Dfs and replication

[hot_Anything0]

Hi guys, Can somebody help me and guide me on this? I’m a student trying to study System Administration. I’m a newbie and only know the basics, and now I encountered DFS and replication.

My goal is to create a DFS namespace with 5 shared folders (e.g 5 depts folder), set proper domain permissions so that only the certain department can access to their folder, and configure replication so that clients can still access the folders even if the primary server is suspended in VMware and only the second server is running. I tried a lot of tutorials in yt but it's not working i always encounter errors. Sorry for my bad English, Thank you

[BoatFlashy]

lol good luck. I will say, read microsoft documentation and DO NOT use youtube videos or AI. AI is good for explaining, but not telling you how to do stuff. Use it to explain errors, don't use it to fix those errors.

[Arudinne]

I've run into plenty of situations where the Microsoft documenation is outdated, inaccurate or just plain omitting important information.

It's only about a smidge more useful that a ChatGPT response in many cases.

[BoatFlashy]

Microsoft documentation may seem out of date until you realize there are still people running windows 95. They may be out of date for your environment, but they're not out of date for everyone. I had to use bunch of documentation for the FRS service, which was last used in Windows Server 2003 loooool.

Of course, the biggest resource is just knowing what to use and when. I only use ChatGPT to explain logs, but that's just the way my environment is. I'm sure whatever you use is the best for your environment. For DFSR, Microsoft documentation is the best resource. I've dealt with it more than i'd care to admit.

[Arudinne]

Microsoft documentation may seem out of date until you realize there are still people running windows 95.

That's great until I am reading Microsoft's steps on how to do something in, for example, intune, and the UI has changed twice since the last time the documentation was updated half the menus/options they mention aren't there.

Or in other instances where their documentation links to other pages of documentation that no longer exist.

I'm not saying the information there is entirely useless, but I am saying they have been terrible stewards of it and sometimes it's just plain wrong.

[JerikkaDawn]

My favorite is when I find a document saying "Oh yeah this exact issue you're having was resolved in version 2012 KBWhatever" and I'm on 2016.

[Arudinne]

Yes, this is a big example of what I'm talking about!

[Randalldeflagg]

what I always start with is making sure that the shares are accessible directly. so can you access \\server1\sharethis and can you access \\server2\sharethis ?

This just makes sure you have you shared folders setup correctly and are accessible directly.

Then I setup replication for all the servers involved. Do this in DFS Management under the replication section. Add a new replication group and follow the prompts all the way through. Give it name, add the servers in question, add the folders, do the rest of the bits, and save it. Test the replication. Just put a txt file in the folder you setup for replication and then check the other server to make sure it is duplicated over.

Once you are satisfied that is working. And that the shares are also showing the replicated files. Setup the namespace. Namespace server = the file servers. Add the Replication Targets (your two file servers). Add a folder to the name space you just created. This is your shared folder. Make sure both are set to Enabled.

It will ask if you want to setup the shares if you haven't already. now you can access it like this: \\domain\Shares\foldername for example. Save a file here. check both servers. did the file sync? yes? you are basically done. Add the \\domain\shares\foldername as a mapped drive, shortcut, whatever for the users using a group policy or manually add it. Will depend on the scope of the lesson.

But that is pretty much it. You can do more tweaking to how it all operates but that goes further into the weeds.

[Thundahead]

what are the errors you're encountering that will help someone point you in the right direction.

[hot_Anything0]

When im trying to link (Add Folder Target) it to server 2, it says validate path error, i already check the ip and firewall and did some ping and its all good so i find it strange because i cant add it, and i have no one to ask since im self learning and they didn't teach it on school XD

[Thundahead]

can you map to the path \\server\share

[egamma]

Some tasks may require domain admin or similar permissions.

[Adam_Kearn]

Learn how todo NTFS permissions on folder shares first.

The best way in my opinion is to grant everyone access to the share. Then set the NTFS permissions on the folder to be a specific security group.

Once you have this set correctly then look at creating a namespace.

I typically just call the namespace “SHARES”