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MikeLabatt's avatar
MikeLabatt
Brass Contributor
Jan 12, 2022
Solved

ReFS volume appears RAW (version doesn't match expected value) after Windows Update

After Windows Update last night, Windows Server 2019 wouldn't mount a storage space volume as ReFS (it appears as RAW). The error in the ReFS event log is "ReFS failed to mount the volume. Version 1....
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  • MikeLabatt's avatar
    MikeLabatt
    Jan 13, 2022

    I solved this by uninstalling KB5009557. The ReFS volume came back working as it should, instead of appearing as RAW.

     

    Update: since even the February 2022 Windows Update bricks ReFS in the same way, and hints from Microsoft are that ReFS 1.x is no longer supported, we copied everything to new disks, upgrading ReFS from 1.2 to 3.4 in the process. Such a (manual) ReFS upgrade should be the solution that everyone needs, allowing to re-enable Windows Update.

ngruendl's avatar
ngruendl
Copper Contributor
Feb 10, 2022

JGarcia1 

Another hour of unexpected downtime to a mission critical server.  Can MS stop pushing this update to my server please?

I had this issue now with REFS / RAW volume on my Exchange DB vol for the second time in a month.  I'm running Exchange 2016, Win2012R2 box.  I had even had the Windows Update Service Disabled to stop the server from rebooting to install updates just from logging into it.  It rebooted to install updates anyway and installed this bug for the second time.  I'm migrating off this box as quick as possible...

stephc_msft's avatar
stephc_msft
Icon for Microsoft rankMicrosoft
Feb 11, 2022
ngruendl Can you confirm if you are running on VMWare ? Have you tried the vmware solution of disabling hotplug? As that is the only solution for WS2012R2 using refs on disks that are showing characteristics of 'removal' (like VMWare presents)

Cant comment on why updates got applied even after you were 'disabling' updates.
  • ABeachy's avatar
    ABeachy
    Copper Contributor
    Feb 11, 2022
    stephc_msft that is my question. Does disabling hotplug in VMWare config allow the installation of the new updates and not break ReFS on WS2012R2? Has anyone actually verified this?
    • E3SMC's avatar
      E3SMC
      Copper Contributor
      Feb 11, 2022
      I was finally able to test this in my lab with my Exchange 2016 server running on Server 2012 R2. I was able to apply the VMware workaround and install the patch without issue. Note that I have not completed this task on my live server yet, but I am confident it will work at this point.

      1. Shutdown the server.
      2. Follow the steps in this vmware KB article https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1012225
      3. Power up the machine (it took about 8 minutes for all of the virtual hardware to register with the server, but this may have been because I powered up the server for the first time in my lab which has different host hardware.)
      4. Install the security patches (I ended up installing the February security patches)
      5. Reboot.
      6. Confirm that your REFS drives are operational.
      7. Confirm that you can migrate the VM to a different host for HA purposes.
      • JGarcia1's avatar
        JGarcia1
        Copper Contributor
        Feb 14, 2022
        I have ESXi7.0 u2 on my hosts and Guest windwos 2012r2 VM's.

        These steps also helped Windows 2012r2 VM to recognize the ReFS Volume.
        1. Shutdown the server.
        2. Follow the steps in this vmware KB article https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1012225
        3. Power up the machine

        Thanks E3SMC
    • ngruendl's avatar
      ngruendl
      Copper Contributor
      Feb 11, 2022

      ABeachy 

      I am running VMWare.  I have not tried the fix though.  It might be a while before I have a maintenance window to do this.

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