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Relocating the Staging Area

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Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

By default, the Active Directory Installation Wizard installs the Staging Area folder within the SYSVOL. The Active Directory Installation Wizard creates two folders—Staging and Staging Area—which FRS uses for the staging process. When you relocate the staging area, you can change the name. Ensure that you identify the proper area in case it is renamed in your environment.

Two parameters determine the location of the staging area. One parameter, fRSStagingPath, is stored in the directory and contains the path to the actual location that FRS uses to stage files. The other parameter is a junction point stored in the Staging Area folder in SYSVOL that links to the actual location that FRS uses to stage files. When relocating the staging area, you must update these two parameters to point to the new location.

Except where noted, perform these procedures on the domain controller that contains the Staging Area folder that you want to relocate.

Task requirements

To perform this task it is necessary that you understand the folder structure used by the system volume. For more information, see Introduction to Administering SYSVOL.

The following tools are required to perform the procedures for this task:

  • Active Directory Sites and Services (Administrative Tool)

  • Event Viewer

  • Net.exe

  • Dcdiag.exe (Windows Support Tools)

  • Regedit.exe

  • ADSI Edit.msc (Windows Support Tools)

  • Linkd.exe (Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit Tools)

Note

To create or update junctions, you need the Linkd.exe tool supplied with Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit Tools on the Microsoft Web site at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=16544. Linkd allows you to create, delete, update, and view the links that are stored in junction points.

To complete this task, perform the following procedures in order:

  1. Identify replication partners

  2. Check the status of the shared SYSVOL

    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 replication with other domain controllers

  4. Gather the SYSVOL path information

  5. Reset the File Replication service staging folder to a different logical drive