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DFS Migration

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Venkat

unread,
Aug 1, 2008, 8:13:26 AM8/1/08
to
Can outline the process of migrating DFS Structure and Data, when migrating
from:
1.NT 4.0 to Windows 2000/2003
2.Windows 2000 server to Windows Server 2003

Assuming that DFS is in:
1.Stand-alone mode
2.Domain mode

In case of DFS replicas, how can we rationalize the replication traffic?


David Shen [MSFT]

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Aug 4, 2008, 2:49:11 AM8/4/08
to
Dear Customer,

Thank you for posting in newsgroup.

According to the description, my understanding is that:

You want to know the DFS migration process from

1.Windows NT 4.0 to Windows 2000/2003


2.Windows 2000 server to Windows Server 2003

Both in stand-alone mode and domain mode. If I have any misunderstanding,
please feel free to let me know.

Since the request is too general, according to the experience, here l list
some general steps to migration DFS server. For more detail migration
steps, I would like to suggest that you contact Microsoft Product Support
Services via telephone so that a dedicated efficient Support Professional
can assist with this request. You may obtain the phone numbers for specific
technology request please take a look at the web site listed below.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;PHONENUMBERS

If you are outside the US please see http://support.microsoft.com for
regional support phone numbers.

General Steps:
============================

Migrating Existing Namespaces on a new server

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.

EX. 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)

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

\\NETSVR\Marketing

\\NETSVR\Public

2. 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

3. 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

For more information, please refer to:
================================

Deploying DFS
http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver/en/library/010d5eac-3632-4327-96
71-9e6f39baaa541033.mspx?mfr=true

Distributed File System
http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/library/1f0d326d-35af-419
3-bda3-0d1688f90ea71033.mspx?mfr=true

Checklist: Creating a distributed file system
http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver/en/library/3cee80b8-1130-4a68-a9
58-72e9749eafd31033.mspx?mfr=true

Hope it helps.


David Shen
Microsoft Online Partner Support

Venkat

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Aug 4, 2008, 1:36:31 PM8/4/08
to
Thanks David. This is very valuable information.

Actually i would like to know the process involved in my migrating DFS
between:
Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 AD
Windows 2000 AD Forest and Windows 2003 AD Forest.

Are the same steps involved in migrating DFS between domains/forests.

Regards
Venkat

"David Shen [MSFT]" <v-da...@online.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:joML04f9...@TK2MSFTNGHUB02.phx.gbl...

David Shen [MSFT]

unread,
Aug 5, 2008, 8:45:24 AM8/5/08
to
Hello Venkat,

For the concern about migrating DFS between domains or forests, here are
some general steps for your reference.

Before using the following commands, please ensure that you have the latest
version of the Windows Support Tools installed on the system where you will
be exporting/importing the DFS configuration.

Step1: Exporting a Namespace:
===============================

The command to export the DFS namespace is "dfsutil.exe
/root:\\domain.com\rootname /export:publicroot.txt /verbose"

The publicroot.txt file will contain:

<?xml version="1.0"?>

<Root Name="\\CONTOSO\Public" State="1" Timeout="300" Attributes="64" >
<Target Server="CONTOSOROOT1" Folder="Public" State="2" />
<Target Server="CONTOSOROOT2" Folder="Public" State="2" />

<Link Name="Accounting" State="1" Timeout="1800" >
<Target Server="fs1" Folder="accounting" State="2" />
<Target Server="fs2" Folder="accounting" State="2" />
</Link>

<Link Name="utilities" State="1" Timeout="1800" >
<Target Server="fs1" Folder="utilities" State="2" />
</Link>

<Link Name="documentation" State="1" Timeout="1800" >
<Target Server="fs2" Folder="documentation" State="2" />
</Link>

</Root>

Step2: Editing the configuration file
==========================================

First of all, you can see that the "root name" value is "\\CONTOSO\Public".
Because the root configuration needs to be imported into the FABRIKAM
domain, this must be manually modified. The modified portion of the
namespace file will look like this:

<?xml version="1.0"?>

<Root Name="\\FABRIKAM\Public" State="1" Timeout="300" Attributes="64" >

The remainder of the file will remain untouched, for reasons which will be
discussed below. This file should be saved (I named it
publicrootmodified.txt)

Step3: Create the new DFS namespace in the new environment/domain
==============================================================

Before a DFS configuration file can be imported, the target namespace must
be manually created...DFSUTIL won’t create the root for you.

