Article ID: 838523 - Last Review: July 24, 2007 - Revision: 3.10

You receive an "Unrecognized option" error when you use the DFS utility to add a comment to a DFS root in Windows Server 2003

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SYMPTOMS

When you use the Distributed File System (DFS) utility (Dfsutil.exe) with the switch /comment:Comment_Text to create a DFS root, you may receive the following error message:

Unrecognized option "/Comment:Comment_Text"

The DFS utility is included in Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Support Tools.

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A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix might receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next software update that contains this hotfix.

If the hotfix is available for download, there is a "Hotfix download available" section at the top of this Knowledge Base article. If this section does not appear, contact Microsoft Customer Service and Support to obtain the hotfix.

Note If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Service and Support telephone numbers or to create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support (http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support)

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Prerequisites

No prerequisites are required.

Restart requirement

You do not have to restart your computer after you apply this hotfix.

Hotfix replacement information

This hotfix does not replace any other hotfixes.

File information

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.

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Microsoft Windows Server 2003

   Date         Time   Version            Size    File name
   --------------------------------------------------------------
   29-Mar-2004  19:09  5.2.3790.145      193,536  Dfsutil.exe

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Microsoft Windows Server 2003, 64-Bit Edition

   Date         Time   Version            Size    File name    Platform
   --------------------------------------------------------------------
   28-Mar-2004  22:13  5.2.3790.145      488,448  Dfsutil.exe  IA-64

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WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, you can use Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) scripting to add the comment for the DFS host server.

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied. This includes, but is not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language that is being demonstrated and with the tools that are used to create and to debug procedures. Microsoft support engineers can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific requirements.

' Connect to winmgmnt .
Set oWMI = GetObject("winmgmts:{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" & Computer & "\root\cimv2")

' Bind to the DFS Node class.
Set oWMInode = oWMI.Get("Win32_DFSNode")

' Create a new node and set the DFS parameters.
oWMIapp.Create "\\Server\NodeToCreate", "\\DFSHostServer", "ShareName", "Comment_Text"

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