Microsoft KB Archive/829885

= Distributed File System update to support consolidation roots in Windows Server 2003 =

Article ID: 829885

Article Last Modified on 2/27/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition (32-bit x86)
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition (32-bit x86)
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise x64 Edition
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, 64-Bit Datacenter Edition

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Important This article contains information about how to modify the registry. Make sure to back up the registry before you modify it. Make sure that you know how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up, restore, and modify the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows registry



SUMMARY
There are many scenarios where you will want Universal Naming Convention (UNC) paths to remain unchanged when the underlying files are moved to other servers or to other paths. For example, you may want to preserve the UNC paths that users are accustomed to if you migrate or consolidate your existing file servers to new Microsoft Windows Server 2003-based computers. The paths may be embedded in links, in line-of-business applications, and in other places where the names are difficult to change. This article describes a software update that provides the functionality to keep UNC paths the same when you move the path's underlying files. The software update modifies the Microsoft Distributed File System (DFS) server to permit the DFS server to return referrals for servers that no longer exist. The DFS server that permits this functionality is referred to as the DFS root server.

Note A clustered environment supports a DFS root server, where the DFS shares will move among cluster members.

Software update information
A supported feature that modifies the product's default behavior is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to modify the behavior that this article describes. Apply it only to systems that specifically require it. This feature may receive additional testing. Therefore, if the system is not severely affected by the lack of this feature, we recommend that you wait for the next Microsoft Windows Server 2003 service pack that contains this feature.

To obtain this feature immediately, contact Microsoft Product Support Services. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services telephone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support

Prerequisites
No prerequisites are required.

Restart requirement
You must restart the Distributed File System service after you apply this software update. You must restart the Server service (Lanmanserver) after you configure the registry values that are discussed in the &quot;More Information&quot; section.

File information
The English version of this software update has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.   Date         Time   Version            Size     File name     Platform --  26-Jan-2004  20:06  5.2.3790.124       32,768   Dfs.sys       x86 30-Jan-2004 19:04  5.2.3790.124      136,704   Dfssvc.exe    x86 17-Jan-2004 11:54  5.2.3790.121       97,792   Dfs.sys       IA-64 17-Jan-2004 11:54  5.2.3790.121      458,752   Dfssvc.exe    IA-64



MORE INFORMATION
Important Clients with persistent drive mappings will not reconnect after the clients use this update to consolidate servers. Any persistent drive mappings on client computers must be deleted and recreated. Restarting is not sufficient. This issue only affects persistent drive mappings. Drives that are mapped through logon scripts at each log on work correctly.

This section describes procedures to:
 * Install the software update.
 * Configure your DFS root server to support the consolidation of the UNC paths from the old servers.

In the following examples, the name root1.contoso.com represents the DFS root server, and the names oldserver1.contoso.com, oldserver2.contoso.com, and oldserver3.contoso.com represent the old servers that you want to consolidate.

Before you set up your DFS root server, make sure that you understand the following concepts:
 * For the DFS root server to redirect paths for multiple servers, Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition or Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition is required.
 * If you set up your DFS root server on a Windows Server 2003 domain controller, you will disable the server consolidation logic.
 * The DFS root server scenario is only supported if the NetBIOS name of the DFS root server is the same as the host name part of its fully qualified domain name (FQDN).
 * The consolidation of UNC paths from two servers that have the same host name is not supported. For example, you cannot consolidate two servers that are named oldserver1.contoso.com and oldserver1. .contoso.com.

How to configure a DFS root server for consolidation in a non-clustered server environment
 Set up a Windows Server 2003 DFS root server that will act as the consolidation server for the old namespaces. On the DFS root server, follow these steps:  Install the software update that is described in this article to enable the new DFS consolidation functionality. After you install the software update, restart the DFS service.  On the DFS root server, click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.

Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk. Create and configure the ServerConsolidationRetry registry entry, as follows:  Locate and then click the following registry subkey:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dfs\Parameters\Replicated

</li> On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.</li> Type ServerConsolidationRetry, and then press ENTER.</li> On the Edit menu, click Modify.</li> In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.</li></ol> </li> To log a system event every time that the DFS root server successfully resolves a referral, follow these steps:  Locate and then click the following registry subkey:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dfs\Parameters\Replicated

</li> On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.</li> Type LogServerConsolidation, and then press ENTER.</li> In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.</li></ol>

This will log the logical path and the client computer’s IP address to the system event log as event ID: 14318. Make sure to allocate sufficient space to the system event log. Microsoft recommends that you set the system event log to at least 64 megabytes. Make sure to set the system event log to overwrite events as needed.

