DFS Operations Guide: Migrating from FRS to DFS Replication Microsoft Corporation Published: April 2010 Authors: Ned Pyle and Susan Boher

Abstract File Replication Service (FRS) is a technology originally introduced on Windows 2000 Server to replicate Distributed File System (DFS) folders and the SYSVOL folder on domain controllers. FRS was replaced in Windows Server 2008 R2 by DFS Replication for replicating DFS folders and for replicating the SYSVOL folder. This guide provides instructions for migrating replication from FRS to DFS Replication (for folders other than the SYSVOL folder).

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Contents DFS Operations Guide: Migrating from FRS to DFS Replication................. 1

Abstract .................................................................................................................. 1

Contents................................................................................................................. 3

Introduction............................................................................................................ 5 FRS Deprecation History ................................................................................. 5 Requirements to Migrate from FRS to DFS Replication ............................ 7

Migration Steps..................................................................................................... 8 Step 1: Inventory FRS ...................................................................................... 8 Step 2: Validate Environment Health ........................................................... 13 Step 3: Backup FRS ....................................................................................... 16 Step 4: Remove FRS...................................................................................... 17 Step 5: Deploy DFS Replication ................................................................... 22 Step 6: Validate DFS Replication Health .................................................... 35

Additional References ....................................................................................... 42

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Introduction File Replication Service (FRS) is a technology originally introduced on Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Server to replicate Distributed File System (DFS) folders and the SYSVOL folder on domain controllers. FRS has been replaced in Windows Server® 2008 R2 by DFS Replication for replicating DFS folders and for replicating the Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) SYSVOL folder. To manage a Distributed File System namespace that uses FRS to replicate content, open the Distributed File System snap-in on a computer running Windows Server 2003 or Windows 2000 Server.

To migrate replication of the SYSVOL folder from FRS to DFS Replication, see the SYSVOL Replication Migration Guide: FRS to DFS Replication (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=139749).

To migrate custom FRS replicas to DFS Replication, use the procedures described in this document.

FRS Deprecation History Starting with Windows Server 2003 R2, Microsoft began phasing out the use of FRS. In Windows Server 2003 R2, the more efficient and robust DFS Replication service replaced FRS for replication of DFS folders, although FRS was still used to replicate the SYSVOL folder on domain controllers and could be configured to run on other custom folders. For more information about DFS Replication, see Replication (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc770278.aspx). In Windows Server 2008, DFS Replication replaced FRS for replicating the SYSVOL folder in domains that use the Windows Server 2008 domain functional level, and the FRS management tools (DFSGUI.MSC and NTFRSUTL.EXE) were removed. In Windows Server 2008 R2, FRS can be used only to replicate the SYSVOL folder on domain controllers in domains that use the Windows Server 2003 or Windows 2000 domain functional levels. All other replication tasks that were performed by FRS are now performed by DFS Replication. FRS replicas are disabled on servers that have been upgraded to Windows Server 2008 R2.

Benefits of Migrating to DFS Replication Microsoft recommends migrating from FRS to DFS Replication, since DFS Replication offers several advantages over the older FRS technology. Some of the benefits of using DFS Replication are: DFS Replication uses an efficient, scalable, and reliable file replication protocol,

which has been extensively tested to ensure data consistency in scenarios that use multimaster replication.

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DFS Replication is much faster than FRS, particularly when you make small changes are to large files and you enable Remote Differential Compression (RDC). For example, with RDC enabled, a small change to a 2 MB PowerPoint® presentation

can result in only 60 kilobytes (KB) being sent across the network�a 97 percent savings in bytes transferred.

Provides a new MMC snap-in management tool for easier administration. Provides built in health monitoring tools for ease of monitoring deployments. Improved support for Read Only Domain Controllers.

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Requirements to Migrate from FRS to DFS Replication To migrate FRS replica sets to DFS Replication, your environment must meet the following requirements:

All servers participating in FRS replication must be running Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2 or Windows Server 2008.

Note If your FRS environment currently runs Windows 2000 servers, they can be directly upgraded only to Windows Server 2003 R2 Service Pack 2. The servers can then be further upgraded to Windows Server 2008. Alternatively, the Windows 2000 servers can be replaced without upgrading in-place. For more information, see this Microsoft Support article (http://support.microsoft.com/win2000).

