Moving Sysvol folder to another partition

G

Guest

I have a Server in a closed classified room that has 2 partitons C and D.
When I set the system up I located the Active directory (Sysvol and NTDS) on
the D drive.
The size of the D drive needs to be increased by 100 GB. I have installed
the extra drives on the RAID, but the only way to increase D is too delete it
and recreate it with the extra drive space.
My problem is that I do not want to Demote my Domain controller and recreate
it once I get the D drive back up.
Is there a tool or way that I can move the active directory to C drive until
D is built and then back.
Any suggestions would be appreciated
Thanks
Glenn Selser
 
P

Paul Bergson

Never done it but here is info and link where info was taken from

http://web.mit.edu/redelson/www/msdocs/Active_Directory/AD_Ops_PartI.htm#_Toc15200355



Moving SYSVOL Manually
If you must move the entire system volume, not just the Staging Area folder,
and you have determined that moving the system volume by using the Active
Directory Installation Wizard is impractical, then you can relocate the
system volume manually. Because no utilities can automate this process, you
must carefully ensure that you properly move all folders and maintain the
same level of security at the new location.

Regardless of the method used to move SYSVOL, these events occur:

· The File Replication service is stopped.

· The proper folder structure is created at the new location.

· The SYSVOL path information is updated in the directory and in the
registry.

· Default security settings are set on the new folder structure.

· The File Replication service is restarted.

FRS is stopped while the changes are made and then restarted after the
changes are completed. During the restart process, FRS reads the new
configuration information in the directory and the registry and reconfigures
itself to use the new location.

SYSVOL uses an extensive folder structure that must be recreated accurately
at the new location. The easiest method is to copy the folder structure by
using Windows Explorer. You must ensure that you copy any folders that may
have special attributes, such as hidden folders.

The folder structure also includes junction points. Junction points look
like folders when they appear in Windows Explorer but they are not really
folders. Junction points contain links to other folders. When you open a
junction in Windows Explorer, you see the contents of the folder to which
the junction is linked. If you open a command prompt and display a directory
listing that contains junction points, they are designated as <JUNCTION>,
while regular folders are designated with <DIR>. Junction points behave like
regular folders. When you are working in the file system, you have no
indication whether you are working with a junction or a folder.

The difference between folders and junctions appears when you copy or move a
junction to a new location. Because a junction is a link to another
location, when you copy a junction to a new location, the link still refers
to the original location. SYSVOL contains two junction points that point to
folders in the SYSVOL tree. When you move the tree to a new location, you
must update the junction points to point to the new location. Otherwise, the
junction points continue to point to the original SYSVOL folders.

The registry and Active Directory store path information that FRS uses to
locate the SYSVOL and the Staging Area folders. You must update these
settings to point to the new locations.

After you create the new folders and update the paths and junctions, ensure
that the folders get repopulated with the proper data. You can repopulate
the files stored in SYSVOL at the new location is done by replicating the
data into the new location from one of the domain controller's replication
partners. The BURFLAGS option is set in the registry and when FRS restarts,
it replicates the data into the new folders from one of the replication
partners. Because this data is restored to the new location by means of
replication, be certain that the system volumes on the replication partners
are updated and functioning properly to ensure that the data replicated into
the new folders is updated and has no errors.



Important

Remember, if the system volumes on your domain controllers are
becoming unsynchronized to the point that you need to relocate the system
volumes, be sure to troubleshoot the FRS problems and resolve the issues
that cause the system volumes to become unsynchronized before you attempt to
relocate the system volumes.






Procedures for Moving SYSVOL Manually
Except where noted, perform these steps on the domain controller that
contains the system volume that you want to move. Procedures are explained
in detail in the linked topics.



WARNING

This procedure can alter security settings. After you complete the
procedure, the security settings on the new system volume are reset to the
default settings that were established when you installed Active Directory.
You must reapply any changes to the security settings on the system volume
that you made since you installed Active Directory. Failure to do so can
result in unauthorized access to Group Policy objects and logon and logoff
scripts.






1. Identify replication partners.

2. On the replication partners, check the status of the shared system
volume. You do not need to perform the test on every partner, but you need
to perform enough tests to be confident that the shared system volumes on
the partners are healthy.

3. Verify that replication is functioning.

4. Gather the SYSVOL path information.

5. Stop the File Replication service.

6. Create the SYSVOL folder structure.

7. Set the SYSVOL path.

8. Set the Staging Area path. If you have moved the Staging Area
folder to a different location already, you do not need to do this step.

9. Set the fRSRootPath.

10. Prepare a domain controller for non-authoritative SYSVOL restore.

11. Update security on the new SYSVOL.

12. Start the File Replication service.

13. Check the status of the shared system volume.

Updating the System Volume Path
Due to system maintenance, you might need to update the system volume path.
When you add or remove disk drives, the logical drive letters of the other
drives on the system can change. If either your SYSVOL or Staging Area
folder is located on one of the drives whose letter changes, FRS cannot
locate them. You must update the paths that FRS uses to locate these folders
to solve this problem. To change the path for the system volume, make
changes to the registry and in the directory. Changing the Staging Area path
requires a change in the directory. Both changes require that you update the
junction points. After updating the path information, you must restart FRS
so it can reinitialize with the new values.

Procedures for Updating the System Volume Path
Use the following procedures to change the amount of space that is allocated
to the Staging Area folder. Procedures are explained in detail in the linked
topics.

1. Gather the System Volume path information.

2. Stop the File Replication service.

3. Set the SYSVOL path (if needed).

4. Set the fRSRootPath (if needed).

5. Set the Staging Area path (if needed).

6. Start the File Replication service.


--


Paul Bergson MCT, MCSE, MCSA, CNE, CNA, CCA

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
 
P

Paul Bergson

That looks better. I couldn't find anything from Microsoft and since the
link I tracked down was from MIT I figured it had to be good. But Microsoft
is a better option.

--


Paul Bergson MCT, MCSE, MCSA, CNE, CNA, CCA

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
 

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