Note Currently, the user’s name and the computer name are not logged in the system event log.</li> In the DFS snap-in, create a DFS root for each old server that you want to redirect. Make sure that you include a hash mark (#) at the start of the old server name.

Note If the old server is a domain controller, demote the domain controller before you move the name to the DFS root server.  Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Distributed File System.</li> On the Action menu, click New Root, and then click Next.</li> <li>Click Stand-alone root, and then click Next.</li> <li>Click Browse, click the name of the DFS root server, click OK, and then click Next.</li> <li>In the Root name box, type the host name of the old server with a hash mark in front of it, and then click Next. For example, type #oldserver1 .</li> <li>In the Folder to share box, type the name of the folder to share or locate an existing folder share.

The local path for the share can point to a local empty folder. For example, the root names in the sample scenario would be \\root1\#oldserver1 and \\root1\#oldserver2.</li></ol>

Note The hash mark informs the DFS root server that this DFS root is used for server consolidation. When you access a file on the path, you do not have to specify a hash mark. For example, use the path \\oldserver1\public\test.doc, not the path \\#oldserver1\public\test.doc.</li> <li>In the DFS snap-in, for each share on each old server, create a link under the root for each share that will be redirected. The target path must be the new location of the share, either on another server or in a domain-based DFS namespace. <ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;"> <li>In the DFS snap-in, right-click the old server root, and then click New Link.</li> <li>In the Link name box, type a name for the link.</li> <li>In the Path to target (shared folder) box, click Browse, click the new location of the share, and then click OK.</li> <li>To link each share on the old server to the new share location, repeat steps a through c.</li></ol>

Note DFS root servers that are enabled for consolidation are not supported as the targets of a DFS link. DFS links that point to the old servers must be rewritten to point to the target of the consolidated root. Consider the following scenario: \\oldserver1\public is consolidated to \\root1 such that \\root1\#oldserver1 points to a DFS root server (\\consolidated\public) that is enabled for consolidation. In this scenario, DFS links with \\oldserver1\public as a target are not supported. To bypass the DFS root server that is enabled for consolidation, you must rewrite these links to point to \\consolidated\public. Link names with &quot;\&quot; characters, such as a link of the form “ \ ”, are not supported on DFS root servers that are enabled for consolidation.</li> <li>If you use a Microsoft Windows 2000 server, follow these steps to make sure that the Automatically update DHCP client information in DNS check box is selected only at the server level. Make sure that this check box is not selected at the DHCP scope level.

Note If you use a Windows Server 2003 DHCP server, make sure that the Enable DNS dynamic updates according to the settings below check box is selected only at the server level. Make sure that this check box is not selected at the DHCP scope level. <ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;"> <li>On the DHCP server, click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click DHCP.</li> <li>Expand your DHCP server name, right-click Scope, and then click Properties. In this case, right-click the first scope in the list.</li> <li>Click the DNS tab.</li> <li>Click to clear the Automatically update DHCP client information in DNS check box.

Note If you use a Windows Server 2003 DHCP server, click to clear the Enable DNS dynamic updates according to the settings below check box.</li> <li>Repeat steps b through d for each DHCP scope.</li></ol> </li> <li>Move your data from the old file server location to the new location.</li> <li>On the Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) server, verify that static WINS entries do not exist for the old servers. If they do, delete the static entries. For more information about how to delete static WINS entries, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsServer/en/library/4e7e2a9b-99d5-4c22-9b0a-80d5b4915c3a1033.mspx?mfr=true

Note To find the information about how to delete static WINS entries, locate Troubleshooting WINS Servers on the Web site, click The server cannot resolve names for clients, and then click To delete or tombstone an entry in the WINS database.</li> <li>Modify the Domain Name System (DNS) records so that the old server names will resolve to the DFS root server. <ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;"> <li>For Active Directory environments that use Windows 2000 or later DNS and DHCP servers, follow these steps on the DFS root server: <ol> <li>Locate and then click the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dnscache\Parameters

</li> <li>On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click Multi-String Value.</li> <li>Type AlternateComputerNames, and then press ENTER.</li> <li>On the Edit menu, click Modify.</li> <li> In the Value data box, type the fully qualified DNS names of the old servers. This action registers the names in DNS. Each server name must be on its own line. For example, type:

