DFS not working if the primary server is offline

Question

Hi all,

We had 1 DFS server and added new one which will replace the old one. We replicated all and added new server as referral. All FSMO roles are migrated to new server. Problem starts when we turn off the primary dfs. Namespace is not available if that server if offline. As soon as we start old server everything starts to work.

Answer 1

Hi,

So, it looks like the problem you're having is that the DFS namespace isn't available when the primary DFS server is down. This is probably because the referral list for the namespace still points to the old server.

To fix this, you'll need to update the referral list to include the new DFS server. Here are the steps:

1. Open the DFS Management console on the new DFS server.
2. Go to "Namespaces" and select the namespace that's not available when the primary DFS server is down.
3. Right-click on the namespace and choose "Properties."
4. In the "Namespace Servers" tab, click "Add."
5. Choose the new DFS server from the list and click "OK."
6. Click "OK" to close the namespace properties window.
7. Wait for DFS replication to occur to make sure the new DFS server is fully synced with the old server.

Once you've done all this, the referral list for the namespace should include the new DFS server. That means clients can access the DFS namespace even if the primary DFS server is down.

Oh, and one more thing: if you're getting rid of the old DFS server, you'll need to remove it from the referral list for all the namespaces it was served before you can retire it completely.