DFS-R: how to offline re-sync, large amount of data deleted
Unfortunately I didn't get any answers to this. To be on the safe side I went with my 2nd option: Completely removing the remote member servers from the replication group and re-adding them (after waiting for a 4010 event on the remote server confirming it was removed from the group). The backlogs were huge at first but it seems DFSR realized the files were the same and the disappeared from the backlog without them being copied across the line.
So, for future reference, here's how to do an off-line sync of one or more DFS-R member servers:
- Remove the remote members for which you want to do an offline-resync from the appropriate replication group. Note that anything you add on the 'master' server in the meantime will not be copied across anymore.
- Copy the files to your offline media (NFTS formatted USB disk/stick/whatever) using the following command:
robocopy /MIR /SEC /SECFIX <source> <destination> - On the remote server, copy everything back using the above robocopy command with offcourse now the USB source as the parameter
- After everything is copied, re-add the members to the replication group
- Monitor your backlogs, in my case i had a lot of backlogged files, but they disappeared without re-copying them, probably because DFSR realized they were actually the same.