dfsr HELP please

[wiljowibo]

Hi,

 

I have recently taken over a new network and their servers are running 2012 server.

 

which is ok but.... i have been having massive issues with GPO's not applying when students are logging on.

 

After correcting the DNS - and sorting a couple of other issues out - "dfsr Dirty Shut Down" i know get the message saying that the sysvol folder has not replicated due to the data being too old

 

The DFS Replication service stopped replication on the folder with the following local path: C:\Windows\SYSVOL\domain. This server has been disconnected from other partners for 70 days, which is longer than the time allowed by the MaxOfflineTimeInDays parameter (67). DFS Replication considers the data in this folder to be stale, and this server will not replicate the folder until this error is corrected.

 

To resume replication of this folder, use the DFS Management snap-in to remove this server from the replication group, and then add it back to the group. This causes the server to perform an initial synchronization task, which replaces the stale data with fresh data from other members of the replication group.

 

if your still with me....

 

I want to fix this error but without replicating the sysvol folder from the second domain controller back - i have created new polices within the last month ( when i started) and am concerned about losing them.

 

I added the DFS Management snap-in tool to the server to see if i could disable the second domain controller and re-add it so that it "refreshed the folder sync" but when i right click on the domain controller in the dfs management tool there is no option to do this. (maybe because i installed the remote management tool?)

 

any advice around this would be massively appreciated.

[3s-gtech]

Personally (and I've had to fix dodgy sysvol replication between 2008 R2 and 2012), I would back up the GPOs you want to keep, demote the DC then re-promote. Easy enough for me to say - I know most of my DCs can be taken off the domain this way without issue - but do you have anything running that'll stop this from being viable?

[wiljowibo]

HI, thanks for the reply, i think that might be the way i can safely do it, i'm just concerned if something goes wrong! i have not had to do it before so not 100% on the process. I have to be careful as its a school and cant really have down time. thanks again

[Ephelyon]

You may have to just get sometime downtime agreed (maybe they can compensate you extra for working very late into unsociable hours to make it more manageable? ) for this as AD/GPO/DFSR issues can be a real b*gger to sort out.

 

Having said that though, you can always just back up the affected GPOs as @3s-gtech says if that'll make life easier.

[TheScarfedOne]

If you are going to demote a dc, just check and make sure where your fmso roles are first....

[Ephelyon]

+1, though at least Server 2012 has brought about improvements in managing the sudden unavailability of DCs.

[wiljowibo]

thanks for the tips guys, I hate server 2012!

 

i will sort some time out and try removing the secondary DC.

 

if i was to edit the max offline time - to force it to copy - is whats on the secondary DC likely to copy back to the main DC? or will should it update to the secondary DC according to my main dc? is this just a bad idea?

 

 

it would be nice to be compensated for staying late but i don't think that will happen!!

 

DFSR problems are a REAL pain in the ass!!

 

thanks again

[wiljowibo]

Hi,

 

i removed the secondary DC and re-added it last night but this morning i am still getting:

 

The DFS Replication service stopped replication on the folder with the following local path: C:\Windows\SYSVOL\domain. This server has been disconnected from other partners for 71 days, which is longer than the time allowed by the MaxOfflineTimeInDays parameter (67). DFS Replication considers the data in this folder to be stale, and this server will not replicate the folder until this error is corrected.

 

To resume replication of this folder, use the DFS Management snap-in to remove this server from the replication group, and then add it back to the group. This causes the server to perform an initial synchronization task, which replaces the stale data with fresh data from other members of the replication group.

 

Additional Information:

Error: 9061 (The replicated folder has been offline for too long.)

Replicated Folder Name: SYSVOL Share

Replicated Folder ID: A2F7C6BC-16BC-41C6-8F11-30D3E1087765

Replication Group Name: Domain System Volume

Replication Group ID: 29806F30-9C63-4EDD-9BD6-028C9CA811EB

Member ID: B5D32651-FC19-4C98-8291-4626A3A30955

 

any suggestions welcome?

 

i could edited the xml config file to increase the max offline days??

 

do anyone know the command i can run to show me the GPOS names from the folder ID?

 

Cheers

[mrbios]

Group Policy Objects / Templates not replicating since adding Server 2012 DC to domain.

 

C:\>wmic.exe /namespace:\\root\microsoftdfs path DfsrMachineConfig set MaxOfflineTimeInDays=120

 

Updating property(s) of '\\DC8\root\microsoftdfs:DfsrMachineConfig=@'Property(s) update successful.

 

After a few minutes I can now confirm all the SYSVOL folders are in sync. Will do some testing, but hopefully this has fixed the issues.

 

Worth giving it a go, just ensure you've backed up the data on the side which is up to date, just incase.

 

As always with DFSR, much like DNS, patience is required after changing settings, so be sure to give a good amount of time for it to do its thing after any settings you change

 

Also worth a read: http://blogs.technet.com/b/filecab/archive/2012/07/23/understanding-dfsr-dirty-unexpected-shutdown-recovery.aspx

Edited May 9, 2013 by mrbios

[wiljowibo]

Hi,

 

I have ran this in powershell (as admin):

 

wmic.exe /namespace:\\root\microsoftdfs path DfsrMachineConfig set MaxOfflineTimeInDays=80

 

on both servers - i previously did this on just the 1st DC and i still had problems - i will update later if it fixes it this time

 

Thanks for the help people

Edited May 9, 2013 by wiljowibo