DFSR File server replicating same files. Weird problem!

Question

Hello everyone,

I am facing a very weird problem.

I had a file server called FS01 in Azure with a 6TB share in windows server 2012 r2 and a new one FS02 on prem with windows serve 2019.

I added the FS02 on the DFSR and the folder replicated from FS01.

I then deleted the FS01 but kept the data disk with the share and add it to a new windows server 2019 keeping the same name FS01.

I joined this new server to DFSR and now it started to downloading and updating ALL the files even though they are the same!

As I can understand the problem is somewhere on the file ID.

For example this is the log of a file from event viewer.

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File ID: {7C6C0E2A-C6BB-457C-AA32-E6AE06811838}-v11371698

Replicated Folder Name: fileshare

Replicated Folder ID: C0CB9B31-9D6B-41EE-A768-81ABEFDCFCCF

Replication Group Name: fileshare

Replication Group ID: ED3F10C2-EF94-4E36-A5F4-1D0B0790D47A

Member ID: AB25076D-D1A3-4CA4-9634-2B0F06E318D4

Partner Member ID: 6ADF0D18-D286-46B9-8773-4C2E111BA36D

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I assume that because the file ID contains the old server ID (7C6C0E2A-C6BB-457C-AA32-E6AE06811838) and the new server FS01 has and ID AB25076D-D1A3-4CA4-9634-2B0F06E318D4 it's trying to change the File ID and add the new Member ID on this.

Is there a way to stop doing that and just check all the other attributes except that one because the folder is too big and it's going to get ages to compare all the files!

Thank you in advance for your answer!

Answer 1

Hello Ioannis Masmanidis,

Greetings! Welcome to Microsoft Q&A Platform.

I understand that you’re encountering an issue with Distributed File System Replication (DFSR) after migrating your file server from FS01 to FS02.

Before making any changes, ensure that you have a backup of the data on both servers. This step is crucial in case anything goes wrong during the process. On the Primary Server (where data replicating again): Stop the DFS Replication service on this server by running the following command in an elevated Command Prompt or PowerShell window: net stop DFSR in order to stop doing the replication.

On the Secondary Server (where data is replicated to):

• Open the DFS Management Console on the secondary server.
• Expand the “Replication” node.
• Select the “Connections” folder.
• Right-click on each connection and select “Disable.”

Once done, we have to pause replication temporarily:

In the DFS Management Console on the primary server:

• Select the “Replication” node.
• Right-click on the replication group and select “Edit Replication Group Schedule.”
• Set the schedule to “Never” for all connections, effectively pausing replication.

Now check the server configuration [like DFS Namespace, DNS Alias etc..] and confirm that data is consistent between the two servers by comparing file and folder structures, permissions, and file contents.

Troubleshooting doc for reference - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/networking/troubleshoot-file-replication-service-ditributed-file-system

Similar thread for reference- https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1129737/stop-dfs-replication-and-remove-file-from-one-sour, https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/1367367/proper-way-to-disable-dfs-replication-between-2-se

refer - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/group-policy/dfsr-sysvol-fails-migrate-replicate for detailed guidance.

Hope this answer helps! Please let us know if you have any further queries. I’m happy to assist you further.

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