The command to import the configuration is as follows:

Dfsutil.exe /root:\\domain.com\rootname /import: publicrootmodified.txt
/set /verbose

Please note: The import process will overwrite any DFS configurations in
the target namespace. Please ensure you enter the path of a root you are
prepared to replace.

If you try an import without first creating the DFS root, you will get the
following error:

System error 1168 has occurred.
Element not found.

Likewise, attempting to import the configuration file before changing the
"Root Name" value within it to match the namespace will result in the error:

System error 2 has occurred.
The system cannot find the file specified.

Notice how the root targets from your configuration file won’t show up
under the "Namespace Servers" tab of the DFS Management snap-in. This is
because DFSUTIL ignores any root targets listed in the configuration file.
You have the option to configure additional namespace servers in the DFS
Management tool either before or after you import the configuration file.

Venkat

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Aug 6, 2008, 12:24:27 AM8/6/08
to
Excellent..its very clear.

In case of a migration using say ADMT, You would perform the below steps
just before staring the file server migration (Computer Migration...followed
by Security Translation) and once the file servers are migrated to te target
domain, we are all set. Is there anything to be done on client computers
during this migration from a DFS standpoint?

Also when running security translation on the file servers which are part of
a replica set, are the updated ACL's replicated? For e.g. FS1 and FS2 are
part of a DFS Replica Set and you run Security Translation on FS1 which
changes the ACL from source\user to target\user...now will these NTFS
permissions be replicated to the FS2 as part of FRS Replication or should
Security Translation be run on FS2 also?

"David Shen [MSFT]" <v-da...@online.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:jUNdjkv...@TK2MSFTNGHUB02.phx.gbl...

David Shen [MSFT]

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Aug 7, 2008, 6:47:49 AM8/7/08
to
Hello Venkat,

Thanks for the reply.

After the file servers are migrated to the target domain, we need to make
all the client computers point to the new DNS server and also adjust the
UNC path of access the DFS share

Q: FS1 and FS2 are part of a DFS Replica Set and you run Security

Translation on FS1 which changes the ACL from source\user to
target\user...now will these NTFS permissions be replicated to the FS2 as
part of FRS Replication or should Security Translation be run on FS2 also?

A: No. In this scenario, we need to translate the NTFS permission by
running Security Translation both on FS1 and FS2 to make the ACL update in
the target domain. Otherwise, the new DFS share cannot work normally.

David Shen [MSFT]

unread,
Aug 11, 2008, 10:38:11 PM8/11/08
to
Dear Customer,

How's everything going?

I'm wondering if the suggestion has helped or if you have any further
questions. Please feel free to respond to the newsgroups if I can assist
further.

Venkat

unread,
Aug 13, 2008, 10:21:54 PM8/13/08
to
Thanks David, the suggestion was very useful. Consider this request as
closed.
Regards
Venkat

"David Shen [MSFT]" <v-da...@online.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:YCtL3RC$IHA....@TK2MSFTNGHUB02.phx.gbl...

Sriram Radhakrishnan

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Jan 14, 2011, 7:03:45 AM1/14/11
to
Hello David, gone through your steps; much value added stuff... But i dont know how i can relate to my requirement.
Here we go... i have Windows 2000 based domain which consists of Domain based and Standalone DFS. Here im planning to migrate them to Windows Server 2008 DFS server.. Can you please advice me how to achive the same. Do i need to migrate to W2K3 DFS server before Win2K8 or how can i achive this... Please help me awaiting for your input.

> On Friday, August 01, 2008 8:13 AM Venkat wrote:

> Can outline the process of migrating DFS Structure and Data, when migrating
> from:

> 1.NT 4.0 to Windows 2000/2003


> 2.Windows 2000 server to Windows Server 2003
>

> Assuming that DFS is in:
> 1.Stand-alone mode
> 2.Domain mode
>
> In case of DFS replicas, how can we rationalize the replication traffic?

