Verifying the State of SYSVOL Migration

Updated: April 15, 2009

Applies To: Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2

Normally, migration proceeds smoothly and without problems. However, if you experience problems such as the local migration state on each computer not reaching the same setting as the global state, you may want to wait longer or perform the additional verification steps that follow to determine what could be wrong.

You can perform the following tasks to verify in more detail that migration to a given state has succeeded:

  • Check that the registry entries that are related to SYSVOL migration still exist and were updated

  • Check whether the Active Directory objects for DFS Replication still exist

  • Check whether the Active Directory objects for FRS Replication still exist

For more information about how to troubleshoot migrating SYSVOL replication to DFS Replication, see Troubleshooting SYSVOL Migration Issues and SYSVOL Migration Tool Actions.

The Dfsrmig tool creates a series of registry entries on each domain controller that partially control the migration of SYSVOL to DFS Replication. To confirm that these registry entries were correctly created, use the following procedure.

  1. On each domain controller in the domain, use Registry Editor to verify that the registry entries in the following table were created under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\DFSR\Parameters\SysVols\MigratingSysVols subkey and have the correct values.

    Registry Entry Value

    DFS-R SYSVOL Path

    [drive:\]Windows_folder\SYSVOL_DFSR\sysvol

    Local State

    The current local migration state for the domain controller should be as follows: Prepared: 1 Redirected: 2 Eliminated: 3. Other values represent intermediate migration states, as discussed in the SYSVOL Migration States topic.

    NTFRS SYSVOL Path

    [drive:\]Windows_folder\SYSVOL\sysvol

  2. Verify that the value of the SysVol registry entry under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Netlogon\Parameter subkey is now [drive:\]Windows_folder\SYSVOL_DFSR\sysvol, and that the value of the SysvolReady registry entry under the same subkey is 1.

Check whether the Active Directory objects for DFS Replication still exist

The Dfsrmig tool creates objects in AD DS for DFS Replication that partially control the migration of SYSVOL to DFS Replication. Use the following procedure to confirm that these objects were correctly created or deleted (depending on the migration or rollback phase).

To check whether Active Directory objects for DFS Replication still exist

  1. On the PDC emulator, click Start, and then click Run.

  2. In the Run dialog box, type adsiedit.msc, and then click OK to start the Active Directory Services Interfaces Editor (ADSI Edit).

  3. On the Action menu of the ADSI Edit MMC snap-in, click Connect to.

  4. In the Connection Settings dialog box, under Connection Point, click Select a well known Naming Context, select Default naming context, and then click OK.

  5. In the console pane, double-click Default Naming Context [domain_controller_name.fully_qualified_domain_name]. To see the Active Directory objects for the domain controllers in the domain, double-click **DC=first_part_of_domain_name,DC=**second_part_of_domain_name, and then double-click OU=Domain Controllers.

    For example, if your domain controller is contoso-dc1 and your fully qualified domain name is corp.contoso.com, double-click Default Naming Context [contoso-dc1.corp.contoso.com], double-click DC=corp,DC=contoso,DC=com, and then double-click OU=Domain Controllers.

  6. Double-click a **CN=**domain_controller_name object that corresponds to one of the domain controllers for your domain, and then verify that a CN=DFSR-LocalSettings object for the domain controller appears in the center pane.

    If the domain is in the Start state, no CN=DFSR-LocalSettings object for the domain controller should appear.

  7. Under the entry for the domain controller, double-click CN=DFSR-LocalSettings, and then verify that the CN=Domain System Volume object appears in the center pane.

  8. Double-click CN=Domain System Volume, and then verify that the CN=SYSVOL Subscription object appears in the center pane.

  9. Repeat steps 6 through 8 for each domain controller object listed under OU=Domain Controllers.

  10. Double-click CN=System, and then verify that the CN=DFSR-GlobalSettings object appears in the center pane.

  11. Under CN=System, double-click CN=DFSR-GlobalSettings, double-click CN=Domain System Volume, and then verify that the CN=Content and CN=Topology objects appear in the center pane.

  12. Double-click CN=Content, and then verify that the CN=SYSVOL Share object appears in the center pane.

  13. Under CN=Domain System Volume, double-click CN=Topology, and then verify that **CN=**domain_controller_name objects for each domain controller in the domain appear in the center pane.

    If the domain is in the Start state, no **CN=**domain_controller_name object for a domain controller should appear.

  14. Under CN=System in the console pane, right-click CN=DFSR-GlobalSettings, and then click Properties.

  15. In the CN=DFSR-GlobalSettings Properties dialog box, click the Attribute Editor tab, and then verify that the value listed for the msDFSR-Flags attribute is appropriate for the migration state:

    • Start: 0

    • Prepared: 16

    • Redirected: 32

    • Eliminated: 48

  16. Leave the ADSI Edit window open for the next procedure.

Note

The local state of an individual domain controller is stored under CN=DFSR-LocalSettings on the msDFSR-Flags attribute. The local state can either be a stable migration state (listed above), or a local transition state (note that the Preparing state is only applicable to read-only domain controllers):

  • Preparing: 64

  • Waiting for initial sync: 80

  • Redirecting: 96

  • Eliminating: 112

  • Undo redirecting: 128

  • Undo preparing: 144

Check whether the Active Directory objects for FRS Replication still exist

If the domain is in a state other than Eliminated, objects for SYSVOL replication using FRS should exist in AD DS. If the domain is in the Eliminated state, these objects should not exist. To confirm whether these objects exist, use the following procedure.

To check whether the Active Directory objects for FRS Replication still exist

  1. In the ADSI Edit MMC snap-in on the primary domain controller, under OU=Domain Controllers pane, double-click a **CN=**domain_controller_name object that corresponds to one of the domain controllers for your domain.

  2. If the domain is in a state other than Eliminated, double-click the CN=NTFRS Subscriptions object for the domain controller appears in the center pane and then verify that the CN=Domain System Volume (SYSVOL share) object appears in the center pane.

    If the domain is in the Eliminated state, there should not be a CN=NTFRS Subscriptions object here.

  3. Repeat steps 6 and 7 for each domain controller object that is listed under OU=Domain Controllers.

  4. Double-click CN=System, and then verify that the CN=File Replication Service object appears in the center pane.

  5. Double-click CN=File Replication Service, and then double-click CN=Domain System Volume (SYSVOL share).

    If the domain is in a state other than Eliminated, objects for each domain controller in the domain should appear in the center pane. If the domain is in the Eliminated state, no domain controller objects should be listed here.

Additional references

SYSVOL Replication Migration Guide: FRS to DFS Replication

SYSVOL Migration Reference Information