<pre class="fixed_text">    oldserver1.contoso.com oldserver2.contoso.com oldserver3.contoso.com </li> <li>Click OK.</li></ol> </li> <li>For non-Active Directory environments or for environments that do not use Windows DNS servers, modify the &quot;A&quot; records for old server names. (For example, modify the names for oldserver1.contoso.com, oldserver2.contoso.com, and oldserver3.contoso.com.) in DNS to point to the DFS consolidation server (root1.contoso.com).</li></ol> </li> <li>From a command prompt on the DFS root server, type the following command:

ipconfig /registerdns

</li> <li>On the DFS root server, follow these steps to configure the OptionalNames registry value: <ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;"> <li>Locate and then click the following registry subkey:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\lanmanserver\parameters

</li> <li>On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click Multi-String Value.</li> <li>Type OptionalNames, and then press ENTER.</li> <li>On the Edit menu, click Modify.</li> <li>In the Value data box, type the NetBIOS names of the old servers (oldserver1, oldserver2, and oldserver3) each on their own line, and then click OK. This action registers the names in Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) for the DFS root server.</li></ol> </li> <li>Restart the Server service on the DFS root server.</li></ol>

How to configure a DFS root server for consolidation in a clustered server environment
<ol> <li>On each server in the cluster, set up a Windows Server 2003 DFS root server that will act as the consolidation server for the old namespaces. On both cluster nodes, follow these steps: <ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;"> <li>Install the software update that is described in this article to enable the new DFS consolidation functionality.</li> <li>After you install the software update, restart the Distributed File System service.</li></ol> </li> <li>On the node that will be used for the online DFS root, click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.

Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.</li> <li>On the node that will be used for the online DFS root, create and configure the ServerConsolidationRetry registry value, as follows: <ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;"> <li>Locate and then click the following registry subkey:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dfs\Parameters\Replicated

</li> <li>On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.</li> <li>Type ServerConsolidationRetry, and then press ENTER.</li> <li>On the Edit menu, click Modify.</li> <li>In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.</li></ol> </li> <li>To log a system event every time that the DFS root server successfully resolves a referral, follow these steps on the node that will be used for the online DFS root: <ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;"> <li>Locate and then click the following registry subkey:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dfs\Parameters\Replicated

</li> <li>On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.</li> <li>Type LogServerConsolidation, and then press ENTER.</li> <li>In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.</li></ol>

This will log the logical path and the client computer’s IP address to the system event log as event ID: 14318. Make sure to allocate sufficient space to the system event log. Microsoft recommends that you set the system event log to at least 64 megabytes. Additionally, set the system event log to overwrite events as needed.

Note Currently, the user’s name and the computer name are not logged in the system event log.</li> <li>Use the Cluster Administrator or the cluster utility (Cluster.exe) to add the following registry subkey to the list of replicated registry keys:

When you add this registry subkey to the list of replicated registry keys, the Cluster service will copy the registry values over to the failover node if the hard disk on the online cluster node fails over to another node.

For more information about how to use the cluster utility on a Windows Server 2003-based computer, click Start, and then click Help and Support. In the Search box, type cluster commands overview, press ENTER, and then click the Cluster commands overview: Command-line reference topic. Or, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver/en/library/79e933cf-3c19-4b6c-9b95-a68f4c5dc7f31033.mspx

</li> <li>On the Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) server, verify that static WINS entries do not exist for the old servers. If they exist, delete the static entries. For more information about how to delete static WINS entries, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsServer/en/library/4e7e2a9b-99d5-4c22-9b0a-80d5b4915c3a1033.mspx?mfr=true

Note To find the information about how to delete static WINS entries, locate Troubleshooting WINS Servers on the Web site, click The server cannot resolve names for clients, and then click To delete or tombstone an entry in the WINS database.</li> <li>Move your data from the old file server location to the new location.</li> <li>From the cluster utility, create a name resource for each old server that you want to consolidate.</li> <li>From the cluster utility, create a file share resource with the IsDFS flag set.</li> <li>From the cluster utility, bring the resources online.</li> <li>In the DFS snap-in on one of the cluster nodes, follow these steps to create a DFS root for each old server that you want to redirect. Make sure that you include a hash mark (#) at the start of the old server name.

Note If the old server is a domain controller, demote the domain controller before you move the name to the DFS root server. <ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;"> <li>Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Distributed File System.</li> <li>On the Action menu, click New Root, and then click Next.</li> <li>Click Stand-alone root, and then click Next.</li> <li>Click Browse, click the name of the DFS root server, click OK, and then click Next.</li> <li>In the Root name box, type the host name of the old server with a hash mark in front of it, and then click Next. (For example, type #oldserver1 .)</li> <li>In the Folder to share box, type the name of folder to share or locate an existing folder share.