>> Hope it helps.
>>
>>
>> David Shen
>> Microsoft Online Partner Support


>>> On Monday, August 04, 2008 1:36 PM Venkat wrote:

>>> Thanks David. This is very valuable information.
>>>
>>> Actually i would like to know the process involved in my migrating DFS
>>> between:
>>> Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 AD
>>> Windows 2000 AD Forest and Windows 2003 AD Forest.
>>>
>>> Are the same steps involved in migrating DFS between domains/forests.
>>>

>>> Regards
>>> Venkat
>>>
>>> "David Shen [MSFT]" <v-da...@online.microsoft.com> wrote in message

>>> news:joML04f9...@TK2MSFTNGHUB02.phx.gbl...

>>>> be manually created...DFSUTIL won?t create the root for you.

>>>>
>>>> The command to import the configuration is as follows:
>>>>
>>>> Dfsutil.exe /root:\\domain.com\rootname /import: publicrootmodified.txt
>>>> /set /verbose
>>>>
>>>> Please note: The import process will overwrite any DFS configurations in
>>>> the target namespace. Please ensure you enter the path of a root you are
>>>> prepared to replace.
>>>>
>>>> If you try an import without first creating the DFS root, you will get the
>>>> following error:
>>>>
>>>> System error 1168 has occurred.
>>>> Element not found.
>>>>
>>>> Likewise, attempting to import the configuration file before changing the
>>>> "Root Name" value within it to match the namespace will result in the error:
>>>>
>>>> System error 2 has occurred.
>>>> The system cannot find the file specified.
>>>>

>>>> Notice how the root targets from your configuration file won?t show up

>>>> under the "Namespace Servers" tab of the DFS Management snap-in. This is
>>>> because DFSUTIL ignores any root targets listed in the configuration file.
>>>> You have the option to configure additional namespace servers in the DFS
>>>> Management tool either before or after you import the configuration file.
>>>>

>>>> Hope it helps.
>>>>
>>>> David Shen
>>>> Microsoft Online Partner Support


>>>>> On Wednesday, August 06, 2008 12:24 AM Venkat wrote:

>>>>> Excellent..its very clear.
>>>>>
>>>>> In case of a migration using say ADMT, You would perform the below steps
>>>>> just before staring the file server migration (Computer Migration...followed
>>>>> by Security Translation) and once the file servers are migrated to te target
>>>>> domain, we are all set. Is there anything to be done on client computers
>>>>> during this migration from a DFS standpoint?
>>>>>
>>>>> Also when running security translation on the file servers which are part of

>>>>> a replica set, are the updated ACL's replicated? For e.g. FS1 and FS2 are

>>>>> part of a DFS Replica Set and you run Security Translation on FS1 which
>>>>> changes the ACL from source\user to target\user...now will these NTFS
>>>>> permissions be replicated to the FS2 as part of FRS Replication or should
>>>>> Security Translation be run on FS2 also?
>>>>>

>>>>> "David Shen [MSFT]" <v-da...@online.microsoft.com> wrote in message

>>>>> news:jUNdjkv...@TK2MSFTNGHUB02.phx.gbl...


>>>>>>> On Monday, August 11, 2008 10:38 PM v-dashe wrote:

>>>>>>> Dear Customer,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> How's everything going?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I'm wondering if the suggestion has helped or if you have any further
>>>>>>> questions. Please feel free to respond to the newsgroups if I can assist
>>>>>>> further.
>>>>>>>

>>>>>>> David Shen
>>>>>>> Microsoft Online Partner Support


>>>>>>>> On Wednesday, August 13, 2008 10:21 PM Venkat wrote:

>>>>>>>> Thanks David, the suggestion was very useful. Consider this request as
>>>>>>>> closed.
>>>>>>>> Regards
>>>>>>>> Venkat


>>>>>>>> Submitted via EggHeadCafe
>>>>>>>> ASP.NET In-Memory Image Control with Built-In Resizing of Posted File
>>>>>>>> http://www.eggheadcafe.com/tutorials/aspnet/e1a14e2c-e746-4bed-a552-24c632bd2709/aspnet-inmemory-image-control-with-builtin-resizing-of-posted-file.aspx

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