Important Upgrading Windows Server 2003 SP2 directly to Windows Server 2008 R2 causes FRS to be permanently disabled - except for replication of the SYSVOL folder on domain controllers. If you want to upgrade all servers to Windows Server 2008 R2, you will no longer be able to use FRS after the upgrade is complete. See special instructions in Step 4 for this scenario.

All servers participating in FRS replication must have the DFS Replication role service installed. It is not required that DFS Replication be configured.

You must be a member of the built-in Domain Admins group in the domains where FRS is configured.

You must have the Distributed File System management snap-in (DFSGUI.MSC) installed on an administrative computer.

Note The Distributed File System management snap-in must be run from a computer running Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000 Server, or Windows XP with the ADMINPAK.MSI installed. To download ADMINPAK.MSI for a computer running Windows XP, see:http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=86B71A4F-4122-44AF-BE79-3F101E533D95&displaylang=en

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Migration Steps To migrate FRS to DFS Replication, you must perform six steps:

1. Inventory FRS 2. Validate environment health 3. Backup FRS 4. Remove FRS 5. Deploy DFSR 6. Validate DFSR health

Each of these major steps involves multiple operations. To ensure an optimal migration and avoid data loss, do not skip any steps.

Important All configuration changes to DFS Namespaces and FRS must be frozen prior to beginning the migration process. This means not adding or changing any existing FRS infrastructure in your environment until the migration is completed. If you do not freeze DFS Namespaces and FRS during the migration, you might not migrate all servers..

Important Microsoft recommends that you perform this procedure in your test environment before performing it in your production environment to validate the procedure in your environment and increase your familiarity with the steps. Test environments can be quickly deployed using Hyper-V, Virtual Server 2005 R2, Virtual PC, or non-Microsoft third party products at no cost. For additional information on these technologies, see the Microsoft Virtualization web site (http://www.microsoft.com/virtualization).

Step 1: Inventory FRS The first step of the migration process is to inventory your environment for all usage of FRS. This is done to ensure that all DFS Namespaces, FRS, and server information is discovered. This process entails:

Cataloging all domain-based DFS roots (namespaces) in all AD DS domains Cataloging all custom FRS replicas in use with domain-based DFS roots Cataloging the operating systems of all servers that are members of an FRS

replica set Upgrading or replacing servers, if necessary Installing DFS Replication on all servers that are members of an FRS replica set

To catalog all domain-based DFS namespaces in all AD DS domains 1. Logon as an Enterprise Admin in your forest root domain to a computer running

Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000 Server, or Windows XP with the ADMINPAK.MSI installed.

2. In the Administrative Tools folder, click Distributed File System.

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Important Based on your environment�s administrative group memberships and network

topology, it may be necessary for you to logon to servers directly in other domains, using administrative accounts for those domains. 3. Right-click Distributed file System and select Show Root.

Figure 1: The Distributed File System (Dfsgui.msc) snap-in 4. In the Show Root dialog box, select a domain-based DFS root from another

domain and then click OK. The newly added root appears in Distributed File System.

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Figure 2: The Show Root dialog box 5. Repeat steps 3-4 until all domain-based DFS roots for all domains are added to

the Distributed File System snap-in. 6. Make a note of all domain-based DFS roots for later migration requirements.

To catalog all custom FRS replicas in use with domain-based DFS roots 1. In the Distributed File System snap-in, expand all roots and child links (folders).

Any links being replicated by FRS will have an overlaying light-blue icon with two folders.

Figure 3: The Distributed File System snap-in with all roots and links expanded

Note For additional replication information, right-click any link, and then click Show Replication Information.

2. Document all FRS-replicated DFS links for later migration requirements.

Note

By right-clicking a DFS link, and selecting Export List, you can quickly save all

replication information to text files for easier documentation.

To determine the operating system version of all FRS servers If all servers in your environment are guaranteed to be running at least Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2, this operation is unnecessary. If you are unsure, you should inventory all relevant servers. 1. Using your documentation from the previous procedures, logon as an

administrator to each server that is a member of an FRS replica set, open a command prompt window and then type the WINVER.EXE command.

Tip As an alternative to direct examination you can use tools like PowerShell, SRVINFO.EXE, SYSTEMINFO.EXE, or CSVDE.EXE (reading the operatingSystem attribute) to inventory all servers� OS information.

