Share via

Deploying DFS

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

Before you upgrade a server containing a DFS root, ensure that the namespace will be available after the upgrade. After Windows Server 2003 is installed, either through a clean installation or upgrade, you can create new DFS namespaces or migrate existing DFS namespaces to servers running Windows Server 2003. If you create a new namespace, you can use the information provided by the design team in the "DFS Configuration Worksheet" (Sdcfsv_1.xls).

Upgrading Servers That Contain DFS Namespaces

If a file server contains existing DFS roots, they are converted as follows:

  • When you upgrade a server running Windows NT 4.0 to Windows Server 2003, any DFS roots are converted to Windows Server 2003 stand-alone DFS roots.

  • When you upgrade a server running Windows 2000 to Windows Server 2003, stand-alone DFS roots and domain-based DFS roots are converted to Windows Server 2003 stand-alone DFS roots and domain-based DFS roots, respectively.

In the following scenarios, DFS roots are not available after upgrade:

  • If you upgrade a server that hosts a root on a FAT volume, the namespace is unavailable until you convert the volume to NTFS.

Upgrading Prerelease Versions of Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition

If you are running a prerelease version of Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition, and that server hosts multiple DFS roots, only one of those roots will be available after the upgrade. This is because Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition cannot host multiple namespace roots until you apply a hotfix (as described below).

To work around this issue, upgrade to Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition or Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition, or use the following procedure:

  1. Before upgrading to Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition, open a command prompt window and use the Dfsutil.exe command with the /Export parameter to export all but one of the namespaces to text files.

  2. Use the Dfsutil.exe command with the /RemFtRoot parameter to remove any extra domain-based roots from the server, or the /RemStdRoot parameter to remove a standalone namespace root.

Note

If you cannot remove a namespace root using the /RemFtRoot or /RemStdRoot parameters, use the Dfsutil.exe/UnmapFtRoot or /Clean parameters to force the removal of the roots.

  1. At the command prompt, type netstop dfs & net start dfs

    The DFS service will be briefly unavailable when the service is stopped and restarted, so perform this procedure during a period of low namespace usage.

  2. Upgrade the server to Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition, and then install the hotfix described in Microsoft Knowledge Base article 903651 on the Microsoft Web site at https://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;903651. This hotfix enables a server running Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition to host multiple domain-based roots.

  3. Use Dfsutil.exe with the /Import parameter to import each namespace you deleted.

Delegating the Administration of DFS Namespaces

Use the procedures below to allow members of the local Administrators group on each root server to create and manage domain-based DFS namespaces. For more information about delegating permission to manage a DFS namespace, see "Designing a DFS Namespace" earlier in this chapter.

The following procedure grants the selected user the ability to create new DFS namespaces as well as administer existing ones.

To delegate a user to administer DFS

  1. In the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in, on the View menu, click Advanced Features.

  2. In the console tree, double-click the System folder to expand it.

  3. Click the DFS-Configuration folder.

    Any existing root objects appear in the details pane.

  4. Right-click DFS-Configuration, and then click Properties.

  5. On the Security tab, click Add.

  6. Type the name of the user to whom you want to delegate administrative rights, and then click OK.

  7. Select the user Full Control permission, and then click OK.

Use the following procedure to allow a user to have DFS administrative permissions only within a single DFS namespace.

To grant a user permission to administer only a single DFS namespace

  1. In the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in, on the View menu, click Advanced Features.

  2. In the console tree, double-click the System folder to expand it.

  3. Click the DFS-Configuration folder.

    Any existing root objects appear in the details pane.

  4. Right-click the root object that you want to allow the user to administer, and then click Properties.

  5. On the Security tab, click Add.

  6. Type the name of the user, and then click OK.

  7. Verify that the user is granted the Full Control permission, and then click OK.

Creating New DFS Namespaces on Stand-Alone Servers

Use the Distributed File System snap-in or the command-line tools Dfscmd.exe and Dfsutil.exe to create the root and link targets on stand-alone (nonclustered) file servers. The following topics in Help and Support Center for Windows Server 2003 provide information about using these tools:

For more information about installing Dfsutil.exe, see Windows Support Tools.

If you plan to enable FRS on link targets in the DFS namespace, see "Deploying FRS" later in this chapter.

Creating New DFS Namespaces on Clustered Servers

Use the Cluster Administrator snap-in to create a stand-alone DFS namespace on a clustered file server. For more information about creating a DFS root on server clusters, see "Create a cluster-managed file share" in Help and Support for Windows Server 2003.

Migrating or Consolidating Existing Namespaces on New Servers

If you have namespaces on existing file servers that you want to consolidate onto a file server that is running Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition or Windows Server 2003, Datacenter Edition, or if you want to move a namespace from one server to another, you can use the Dfsutil.exe support tool to export the namespace from the source server to the destination server.

In the following example, an administrator wants to migrate the following namespaces on different servers to a single server running Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition.

  • \\NT4SVR\Marketing (a stand-alone DFS root on a server running Windows NT Server 4.0)

  • \\W2KSVR\Public (a stand-alone DFS root on a server running Windows 2000 Server)

First, the administrator creates the following stand-alone DFS roots on the server running Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition:

  • \\NETSVR\Marketing

  • \\NETSVR\Public

Next, the administrator installs Windows Support Tools from the Windows Server 2003 operating system CD and then uses the Dfsutil.exe tool to run the following commands:

Dfsutil /Root:\\NT4SVR\Marketing /export:Nt4.txt 
Dfsutil /Root:\\W2KSVR\Public /export:w2k.txt 

Finally, the administrator runs the following commands to import the namespaces onto the server running Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition:

Dfsutil /Root:\\NETSVR\Marketing /import:Nt4.txt /set 
Dfsutil /Root:\\NETSVR\Public /import:w2k.txt /set 

Using Dfsutil.exe to Customize the Namespace

Use the Dfsutil.exe parameters listed in Table 2.22 to customize the namespace. For more information about using Dfsutil.exe, see Windows Support Tools.

Table 2.22   Dfsutil.exe Parameters Used to Customize the Namespace

Customization Dfsutil.exe Parameter

Enable root scalability mode

/RootScalability

Add site information to root servers running Windows 2000 Server

/UpdateWin2kStaticSiteTable

Remove site information from root servers running Windows 2000 Server

/PurgeWin2kStaticSiteTable

Enable restricted same-site target selection

/InSite

Enable closest or least expensive target selection

/SiteCosting