FRS Encounters "ERROR_SHARING_VIOLATION" Errors When It Tries to Replicate Data That Is Still in Use

Method 1: Use the Install Override Feature

You can use the Install Override feature in Windows Server 2003 to rename the locked file. This allows FRS to replicate the file.
For additional information about how to turn on this feature and use it, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

816493 How to Configure the File Replication Service to Allow Fewer Sharing Violations That Block Replication

Method 2: Identify the Locked Files and Release the Handles

If you are not using Windows Server 2003 or if you do not want to turn on the Install Override feature, the only way to prevent the issue from occurring is to release the handles of the locked files. However, because the 13573 event is only reported for the number of times per hour that is specified in the Max Sharing Violation Event setting, files in the same situation may not have been reported yet. Therefore, to release the handles of all locked files, you must first identify the complete set of open files.

To track the problem in Windows 2000, download and install the fix that is documented in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

815473 File Replication Service Does Not Log Errors on Sharing Violations

With this hotfix, you can set the options to control the logging of event 13573. This hotfix does not contain the "Install Override Feature" that Windows Server 2003 has.

To identify the complete set of files in the INSTALL_RETRY state, run the ntfrsutl.exe inlog command, and then look for all file entries with a state that is marked IBCO_INSTALL_RETRY. To find out the full path of the file that is being held, follow these steps:

1. Find out the file GUID from either the description of the event ID or from the inlog data that is retrieved. The inlog data will look similar to the following example:

   Table Type : Inbound Log Table for DOMAIN SYSTEM VOLUME (SYSVOL SHARE) (1)
   Flags : 010000c6 Flags [VVAct Content Retry InstallInc CmpresStage ]
   IFlags : 00000001 Flags [IFlagVVRetireExec ]
   State : 0000000d CO STATE: IBCO_INSTALL_RETRY
   FileGuid : 36a42f7e-b3a9-494c-ae0cef2929771d6e
   EventTime : Thu May 29, 2003 19:13:40
   FileName : Filename.txt
   

2. Convert the file GUID to a full path by using available tools or by parsing data from the IDTable entries. You can extract this data by using the ntfrsutl idtable command.

Find the Path of a File That Is Being Held Open

To find the path of a file that is being held open, follow these steps:

1. Obtain FRSDiag.exe, and then run it. To obtain FRSDiag.exe, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

   http://www.microsoft.com/download/details.aspx?FamilyId=43CB658E-8553-4DE7-811A-562563EB5EBF&displaylang=en

2. Type the name of the target server that contains the error, or click Browse, and then locate the server.

3. On the Selections menu, click
   Uncheck All.

4. Click to select the IDTable Parser check box.

5. Click Go.
   
   A file that is named FRSDiag.txt under the %USERPROFILE%\Desktop\Logs folder is created.

6. Look up the file GUID and the file's date in FRSDiag.txt.

After you determine which file is being held open, you can use Process Explorer from Sysinternals to find out which process has the file locked. To download Process Explorer, visit the following Sysinternals Web site:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspxTo use Process Explorer, follow these steps:

1. Start Process Explorer, and then wait until all the process information is loaded.

2. On the Find menu, click
   Find Handle or DLL.

3. Type the path of the file (for example, type
   scripts\filename.txt), and then click
   Search.

4. After the process is found, double-click it, and then verify that this is the name of the file that is being held open.

5. End the process if you want to.

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If you determine that keeping this file open is the expected behavior for your environment, either disable logging of this event, or increase or decrease the number of reported events per hour. To do this, follow these steps to edit the designated registry subkeys.

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

322756 How to back up and restore the registry in Windows

1. Start Registry Editor.

2. Locate and then modify the following subkey:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NtFrs\Parameters
   Value Name: Enable Sharing Violation Logging
   Value Type: DWORD
   Value Range: 0 or 1
   Default value: 0
   Description: Toggles sharing violation logging on or off.

3. Locate and then modify the following subkey:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NtFrs\Parameters
   Value Name: Max Sharing Violation Event
   Value Type: DWORD
   Value Range: 1 to 2000
   Default value: 10
   Description: Determines the maximum number of reported sharing violation events for each time period.

4. Locate and then modify the following subkey:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NtFrs\Parameters
   Value Name: Sharing Violation Retry Count
   Value Type: DWORD
   Value Range: 1 to 2000
   Default value: 10
   Description: Determines the frequency of sharing violation events for each change order. For example, for a value of 10, report 1 of every 10 sharing violations that are encountered by the change order.