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2. Document the operating system version of all servers running FRS for later use.

Update server operating systems as necessary 1. Upgrade all FRS servers running Windows 2000 to Windows Server 2003 R2

SP2, or replace the servers with Windows Server 2008. For information on upgrading to Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2, review

Upgrading from Windows 2000 Server to Windows Server 2003 (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/upgrading/w2k/default.mspx).

For information on replacing Windows 2000 with Windows Server 2008 or later, review this Microsoft Support article (http://support.microsoft.com/win2000).

Tip You can perform a parallel (dual-boot) installation of Windows Server 2008 on a computer running Windows 2000 Server. This leaves the FRS- replicated data intact, allowing DFS Replication to be pre-seeded, decreasing the time required for initial replication. However, to continue replicating folders that were previously stored within operating system folders such as %windir% or %programfiles%, after installing the new operating system you must move the files out of the Windows.old folder and to a new location that is not located in a system folder. See the following blog post for more information on how to properly pre-seed data for DFSR: http://blogs.technet.com/askds/archive/2008/02/12/get-out-and-push-getting-the-most-out-of-dfsr-pre-staging.aspx.

2. Upgrade all FRS servers running Windows Server 2003 without R2 to Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2 or Windows Server 2008. They can also be replaced without upgrade. For information on upgrading to Windows Server 2003 R2, review this

Microsoft Support article (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/912309). For information on upgrading to Windows Server 2008, review Upgrading to

Windows Server 2008 (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc754728(WS.10).aspx).

Important While Windows Server 2003 SP2 can be upgraded directly to Windows Server 2008 R2, this will permanently prevent FRS from replicating on member servers and replication of any FRS data except SYSVOL on domain controllers. If you wish to upgrade all servers to Windows Server 2008 R2, you will no longer be able to use FRS after the upgrade is complete. See special instructions in Step 4 for this scenario.

Enable Distributed File System on all servers participating in FRS replication To enable DFS on a server running Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2:

1. To open the Windows Components Wizard, click Start, click Control Panel, double-click Add or Remove Programs, and then click Add/Remove Windows Components.

2. On the Windows Components Wizard page, in the Components box, select the check box next to Distributed File System, and then click Next to enable it.

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To install DFS Management on a server running Windows Server 2008:

To install DFS Management and related services, from Server Manager, use the Add Roles Wizard to select the File Services role, and then select the Distributed File System role service. This configures the server to be a file server, installs the DFS Management snap-in, and installs the DFS Replication services.

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Step 2: Validate Environment Health Next, you should validate the health of your FRS environment to resolve any issues before starting the DFS Replication migration. You should confirm that AD DS has a working replication because, if it does not, FRS may not replicate correctly. Also, FRS may have existing health issues which prevent replication - even though AD DS replication is working properly. To validate the health of your FRS environment, you need to:

Validate the health of AD DS Validate the health of FRS

To validate AD DS replication health 1. Open a Command Prompt as an administrator: On the Start menu, right-click

Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, provide Enterprise Admins credentials, and then click Continue.

2. At the command prompt, type: Repadmin.exe /replsummary * /bysrc /bydest /sort:failures

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3. Review the output for failures or errors and resolve them before initiating the FRS

migration.

Tip Repadmin.exe is included in Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2, and it can also be downloaded from the Windows 2000 Support Tools or from the Windows Server 2003 Support Tools. For additional information on using Repadmin.exe, see the following:

o Windows Server 2003 Repadmin Syntax (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc736571(WS.10).aspx)

o Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Repadmin (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc770963(WS.10).aspx)

Note For continuing health validation, there are more comprehensive AD DS health monitoring systems available for you to use, in addition to non-Microsoft third parties, you can deploy:

o Active Directory Management Pack for Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=008F58A6-DC67-4E59-95C6-D7C7C34A1447)

o Active Directory Management Pack Technical Reference for MOM 2005 (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc181956.aspx)

To validate FRS health 1. Create a propagation test file for each server participating in FRS replication.

