If you have ever had issues with NETLOGON or SYSVOL folders not replicating across domain controllers you know that it can be a huge pain in the butt. Whether it be your policy definitions folder not replicating or group policy is just out of sync with the rest of your DCs. It’s an issue that many sysadmins over time have had to overcome however, luckily for me, I was fortunate enough to have had it happen in my lab. My issue was sysvol was not replicating on my 2019 domain controllers so not only did I need to be able to force sysvol replication, I needed to get to the root of the issue to figure out why. Today we’re going to fix sysvol folders not replicating across domain controllers.
I have also posted a video of how to fix domain controller replication at the end of this post for those who prefer to watch the demo 🙂
After checking the event viewer I am across several logs that seemed a bit concerning to me.
Log Name: DFS Replication Source: DFSR Date: 3/25/2020 1:04:30 PM Event ID: 4612 Task Category: None Level: Error Keywords: Classic User: N/A Computer: PAC-DC02.ad.thesysadminchannel.com Description: The DFS Replication service initialized SYSVOL at local path C:\Windows\SYSVOL\domain and is waiting to perform initial replication. The replicated folder will remain in the initial synchronization state until it has replicated with its partner PAC-DC01.ad.thesysadminchannel.com. If the server was in the process of being promoted to a domain controller, the domain controller will not advertise and function as a domain controller until this issue is resolved. This can occur if the specified partner is also in the initial synchronization state, or if sharing violations are encountered on this server or the sync partner. If this event occurred during the migration of SYSVOL from File Replication service (FRS) to DFS Replication, changes will not replicate out until this issue is resolved. This can cause the SYSVOL folder on this server to become out of sync with other domain controllers. Additional Information: Replicated Folder Name: SYSVOL Share Replicated Folder ID: 33B02C74-D5A3-41A7-A1EB-7D526AA4A243 Replication Group Name: Domain System Volume Replication Group ID: 3CA9F092-C1B4-4F46-B276-7FD034A8E03C Member ID: 2AED3E8C-B864-4939-8969-BC747CD672C5 Read-Only: 0 Log Name: DFS Replication Source: DFSR Date: 3/25/2020 1:04:30 PM Event ID: 5002 Task Category: None Level: Error Keywords: Classic User: N/A Computer: PAC-DC02.ad.thesysadminchannel.com Description: The DFS Replication service encountered an error communicating with partner PAC-DC01 for replication group Domain System Volume. Partner DNS address: PAC-DC01.ad.thesysadminchannel.com Optional data if available: Partner WINS Address: PAC-DC01 Partner IP Address: 172.16.10.101 The service will retry the connection periodically. Additional Information: Error: 1753 (There are no more endpoints available from the endpoint mapper.) Connection ID: 3CA9F092-C1B4-4F46-B276-7FD034A8E03C Replication Group ID: FD8F1538-9B92-4EF9-9E8E-E74512BC2149
First things first, we need to determine which domain controller is going to act as the master server. This needs to be the most updated DC in terms of policies because this will overwrite anything and everything that doesn’t match.
An example of this is if you create the policies on DC01, and those policies never replicate to DC02. DC01 is more up to date than DC02 so DC01 should be your master.
Once you have that all set, you can follow the steps in the video.
Fix SYSVOL Folders Not Replicating Across Domain Controllers
Hopefully you found that very useful and now your sysvol replication is working as expected. If you still have doubts, you can check out Microsoft’s Documentation for the official page.
Thank you so much, this has helped me fix a big headache in a nice clear and easy to follow way!
Excellent video, clear, concise and fixed the issue!!
How did you simulated this issue on the lab?
I shut down one of my hosts which had a DC on it for months to save on Power. When I turned it back on, replication was all hosed up (as was expected)
Excelllent video. Straight, concise and very well explained.
Excellent video. Replication is now working!
I’ve spent several hours trying lot of stuff to fix this exact problem. I wish I’ve seen your video sooner, it’s simple, with clear directives and most importantly, it fixed the issue.
Many thanks man !
Great video, unfortunately, I followed the steps but still getting an error on the “Master DC” – The DFS Replication service stopped replication on volume C:. This occurs when a DFSR JET database is not shut down cleanly and Auto Recovery is disabled. To resolve this issue, back up the files in the affected replicated folders, and then use the ResumeReplication WMI method to resume replication.
Any ideas?
Great post, thank a lot, you just saved my day 😉
Thanks!! excellent video, made our 3 DCs replicate again. Thank you for posting !!
Thanks! Spent hours on this today and followed an MS article for this process that was slightly different and did not work. Thank you for posting.
Thank you for the excellent video. Did exactly what I wanted 🙂