This article describes the improvements and issues that are fixed in the Azure File Sync Agent v16 release that is dated January 2023. Additionally, this article contains installation instructions for this release.
Improvements and issues that are fixed
Improved Azure File Sync service availability
Azure File Sync is now a zone-redundant service which means an outage in a zone has limited impact while improving the service resiliency to minimize customer impact. To fully leverage this improvement, configure your storage accounts to use zone-redundant storage (ZRS) or Geo-zone redundant storage (GZRS) replication. To learn more about different redundancy options for your storage accounts, see: Azure Storage redundancy
Immediately run server change enumeration to detect files changes that were missed on the server
Azure File Sync uses the Windows USN journal feature on Windows Server to immediately detect files that were changed and upload them to the Azure file share. If files changed are missed due to journal wrap or other issues, the files will not sync to the Azure file share until the changes are detected. Azure File Sync has a server change enumeration job that runs every 24 hours on the server endpoint path to detect changes that were missed by the USN journal. If you don't want to wait until the next server change enumeration job runs, you can now use the Invoke-StorageSyncServerChangeDetection PowerShell cmdlet to immediately run server change enumeration on a server endpoint path.
To immediately run server change enumeration on a server endpoint path, run the following PowerShell commands:
Import-Module "C:\Program Files\Azure\StorageSyncAgent\StorageSync.Management.ServerCmdlets.dll"
Invoke-StorageSyncServerChangeDetection -ServerEndpointPath <path>
Note: By default, the server change enumeration scan will only check the modified timestamp. To perform a deeper check, use the -DeepScan parameter.
Bug fix for the PowerShell script FileSyncErrorsReport.ps1
Miscellaneous reliability and telemetry improvements for cloud tiering and sync
More information about the Azure File Sync Agent v16 release
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This release is available for Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019, and Windows Server 2022 installations.
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The agent version for this release is 16.0.0.0.
How to obtain and install the Azure File Sync Agent
The Azure File Sync agent is available from Microsoft Update, Microsoft Update Catalog, and Microsoft Download Center.
Notes
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If the Azure File Sync agent is not currently installed on a server, use the agent installation package on the Microsoft Download Center. The agent installation package on Microsoft Update and Microsoft Update Catalog is intended for agent upgrades only.
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To update existing agent installations, run AfsUpdater.exe (located in the agent installation directory) or download and install the update from Microsoft Update or Microsoft Update Catalog.
Microsoft Update
To obtain and install from Microsoft Update, follow these steps on a server that has Azure File Sync agent installed:
Windows Server 2022, Server 2019 and Server2016
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Click Start, and then click Settings.
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In Settings, click Update & security.
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In the Windows Update window, click Check online for updates from Microsoft Update.
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Verify the Azure File Sync agent update is listed and then click Install now.
Server 2012 R2
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Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
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In Control Panel, double-click Windows Update.
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In the Windows Update window, click Check for updates.
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Click Important updates are available.
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Verify the Azure File Sync agent update is selected, and then click Install.
Microsoft Update Catalog
Go to the following website to manually download this update from the Microsoft Update Catalog:
Azure File Sync Agent v16 release: January 2023 (KB5013877)
To manually install the update package, extract the cab file and run the following command from an elevated command prompt:
msiexec.exe /p packagename.msp REINSTALLMODE=OMUS REINSTALL=StorageSyncAgent,StorageSyncAgentAzureFileSync,StorageSyncAgentGuardFilter,StorageSyncAgentUpdater /qb /l*v KB5013877.log
For example, to install the Azure File Sync agent update for Server 2016, run the following command:
msiexec.exe /p StorageSyncAgent_WS2016_KB5013877.msp REINSTALLMODE=OMUS REINSTALL=StorageSyncAgent,StorageSyncAgentAzureFileSync,StorageSyncAgentGuardFilter,StorageSyncAgentUpdater /qb /l*v KB5013877.log
Microsoft Download Center
Go to the Microsoft Download Center to manually download the agent installation package for new agent installations.
How to perform a silent installation for a new agent installation
To perform a silent installation for a new agent installation that uses the default settings, run the following command at an elevated command prompt:
msiexec /i packagename.msi /qb /l*v AFSv16Installation.log
For example, to install the Azure File Sync agent for Windows Server 2016, run the following command:
msiexec /i StorageSyncAgent_WS2016.msi /qb /l*v AFSv16Installation.log
Notes
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Use the /qb switch to display restart prompts (if required), agent update, and server registration screens. To suppress the screens and automatically restart the server (if required), use the /qn switch.
To perform a silent installation with custom settings, follow the steps documented in KB4459986.
