Moving FRSStagingPath Requires Non-Authoritative Restoration Pre-SP3 Versions of FRS

The File Replication Service (FRS) is a multi-threaded, multi-master replication engine that replaces the LAN Manager Replication Service (LMRepl) in Microsoft Windows NT 3.x and Windows NT 4.0. Windows 2000 domain controllers and servers use FRS to replicate system policy and login scripts for Windows 2000 and down-level clients. You can also use FRS to replicate files and folders between Windows 2000 servers that are hosting the same fault-tolerant Distributed File System (DFS) root or child replicas.

This article describes the relocation of the FRS staging directory for existing FRS replica sets. The steps in this article apply only to the releases of FRS in Windows 2000 Build 2195, Windows 2000 Service Pack 1 (SP1), and Windows 2000 Service Pack 2 (SP2). For additional information about the process for relocating the staging directory for Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 (SP3) and Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 (SP4) releases of NTFRS, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

The FRS staging directory is a temporary store for inbound and outbound files that are replicated between direct replication partners. When DFS or SYSVOL replica sets replicate a large amount of data, the logical or physical drive that is hosting the staging directory may fill, or require a dedicated physical drive for maximum throughput.

Update the Staging Path to a New Location

1. Stop the FRS Service on the computer that you want to modify.
2. Use Regedt32.exe to set the Burflags registry entry on the following registry key at startup to "D2" (this assumes that the member that is being initialized has an inbound connection from one or more servers for common replica sets):
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\Ccs\Services\Ntfrs\Parameters\Backup\Restore\Process
3. Use Adsiedit.msc, Ldp.exe, or the LDAP editor of your choice to connect, bind and view to the domain naming context on a domain controller in a domain that is hosting the machine account for the computer you want to modify. Ldp.exe and Adsiedit.msc are located in the Support\Tools folder of the Windows 2000 Server CD-ROM.
4. Locate and then modify the FRSStagingPath attribute on the NTFRSSubscriber object of the desired replica set to the new path on a local NTFS 5.0-formatted partition. NTFRSSubsriber objects reside under the computer account and NTFRSSubscription object of domain controllers or member servers.
   
   For example, the FRSstaging attribute for the SYSVOL replica set of domain controller \\DC1 in the A.COM domain is
   CN=Domain System Volume (SYSVOL share),CN=NTFRS Subscriptions,Cn=DC1,OU=Domain Controller,DC=A,DC=COM
   where the DN path and matching object class is:

   DN Path                                        Object Class
   
   DC=A,DC=COM                                    Domain
    OU=Domain Controller                          Organization Unit
     CN=DC1                                       Computer
      NTFRS Subscriptions                         NTFRSSubscriptions
       Domain System Volume (SYSVOL share)        NtfrsSubscriber
   						

5. Create the directory that is shown in step 4. Alternatively, if the same relative path is being used on a different logical drive letter, cut and paste the staging path from the old location to the new one by using Explorer.exe.
6. Once the new value for the staging path has replicated to the domain controller that the FRS replica member is bound to, restart the FRS service. FRS on non-domain controllers favors domain controllers in the same Active Directory site. Domain controllers bind to themselves for configuration data.
7. Examine the FRS event log on the modified computer for EVENT ID 13553 that indicates the new location of the staging directory:
   Event Type: Information
   Event Source: NtFrs
   Event Category: None
   Event ID: 13553
   Date: MM/DD/YYYY
   Time: HH:MM:SS AM|PM
   User: N/A
   Computer: DC1
   Description: The File Replication Service successfully added this computer to the following replica set: "DFSFT|APPS"
   
   Information related to this event is shown below:
   Computer DNS name is "dc1.a.com"
   Replica set member name is "{B25BC899-D928-49BF-BEA7-06E8BF05D4FB}"
   Replica set root path is "d:\dfs\apps"
   Replica staging directory path is "e:\frs-staging"
   Replica working directory path is "c:\winnt\ntfrs\jet"
   

Setting the BURFLAGS registry entry to "d2" and restarting the service forces the Windows 2000 Service Pack 2/WINSE 11773 release of the FRS service to rebuild the FRS database and essentially rejoin the SYSVOL and DFS replica sets that the computer is a member of, as new. This process is called a Version Vector join. Existing files and directories in DFS and SYVSVOL replica sets are moved under child directories that are labeled "NtFrs_PreExisting___See_EventLog".

The "new" member uses inbound connection objects to contact the existing replica set that sends the new member a list of all files in a given replica set that are held in common. Files in the PreExisting directory on the new member whose MD5 checksums match the version on the existing member are copied to the target directory. All other files are replicated from existing members.