For example, create a test file, FRSHEALTH.FROM_<Server Name>, and replace <Server Name> with your names of your servers, such as 2003-x64-01 and 2003-x64-02: FRSHEALTH.FROM_2003-x64-01 FRSHEALTH.FROM_2003-x64-02

2. Copy the files to the servers with the same names, and then place one copy in each FRS-replicated DFS link target share on the server:

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3. You should allow FRS replication to converge. Depending on your environment,

schedule, and topology, the process may take minutes, hours, or longer. 4. Verify that the servers have successfully replicated the propagation test files:

5. Repeat steps 1 through 4 for all remaining FRS servers in your environment. 6. If, after the expected replication convergence time for your environment has

expired, and you are missing propagation files from servers, investigate and resolve any FRS issues.

Note An alternative tool you can use to monitor FRS is Ultrasound. Ultrasound measures the health of FRS replica sets by providing health ratings and historical

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information about replica sets. Ultrasound also allows administrators to monitor the progress of replication and detect problems that can cause the replication to become backlogged or stopped. To download Ultrasound, see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=121859. For information about configuring Ultrasound to monitor FRS replication, see the Ultrasound Help (included with the tool). Note that Ultrasound is an unsupported tool.

Step 3: Backup FRS You should back up your AD DS and FRS-replicated data before migrating from FRS to DFS Replication. If problems occur during migration, performing a backup of FRS allows you to roll back to your previous FRS configuration - or to restore files that are removed by the DFS Replication conflict detection algorithm. To backup FRS, you need to:

Perform a System State backup of your primary domain controller (PDC) emulator for each domain you plan to migrate.

Perform file and folder backups of your FRS-replicated data, in addition to System State backups of their primary domain controllers.

To back up the System State on the PDC emulator 1. To perform this procedure, you must be a member of the Domain Admins group.

Log on as a member of the Domain Admins group to the PDC emulator in your forest root domain.

Note To determine your PDC emulator, open Active Directory Users and Computers on any domain controller in the domain. Right-click the domain node, and then click Operations Masters. The PDC Emulator is used because it is the authoritative server for any edits made to DFS namespaces and is always the most up-to-date DC for DFS and FRS information.

2. Depending on the operating system you are using, select the appropriate instructions from the list below to back up the System State information: For Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 operating systems, see Back up

system state and the system disk (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc737006(WS.10).aspx).

For Windows Server 2008, see Wbadmin start systemstatebackup (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc742124(WS.10).aspx). Note that Windows Server 2008 does not support backing up System State with Windows Server Backup (Wbadmin.msc).

For Windows Server 2008 R2, see Backing Up Your Server (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753528.aspx) or Wbadmin start systemstatebackup (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc742124(WS.10).aspx).

3. Repeat this procedure for PDC emulators in all domains that host FRS-replicated DFS links.

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To back up the file and folder data being replicated by FRS 1. To perform this procedure, you must be a member of the Domain Admins group.

Log on as a member of the Domain Admins group to the most up-to-date FRS link target server in one of the replicas you documented in step 1.

2. Using one of the following tools, review the shares on the server, and then determine the shares that are used as DFS link targets. Document the NTFS folders. Windows Server 2003 File Server Management (Filesvr.msc) Windows Server 2008 Share and Storage Management snap-in

(StorageMgmt.msc) The Net share command

3. Back up those NTFS folders and their content, along with the server System State information, using: For Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003, see Back up files to a file or a

tape (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc739227(WS.10).aspx). For Windows Server 2008, see Perform a Manual Backup

(http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc732850(WS.10).aspx) or Wbadmin start backup (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc742083(WS.10).aspx).

For Windows Server 2008 R2, see Performing a Manual Backup (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc732850.aspx) or Wbadmin start backup (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc742083(WS.10).aspx).

4. Repeat Steps 1-3 for all other up-to-date DFS link target servers.

Important It is strongly recommended that the FRS-replicated file and folder data be backed up on all servers participating in replication. This ensures that the most up-to-date files will be recoverable if there are problems later during DFSR deployment.

Step 4: Remove FRS The fourth step of the migration process is to remove the custom FRS configuration from Active Directory and all servers:

Use the Distributed File System (Dfsgui.msc) snap-in to remove custom FRS replicas from all servers.

Disable or remove the FRS service from the servers.

To remove custom FRS replicas from all servers 1. Logon as an Enterprise Admin in your forest root domain to a computer running

Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000 Server, or Windows XP with the ADMINPAK.MSI installed.

2. In the Administrative Tools folder, click Distributed File System.

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Important Based on your environment�s administrative group memberships and network topology, it may be necessary for you to logon to servers directly in other domains, using administrative accounts for those domains.

