up files that are stored in a replicated folder, use Windows Server Backup or Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager. You can force polling by using the Update-DfsrConfigurationFromAD cmdlet, or the Dfsrdiag PollAD command. Yes. Yes. 1: Initialized 2: Initial Sync 3: Auto Recovery 4: Normal 5: In Error You can also check the backlog using this command: dfsrdiag backlog /rgname:REPGroup1 /rfname:REPFolder1 /smem:SendingServer01 /rmem:ReceivingServer01 You can run this command any time to force an update in the DFS replication event log to see if the status has changed: DFS Replication is independent of the connection type. I ran a propagation report and checked the logged, and now SSDC02's status is stuck at "Arrival Pending" For more information, see DFS Replication Initial Sync in Windows Server 2012 R2: Attack of the Clones. Since things are going so well, I think Ill kick back and read some DFSR best practices info from Warren Williams . DFS Replication does not replicate files that are encrypted by using the Encrypting File System (EFS). This script is intended only for disaster recovery and is provided AS-IS, without warranty. However, this is only a schedule override, and it does not force replication of unchanged or identical files. section with results from tests on Windows Server2012R2. If you configure bandwidth throttling when specifying the schedule, all connections for that replication group will use that setting for bandwidth throttling. To use cross-file RDC, one member of the replication connection must be running an edition of the Windows operating system that supports cross-file RDC. DFS Replication replicates NTFS file permissions and alternate data streams. No. If setting the authoritative flag on one DC, you must non-authoritatively synchronize Scripts can use WMI to collect backlog informationmanually or through MOM. Applications other than DFS Replication can be hosted on the same server depending on the server configuration. For example, on server A, you can connect to a replication group defined in the forest with servers A and B as members. RDC can be disabled on a per-connection basis using DFS Management. On the Problematic ADC, open ADSIEDIT.MSC tool and go to following distinguished name (DN) value and edit below attribute: Make sure to install DFSR management tools. Each existing file or folder will be marked as journalWrap and verified against the file system before replication is enabled again. This method is known as "opportunistic locking.". For more information, see the DFS Replication Management Pack for System Center Operations Manager 2007 in the Microsoft Download Center (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=182265). I guess I got a bit excited there. DFS Replication overcomes three common FRS issues: Journal wraps: DFS Replication recovers from journal wraps on the fly. To remove memberships from replication altogether in an RG, use Remove-DfsrMember (this is the preferred method). 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. For more information, see SetFileAttributes Function in the MSDN library (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=182269). Otherwise you will see conflicts on DCs, originating from any DCs where you did not set auth/non-auth and restarted the DFSR service. Yes. If you notice something missing then you can restore SYSVOL on DC1 and mark it as authoritative. Set all connections in all replication groups to use the replication group schedule instead of their custom connection schedules. DFSRDIAG POLLAD You'll see Event ID 4614 and 4604 in the DFSR event log indicating sysvol replication has been initialized. To overwrite the configured schedule, use the WMI method ForceReplicate(). DFS Replication does not need to know anything about the contents of the fileonly which blocks have changed. 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). Cross-file RDC can use blocks of up to five similar files in this process. This is different from the Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS), and DFS Replication does not saturate the connection if you set it appropriately. The service will retry the connection periodically. You can change the RDC size threshold by using the Dfsradmin Connection Set command, the DFS Replication WMI Provider, or by manually editing the configuration XML file. This FAQ answers questions about Distributed File System (DFS) Replication (also known as DFS-R or DFSR) for Windows Server. For a list of editions that support cross-file RDC, see Which editions of the Windows operating system support cross-file RDC? This size threshold is 64KB by default. 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. DFS Replication can replicate numerous folders between servers. So you will most likely need to install recent RSAT tools for Windows 7 or Windows 8 on your desktop. Servers running Windows Server 2003 R2 don't support using DFS Replication to replicate the SYSVOL folder. No. Examples below: Dashboards 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. I went ahead and rebooted SSDC01 just for fun, and on DC02 it says its opened an inbound connection in the event logs.
dfsrdiag syncnow sysvol