DFSUtil in Windows Server 2003 VS DFSUtil in Windows Server 2008
Published Apr 10 2019 01:41 AM 1,469 Views
Iron Contributor
First published on TECHNET on Jul 11, 2008
1. New Command Line Interface (CLI)

DFSUtil.exe in Windows Server 2008 comes with a new CLI, which is based on Keywords, Required Parameters and Optional parameters instead of Switches and Arguments. With this change, we intend to make the usage of the commands clearer and easier.


Navigation through Keywords is more friendly, giving the information needed to execute a task.



An example of this:


To create the new Domain-Based Namespace Projects which is going to have a Root Target at the Server NewYork , with the old CLI the user had to type


DFSUtil.exe /AddFtRoot /Server :\\ NewYork /Share:Projects /Comment:”Projects in New York”


With the new CLI


DFSUtil.exe Root AddDom \\NewYork\Projects “Projects in New York”


The new CLI not only gives the necessary information for the task to be executed, but display hints to help resolve tasks related as in when you are creating a namespace you would like to add root targets to it.




2. New features in DFSUtil.exe


Creation of Windows 2008 mode Domain-based namespaces.


DFSUtil.exe Root AddDom \\Server\Share <Version> <Comment>


For Version you can choose:
V1: Windows 2000, Windows 2003 mode namespace.
V2: Windows 2008 mode namespace.


DFSUtil.exe Root AddDom \\contoso.com\DomainNamespace “This is a V2 Namespace!!”



Add and remove Links


DFSUtil.exe Link Add <DFSPath> \\Server\Share [Restore] <Comment>
DFSUtil.exe Link Remove <DFSPath>
DFSUtil.exe Link Add \\contoso.com\DomainNamespace\Link \\Server\Share “This a new link”



Display and/or change the state of Roots and Links


DFSUtil.exe Property State <DFSPath> \\Server\Share


State commands:


Online: Set state of link or link target to Online
Offline: Set state of link or link target to Offline


DFSUtil.exe Property State \\contoso.com\DomainNamespace\Link
DFSUtil.exe Property State Online \\contoso.com\DomainNamespace\Link



Display and/or change TTL


DFSUtil.exe Property TTL <DFSPath>


TTL commands:


Set : Set the Timeout value of a DFS namespace or DFS link.


DFSUtil.exe Property TTL Set <DFSPath> <Value in ms>
DFSUtil.exe Property TTL Set \\contoso.com\DomainNamespace 3000



Resolve DFS path to a destination UNC path


DFSUtil.exe Diag ViewDFSPath <DFSPath>
DFSUtil.exe Diag ViewDFSPath \\contoso.com\DomainNamespace



Display and/or Set Registry Configuration Parameters in Server and Clients


For Server



DFSUtil.exe Server Registry


Registry commands:


DFSDNSConfig : Set/Reset/View DFSDNSConfig key
LDAPTimeoutValue : Set/Reset/View LDAPTimeoutValueInSeconds key
SyncInterval : Set/Reset/View SyncIntervalinSeconds key
SiteCostedReferrals : Set/Reset/View SiteCostedReferrals key.
InsiteReferrals : Set/Reset/View InsiteReferrals key.
PreferLogonDC : Set/Reset/View PreferLogonDC key


For Client:



DFSUtil.exe Client Registry


Registry commands:


ProviderCacheTimeout : Set/View the ProviderCacheTimeoutInMinutes key.
DFSDCNameDelay : Set/Reset/View the DFSDCNameDelay key.



Enable/Disable Access Based Directory Enumeration (ABDE) in the Domain-based/Standalone namespace.


DFSUtil.exe Property ABDE<DFSPath>
DFSUtil.exe Property ABDE \\contoso.com\DomainNamespace



Manage Security attributes on DFS Links


DFSUtil.exe Property ACL <DFSPath>


ACL commands:


Grant : Grant permissions for a user or group.
Deny : Deny permissions for a user or group.
Revoke : Revoke granted permissions for a user or group.
Set : Set Security Information on the folder from SDDL input
Reset : Remove the Security Descriptor associated with the link.
Control : Set Security control information on the link.


John Angel Diaz


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P.S.: See also this post with a complete reference of the DFSUTIL command-line:
http://blogs.technet.com/josebda/archive/2009/05/01/using-the-windows-server-2008-dfsutil-exe-c...

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Last update:
‎Apr 10 2019 01:42 AM
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