3. Ensure that all DFS roots appear. For information on how to do this see, Step 1: Inventory FRS.

4. Select the first DFS link that is participating in FRS replication, right-click the link, and then click Stop Replication.

5. When prompted, confirm the removal of FRS replication. Click Yes to continue.

6. Repeat Steps 4-5 for all FRS replicas that you want to remove. 7. Allow Active Directory replication to converge throughout the domain.

Tip You can also initiate Active Directory replication using the Repadmin command by typing the following at a command prompt: REPADMIN.EXE /SYNCALL <your domain�s naming context> /Ped You should note that /Ped is case sensitive. For additional information, see Repadmin /syncall (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc835086(WS.10).aspx).

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8. There is approximately a one hour delay for all FRS services to poll their domain controllers to detect the removal of replication. By default, FRS polls the domain controllers every hour.

Tip You can also initiate FRS polling using the Ntfrsutil command.by typing the following at a command prompt: NTFRSUTIL.EXE POLL /NOW <computername>. For additional information, see Ntfrsutl Syntax (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc728265(WS.10).aspx).

The Repadmin and Ntfrsutl commands are included in Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2. It can be downloaded as part of the Windows 2000 Support Tools (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=F08D28F3-B835-4847-B810-BB6539362473&displaylang=en) or Windows Server 2003 Support Tools (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=96a35011-fd83-419d-939b-9a772ea2df90).

Disable or remove the FRS service from the servers 1. If FRS is no longer used on the servers, you can now do one of the following:

For computers running Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 R2, stop and disable FRS using the Services snap-in (Services.msc). FRS cannot be removed from these operating systems.

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For computers running Windows Server 2008, uninstall the File Replication

Service role service using the Server Manager snap-in (ServerManager.msc).

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2. Optionally, you can upgrade computers running Windows Server 2003 SP2 and

Windows Server 2008 to Windows Server 2008 R2. Upgrading will prevent the FRS service from replicating custom sets.

Note To completely remove the FRS service after upgrading to Windows Server 2008 R2, review the KB article, Upgrading a member server to Windows Server 2008 R2 does not fully remove FRS (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;976826). You can also delete the FRS working directories from servers where FRS is no longer in use. By default, the staging folder is stored in %systemdrive%\frs-staging, and the FRS database files are stored in %systemroot%\ntfrs.

Step 5: Deploy DFS Replication The fifth step of the migration process is to deploy DFS Replication to replicate the same data that was previously handled by FRS. To do this, use the DFS Management snap-in (DFSMGMT.MSC) to recreate the replication based on the previous DFS link configurations.

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To deploy DFS Replication 1. Logon as an Enterprise Admin to the PDC emulator in your forest root domain to

a computer running Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000 Server, or Windows XP with the ADMINPAK.MSI installed.

2. To open the DFS Management snap-in, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click DFS Management.

Note By default, a shortcut to the DFS Management snap-in exists in the Administrative Tools folder on your Start Menu when the DFS Replication component is installed on Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2008 R2.

3. Right-click Namespaces, and then click Add Namespaces to Display.

4. Select each domain that previously contained replicated DFS links, and then click

the Show Namespaces button to display the namespaces. Select the namespaces, and click OK to make them visible.

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5. Expand all the DFS namespace folders, as shown in the following screenshot.

Important Based on your environment�s administrative group memberships and network

topology, it may be necessary for you to logon to servers directly in other domains, using those domains� administrative accounts for those domains.

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6. Right-click the DFS folder you want to replicate first, and then select Replicate

Folder.

Important You will receive an error that DFS Replication cannot be configured because data is �already being replicated using the File Replication Service� if one of the following occurs: You didn�t previously remove FRS replication from a DFS folder. You haven�t allowed Active Directory replication to converge.

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You haven�t restarted the DFS Management snap-in since FRS was removed.

FRS has not yet polled Active Directory.

You should return to Step 4 to resolve the issue.

7. In the Replicate Folder Wizard, type a group name in Replication group name and a folder name in Replicated folder name. You may also use the default names. Click Next.

8. On the Replication Eligibility page, verify that all servers are listed without

errors. If the DFS Replication component has not been installed or a server is unreachable, you will receive an error. Resolve any errors before continuing.

