Convert links or shortcuts during migration

[Rod Miller]

We are in the process of migrating data from a Windows 2000 file and print
server to a Windows 2003 server. We are implementing DFS in the process. We
feel that we have conquered most of the migration issues to make migration
seamless to the user, but the one problem that we have not figured out how
to resolve is how to convert links or shortcuts on the desktop, my network
places and elsewhere to point to our DFS root instead of the old server
name.

I found a utility in the Windows 2003 resource kit called chklnk.exe. I was
hopeful that it would help me find and or convert dead links to the new DFS
root. This utility only found links on the computer that were pointing to
documents that had been deleted. It did not find links to network resourses
that no longer existed.

If anyone has any idea on how to convert these links or delete these links
through a script of some sort, I would certainly appreciate hearing from
you.

Thanks,

Rod

[Mark Sterin [MSFT]]

Rod,

Using DFS, you can retain old UNC paths even after you move data to the new
server.

This functionality is based on hot fix 829885 for Server 2003 Enterprise
Edition (called "DFS consolidation roots"). You can download the fx now (you
need to call Microsoft support and ask for the hot fix). Manual
configuration of the fix is described in
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;829885

Also, in a few days we release File Server Migration Toolkit as free web
download -
see Tools in
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/upgrading/nt4/tooldocs/default.mspx.
(During the Beta the Toolkit was known as File Server Consolidation
Toolkit). The toolkit contains command line utility and UIs to simplify the
DFS consolidation roots configuration, and organize/execute the actual data
movement.

Hope this helps

Mark Sterin
Microsoft
Core File Services, Windows Server

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"Rod Miller" <theNOSP...@coxNOSPAM.net> wrote in message
news:e063vAYK...@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...

[Rod Miller]

Mark,

Thanks for the link. That does seem to be an answer to our problem. However,
we have applied the patch on a test Windows 2003 server and ran the setup
according to the article 829885. So far, we have not been able to get it to
work. Here is what we did and how I think I understand the concept. Please
correct me if I have this wrong:

Overview of the steps that we took
1. Called Microsoft and obtained the patch
2. Installed the patch on a Windows 2003 server that is NOT a domain
controller
3. We set up a Standalone DFS Root on this server with the DFS root name
being the name of the old server with a # in front of the name. So in our
case it shows up in the DFS administrator something like
\\ourdfsserver\#oldserver .
4. Under this new DFS Root of #oldserver we have names that are the same as
the share names from oldserver that point to shares hosted on a new server
5. We performed the registry entries that were in the instructions. I
understand that these registry entries provide an alias to this dfs server
with the name of oldserver for DNS and WINS
6. At the command prompt of the server we executed the command "ipconfig
/registerdns"

How I think this is supposed to work
1. A user has a link or shortcut on their desktop that points to
\\oldserver\data
2. When the user clicks on this link that points to the old server, DNS
redirects them to the new DFS server that is hosting #oldserver as a dfs
root.
3. The DFS Server checks its DFS root for an entry for data and redirects
the user to the new server with the new share name

So far, this has not worked. We modified the registry of the DFS server to
enable logging but we find no 14318 system log entries in the DFS server at
all as spelled out in the article. We even resorted to manually adding an
entry in DNS to point oldserver to the DFS server.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Rod

"Mark Sterin [MSFT]" <mst...@microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:Ou3T%23z0KE...@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...

[Bob Qin [MSFT]]

Hi Rod,

Is your old server a domain controller?
Would you please let me know the registry keys you modified?
Did you restart the DFS service after you install the software update?
Did you restart the Server service on the DFS root server after modifying
registry?

Please try the UNC path on the client to access the share. Does it work?

Regards,
Bob Qin
Product Support Services
Microsoft Corporation

Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security

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[Rod Miller]

Bob,

Our old server is not and was not a domain controller. We are still in the
migration process. I did try it again on a freshly loaded server and it did
work. I appreciate the help. This is exactly what we needed and is a better
solution than what I originally asked for. However, do you know if the "yet
to be released" File Server Migration Toolkit has any utilities to do what I
had originally asked which is to actually change the shortcuts themselves to
point to the right server.