The local path for the share can point to a local empty folder. For example, the root names in the sample scenario would be \\root1\#oldserver1 and \\root1\#oldserver2.</li></ol>

Note The hash mark informs the DFS root server that this DFS root is used for server consolidation. When you access a file on the path, you do not have to specify a hash mark. For example, use the path \\oldserver1\public\test.doc, not the path \\#oldserver1\public\test.doc.</li> <li>In the DFS snap-in, for each share on each old server, follow these steps to create a link under the root for each share that will be redirected. The target path must be the new location of the share, either on another server or in a domain-based DFS namespace. <ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;"> <li>In the DFS snap-in, right-click the old server root, and then click New Link.</li> <li>In the Link name box, type a name for the link.</li> <li>In the Path to target (shared folder) box, click Browse, click the new location of the share, and then click OK.</li> <li>For each share on the old server to link to the new share location, repeat steps a through c.</li></ol>

Note DFS roots servers that are enabled for consolidation are not supported as the targets of a DFS link. DFS links that point to the old servers must be rewritten to point to the target of the consolidated root. Consider the following scenario: \\oldserver1\public is consolidated to \\root1 such that \\root1\#oldserver1 points to a DFS root server (\\consolidated\public) that is enabled for consolidation. In this scenario, DFS links with \\oldserver1\public as a target are not supported. You must rewrite such links to point to \\consolidated\public to bypass the DFS root server that is enabled for consolidation. Link names with &quot;\&quot; characters, such as a link of the form “ \ ”, are not supported on DFS root servers that are enabled for consolidation.</li> <li>If you use a Windows 2000 DHCP server, following these steps to make sure that the Automatically update DHCP client information in DNS check box is selected only at the server level. Make sure that this check box is not selected at the DHCP scope level.

Note If you use a Windows Server 2003 DHCP server, make sure that the Enable DNS dynamic updates according to the settings below check box is only selected at the server level. Make sure that this check box is not selected at the DHCP scope level. <ol style="list-style-type: lower-alpha;"> <li>On the DHCP server, click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click DHCP.</li> <li>Expand your DHCP server name, right-click Scope, and then click Properties. In this case, right-click the first scope in the list.</li> <li>Click the DNS tab.</li> <li>Click to clear the Automatically update DHCP client information in DNS check box.

Note If you use a Windows Server 2003 DHCP server, click to clear the Enable DNS dynamic updates according to the settings below check box.</li> <li>For each DHCP scope, repeat steps b through d.</li></ol> </li></ol>

Description of the DFS root server consolidation logic
After you complete the steps for DFS root server consolidation, and you try to open a file at the old share path, the following scenario occurs:
 * 1) The DFS root server sees the request and reads the ServerConsolidationRetry registry entry.
 * 2) The DFS root server adds its server name, together with a hash mark (#) at the beginning of the name, to the lookup path.

For example, if you try to open a file at the old share path of \\oldserver1\public\test.doc, the DFS root server looks up \\root1\#oldserver1\public\test.doc.
 * 1) The DFS root server returns a referral to the link target to the client. If the lookup fails, the DFS server looks up the original path specified by the user.

The server consolidation logic is as follows:
 * 1) If an incoming lookup request has the local computer name specified for the server, go to step 5.
 * 2) Look up the server name in the share path by using the NetBIOS or FQDN server name that is specified by the user. For example, if a user specifies \\oldserver1.contoso.com\public\test.doc, search for \\root1\#oldserver1.contoso.com\public\test.doc.
 * 3) If the user specifies the FQDN name, and step 2 fails, truncate the server name at the first ‘.’ and treat the value as the NetBIOS server name. Use the NetBIOS server name in the path to look up the referral. For example, if a user specifies \\oldserver1.contoso.com\public\test.doc, then search for \\root1\#oldserver1\public\test.doc.
 * 4) If either step 2 or step 3 successfully resolves the server name, try to match the whole lookup path. If the whole lookup path matches, return the successful referral to the client, and then skip step 5.

If only a part of the path can be matched, fail the lookup and return an error to the user. For example, if the user specifies \\oldserver1\public\test.doc and only \\root1\#oldserver1 is matched, the search is unsuccessful and the lookup fails. Skip step 5.
 * 1) Search for the path that was specified in the original referral. For example, search for \\oldserver1.contoso.com\public\test.doc.

For more information about the standard terminology that Microsoft uses when it corrects software after it is released, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

824684 Description of the standard terminology that is used to describe Microsoft software updates

Additional query words: DFS consolidation DisableStrictNameChecking BackConnectionHostNames

Keywords: kbhotfixserver kbqfe kbbug kbfix kbqfe kbwinserv2003presp1fix KB829885

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