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9. On the Primary Member page, select a primary member from the dropdown list.

Important The server you select as primary member will be considered authoritative for any conflicts that occur during replication. This means that: When receiving files from the primary member during initial replication, if a

receiving member contains files that are not present on the primary member, those files are moved to their respective DfsrPrivate\PreExisting folder. If a file is identical to a file on the primary member, the file is not replicated. If the version of a file on the receiving member is different from the primary member�s version, the receiving member's version is moved to the Conflict

and Deleted folder and remote differential compression (RDC) can be used to download only the changed blocks. To avoid conflicts, do not make changes to files in the replicated folder on non-primary members until initial replication completes.

Any files with the same name and path on the non-authoritative (downstream) server will be moved to the local ConflictAndDeleted folder. The default quota on this folder is only 660MB, so it is important to backup files before replicating with DFS Replication, otherwise files might be permanently removed. The authoritative (upstream primary) server�s copy of

the file will be replicated.

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10. On the Topology Selection page, select from Hub and spoke, Full mesh, or

No topology, and then click Next.

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If you select Hub and spoke, the Hub Members page appears where you must select the hub server(s) to use. Click Next to continue.

Important Servers should never be configured with a custom topology consisting of one-way connections. For more information, see DFS Replication: Frequently Asked Questions (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc773238(WS.10).aspx).

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On the Hub and Spoke Connections page, you have the option to further customize the topology. This is not required. Click Next to continue.

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11. If you chose Full mesh or Hub and Spoke topology, you are prompted for the

replication group schedule and bandwidth. By default, this is set to Full. Click Next to continue.

Caution While it is possible to change the bandwidth and schedule when creating a new DFS Replication Group, it is not recommended. Constraining the throughput of DFS Replication may significantly increase the amount of time required to complete initial synchronization. Because the data has been �pre-seeded� by the

previous FRS replica, the number of changes to be replicated over the network should be minimal. If you are using Windows Server 2008 R2, the DFSRDIAG.EXE FileHash command can be used to verify pre-seeding. For more information on this command, see What's New in Distributed File System (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee307957(WS.10).aspx).

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12. Review the proposed settings for your DFS Replication group, and, if they are

correct, click Next to deploy DFS Replication.

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13. Verify that the DFS Replication configuration was created without errors.

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14. The following dialog box opens after the DFS Replication configuration is

created. This is a reminder that DFS Replication requires Active Directory replication to converge and Active Directory polling to complete before DFS Replication will perform initial synchronization of the old FRS data. Click OK.

Tip You can also initiate Active Directory replication using the Repadmin command by typing the following at a command prompt: REPADMIN.EXE /SYNCALL <your domain�s naming context> /Ped You should note that /Ped is case sensitive. For additional information, see Repadmin /syncall (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc835086(WS.10).aspx).

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The Repadmin command is included in Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2. It can be downloaded as part of the Windows 2000 Support Tools (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=F08D28F3-B835-4847-B810-BB6539362473&displaylang=en) or Windows Server 2003 Support Tools (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=96a35011-fd83-419d-939b-9a772ea2df90).

Tip You can initiate DFS Replication Active Directory polling using the Dfsrdiag command by typing the following at a command prompt: DFSRDIAG.EXE POLLAD /MEM:<name of a DFSR server>. The Dfsrdiag command is included with Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2008 R2 when DFS Replication has been installed. Run DFSRDIAG /? for additional help on the command.

15. Repeat this procedure for all remaining DFS links that were previously replicated using FRS.

Important Unlike FRS, DFS Replication does not directly rely on DFS Namespaces. While the steps above are provided as a convenient way to create a DFS Replication topology, it is possible to create DFS Replication without using DFS Namespaces. For more information, see the DFS Replication Product Help (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc739276(WS.10).aspx).

Step 6: Validate DFS Replication Health The final step of migrating from FRS to DFS Replication is to confirm that DFS Replication has completed its initial synchronization, and that files are replicating correctly.

To collect a DFS Replication Diagnostic Health Report 1. Logon as a domain administrator to any DFS Replication server that you want to

validate in a domain. 2. Open the DFS Management snap-in (DFSMGMT.MSC). 3. Right-click a replication group, and then click Create Diagnostic Report.

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4. By default, Health report is selected. Click Next.