For anyone who is interested, here are the steps that I took to make this
work.

Dowloaded and installed the patch from Microsoft. (There were 4 executables
contained in the patch. I only used the one called
WindowsServer2003-KB829885-x86-ENU.EXE .)

Modified
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dfs\Parameters\Replicat
ed
Added DWORD Value of ServerConsolidationRetry and modified with a value of 1
Added DWORD Value of LogServerConsolidation and modified with a value of 1

Rebooted server.

In DFS Manager
Added new standalone root
Browsed to the name of the DFS server
In the root name box, I typed #oldfs
In the folder to share box, I browsed to a folder that I created called
"c:\dfsroot" (I see that it shared it as "#oldfs")

In DFS Manager
At the \\DFSSERVER\#oldfs root, I right clicked and chose new link
I created a link called testshare1
I gave it a path of a working share on the network
\\workingserver\workingshare

We are using a Windows 2000 DHCP server and I checked to be sure that
"Automatically update DHCP client" was only checked at the server level and
not the scope level

Since this is a test, and we are not using the real name of a former server,
there were no entries to be removed from WINS.

To modify the DNS records so that the old server name will resolve to the
DFS root server, as per the instructions, we did the following

Modified
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dnscache\Parameters
Added new multi-string value called AlternateComputerNames with one value in
it called oldfs.mycompany.com
At the command prompt, I typed "ipconfig/registerdns"

Modified
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\lanmanserver\parameters
Added new multi-string value called OptionalNames with one value in it
called oldfs

Rebooted server

Now, from a client, I can go to \\oldfs\testshare1 and it will direct me to
the \\workingserver\workingshare

Thanks,

Rod

"Bob Qin [MSFT]" <bob...@online.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:EdPdvJFL...@cpmsftngxa10.phx.gbl...

[Bob Qin [MSFT]]

Hi Rod,

Thank you for your update and the additional feedback on how you were
successful in resolving your issue. Many people with similar issues will
benefit from this information.

As I know, the File Server Migration Toolkit is planned to release at
April-28 2004, and it will be announced on the following web site.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/upgrading/nt4/tooldocs/msfsc.mspx

Thank you again for using our newsgroup.

Sincerely,

[Mark Sterin [MSFT]]

It was released yesterday 4/28
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/upgrading/nt4/tooldocs/msfsc.mspx

"Mike Widina" <anon...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:25BCFD4D-21EA-4CD6...@microsoft.com...
> Any chance you could be more specific on the "in a few days" piece? I'm in
> the middle of a project and I could release the coversion schedule sooner
> if I knew I could get this tool by the end of the week(April 29 or 30).
>
> Thanks
>
>
> Mike

[Mark Sterin [MSFT]]

Rod, the Toolkit is released on 4/28 at
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/upgrading/nt4/tooldocs/msfsc.mspx

The Toolkit contains

(1) dfsconsolidate.exe command line which wraps up all steps described in
KB829885
(2) DFS consolidation root wizard - a UI to simplify the configuration
process. It uses dfsconsolidate to configure DFS
(3) File Server Migration Wizard - a Wizard-like UI to actually copy shares
and security permissions,. and change the DFS links to point to the right
server when the data move is completed.

Please let me know if you have any questions,

Thanks
-- Mark
Mark Sterin
Program Manager, Core File Services
Windows Server Systems
Microsoft Corporation

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

"Rod Miller" <theNOSP...@coxNOSPAM.net> wrote in message

news:uod5W6GL...@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...

[Bob Qin [MSFT]]

To download this software, you are required to sign in with a Microsoft
.NET Passport. You can sign up for the download from the following web site.

https://profile.microsoft.com/RegSysProfileCenter/wizard.aspx?wizid=f6970368
-0dfe-4058-9763-c58217b08c5d&lcid=1033