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Note For Windows Server 2003 R2, the propagation test and report options will not be displayed in the DFS Management snap-in.

5. If desired, you can change the report path and report name. Click Next.

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6. By default, all members of the replication group will be included in the report.

Click Next.

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7. Select the server with the most current version of files, and click Next. It is

recommended that the server which was marked as primary member in Step 5 be used as the reference server. You can also select the checkbox for counting the number of replicated files, but it will greatly increase the runtime of the diagnostic report.

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8. Review your settings, and then click Next to create the report.

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9. Evaluate the generated health report for any warnings or errors. Click Show All

in the upper right of the screen to expand out the report nodes.

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Notes If a diagnostic health report is gathered immediately after configuring DFS Replication in step 5, it is unlikely that DFS Replication will have had time to complete initial synchronization. The health report can be run multiple times to show if replication is progressing and that the backlog is clearing. However, running a report creates overhead on the DFS Replication servers, so reports should not be generated unnecessarily by an administrator. There are more comprehensive DFS Replication health monitoring systems available for you to use, in addition to non-Microsoft third parties, you can deploy: DFS Replication Management Pack for System Center Operations Manager

2007 (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c97b22a1-1fd6-426f-94ab-2a6e6db4aed0&displaylang=en)

Windows Distributed File Systems Management Pack for MOM 2005 (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc179625.aspx)

Additional References The following resources provide additional information about DFS Replication and FRS: SYSVOL Replication Migration Guide: FRS to DFS Replication (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd640019(WS.10).aspx)

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DFS Step-by-Step Guide for Windows Server 2008 (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc732863(WS.10).aspx) Step-by-Step Guide for the Distributed File System Solution in Windows Server 2003 R2 (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc737358(WS.10).aspx) Distributed File System Replication: Frequently Asked Questions (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc773238(WS.10).aspx) Designing Distributed File Systems (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc772778(WS.10).aspx) Microsoft Support article (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/968429) that lists the currently available hotfixes for Distributed File System (DFS) technologies in Windows Server 2008 and in Windows Server 2008 R2. Microsoft Support article (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/958802) that lists the currently available hotfixes for Distributed File System (DFS) technologies in Windows Server 2003 and in Windows Server 2003 R2. What's New in Distributed File System in Windows Server 2008 R2 (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee307957(WS.10).aspx) Distributed File System in Windows Server 2008 (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753479(WS.10).aspx) DFSR Glossary (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb540024(VS.85).aspx) DFSN Glossary in MSDN Library (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc226984(PROT.13).aspx) FRS Glossary in MSDN Library (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd303521(PROT.13).aspx) DFSR development team blog (http://blogs.technet.com/filecab) DFSR support team blog (http://blogs.technet.com/askds/)

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http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/frs2dfsr Resource Page Description FRS2DFSR is a utility that assists Windows admins in moving from the legacy File Replication Service (FRS) to the newer Distributed File System Replication (DFSR) service. Because FRS is no longer supported except for SYSVOL starting in Windows Server 2008 R2 and because Windows 2000 support ends on July 13 2010, this utility can help unblock admins from migrating to newer operating systems. The tool is written in C# .NET and can be run on x64 and x86 Windows Server 2003/2008/2008 R2 and Windows Vista/7 with DFSR RSAT installed. It requires domain admin rights and is command-line only. FRS2DFSR.EXE exports an existing File Replication Service replica set, deletes the replica set in Active Directory and creates DFS Replication group with the same servers, folders, connections, and settings. See the release notes for utility limitations. This tool is not used for SYSVOL migrations, see below for steps on using DFSRMIG.EXE in that scenario. Important support information: This tool is provided as-is, without warranty and is not supported by Microsoft Commercial Technical Support (aka CTS, PSS, CSS, EPS). No official support cases may be opened against this tool. It is intended only as a fully functional sample. Use the Discussions and Issue tracker tabs to report issues. For a supported set of steps for migrating from FRS to DFSR for custom sets, see: DFS Operations Guide: Migrating from FRS to DFS Replication http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=a27008a8-4b28-49cc-80b5-05b867440af9 To migrate SYSVOL, use the DFSRMIG.EXE tool included in Windows and reference: SYSVOL Replication Migration Guide: FRS to DFS Replication http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=df8e5e84-c6c6-4cef-9dab-304c92299804