OneDrive with FSlogix in an AVD environment how to prevent profile bloat

Iron Contributor

We are implementing onedrive to hold known folders (Documents, Pictures, Desktop) and want these files to be "on demand" by default. We have it set via GPO. The main question is, how do I make sure that the files are dehydrated within our 14 day timeframe? We set up storagesense to do it, but how does storagesense have access to unmounted user profiles if storagesense only runs once per day?

 

Is there an Microsoft supported way of handling Onedrive with FSlogix profiles using storagesense? It appears that as it is now, users could download files over time and they'd never get cleaned up automatically, causing massive storage use as users bring more data in via onedrive.

25 Replies
I see the same problem with our Profiles using AVD. Some of them are over 30GB. Any help would be great. I am manually cleaning them up when they get too large. Not only the manual work, but the cost in Azure is huge since we have to use Premium. We have ~525 profiles. If we could get them under 1TB it would be a cost savings.

Hopefully we can get some more input on this one. Documentation seems light for this kind of configuration.

Who would be the right person to talk to Microsoft about this? I would be glad to open an ticket and update this thread.
@Travis_78 I believe you would need to open it in Azure in your AVD workspace.

I am investigating our bloated profiles, the one I just found shows 56k files in the appdata\local\isolatedstorage - over 20GB.
I have 6 more that are over 26GB to verify.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/standard/io/isolated-storage
I am dreading trying to work on this through normal channels. I feel like nobody actually understands the problem but maybe some higher level engineers at MSFT. Was hoping someone would chime in and help.

Hi @Travis_78 this is a known issue, when you or the user delete files, fslogix vhd(x) does not compact itself. Here is a solution for you if you are running the latest fslogix version:

Enable VHD Disk Compaction using the Registry

To enable VHD Disk Compaction using the registry, you'll need to set the following registry value:

  • Key: HKLM\SOFTWARE\FSLogix\Apps
  • Value name: VHDCompactDisk
  • Value type: DWORD
  • Value data: 1

You can do this with PowerShell:

  1. Open an elevated PowerShell prompt and run the following commands:

    Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\FSLogix\Apps" -Name VHDCompactDisk -PropertyType DWORD -Value 1 -Force
    
  2. Restart the computer.

@hanifaz Yes, but how do you get the files deleted in the first place? Profile compaction is helpful when they finally get the bugs ironed out on the latest FSlogix, but before that, you need storage sense or something that will clear the OneDrive cache store after X amount of time. So far, I don't see that storage sense runs on AVD servers where you can trust it to keep the profile clean. 

 

Run a test where you push a GPO that has storage sense dehydrate any OneDrive files opened less than a day. Come back after a day and you see that the files are still local to the profile and have not been set back to online only, which is Storage Senses's job.

@Travis_78 

 

Try using this Powershell Script in Autostart.

This will activate OneDrive CleanUp for every Connected OneDrive Account or Sharepoint Site.
Data in OneDrive Cache will be flushed every Day.

 

$EnableStorageSense = 1
$RunInterval = 1
$DeleteTempFiles = 1
$DeleteRecycleBinContent = 1
$DeleteRecycleBinInterval = 1
$DeleteDownloadsContent = 0
$DeleteDownloadsInterval = 0
$DeleteOneDriveContent = 1
$DeleteOneDriveInterval = 1

function Set-RegistryValue
{
param(
[string]$RegPath,
[string]$RegName,
$RegValue,
[ValidateSet("String","ExpandString","Binary","Dword","MultiString","Qword")]
[string]$RegType = "String"
)
If (!(Test-Path -Path $RegPath))
{
Write-Output "Creating the registry key $RegPath"
New-Item -Path $RegPath -Force | Out-Null
}
else
{
$RegPath.Property
Write-Output "$RegPath already exist"
}
If ($RegName)
{
$CheckReg = Get-Item -Path $RegPath

If ($CheckReg.GetValue($RegName) -eq $null)
{
Write-Output "Creating the registry value $RegName in $RegPath"
New-ItemProperty -Path $RegPath -Name $RegName -Value $RegValue -PropertyType $RegType | Out-Null
}
else
{
Write-Output "Modifying the registry value $RegName in $RegPath"
Set-ItemProperty -Path $RegPath -Name $RegName -Value $RegValue | Out-Null
}
}
}

# Storage Sense registry location
$StoragePolicyRegKey = "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\StorageSense\Parameters\StoragePolicy"

# Enable Storage Sense
Set-RegistryValue -RegPath $StoragePolicyRegKey -RegName "01" -RegType DWORD -RegValue $EnableStorageSense

# Set 'Run Storage Sense' to specified interval
Set-RegistryValue -RegPath $StoragePolicyRegKey -RegName "2048" -RegType DWORD -RegValue $RunInterval

# Enable 'Delete temporary files that my apps aren't using'
Set-RegistryValue -RegPath $StoragePolicyRegKey -RegName "04" -RegType DWORD -RegValue $DeleteTempFiles

# Set 'Delete files in my recycle bin at the specified interval
Set-RegistryValue -RegPath $StoragePolicyRegKey -RegName "08" -RegType DWORD -RegValue $DeleteRecycleBinContent
Set-RegistryValue -RegPath $StoragePolicyRegKey -RegName "256" -RegType DWORD -RegValue $DeleteRecycleBinInterval

# Set 'Delete files in my Downloads folder at the specified interval
Set-RegistryValue -RegPath $StoragePolicyRegKey -RegName "32" -RegType DWORD -RegValue $DeleteDownloadsContent
Set-RegistryValue -RegPath $StoragePolicyRegKey -RegName "512" -RegType DWORD -RegValue $DeleteDownloadsInterval

# Suppress Storage Sense notifications
Set-RegistryValue -RegPath $StoragePolicyRegKey -RegName "StoragePoliciesNotified" -RegType DWORD -RegValue 1
Set-RegistryValue -RegPath $StoragePolicyRegKey -RegName "CloudfilePolicyConsent" -RegType DWORD -RegValue 1

# Prerequisite for OneDrive cleanup configuration, get the user SID
$User1 = New-Object System.Security.Principal.NTAccount($env:userDOMAIN, $env:USERNAME)
$GetSID = $User1.Translate([System.Security.Principal.SecurityIdentifier])
$UserSID = $GetSID.Value

# Configure OneDrive cleanup for all OneDrive providers configured
# Get OneDrive providers
$OneDriveProviders = Get-ChildItem -Path HKCU:\Software\SyncEngines\Providers\OneDrive\
ForEach ($ProviderKeys in $OneDriveProviders)
{
$ProviderKeyString = "OneDrive!"+$UserSID+"!Business1|"+$ProviderKeys.Name.Split("\")[-1]
$ProviderKeyStringPath = $StoragePolicyRegKey +"\" + $ProviderKeyString

Set-RegistryValue -RegPath $ProviderKeyStringPath -RegName "02" -RegType DWORD -RegValue $DeleteOneDriveContent
Set-RegistryValue -RegPath $ProviderKeyStringPath -RegName "128" -RegType DWORD -RegValue $DeleteOneDriveInterval
}

Thank you for this! I'll give it a shot.
With this script, you say to run the script via the user's login script? Or start menu/startup? Have you used this with success on VHDX / FSlogix users with AVD?

@Travis_78 

I use this with the menu/startup script. Runs better if you use fslogix Profiles. I had some troubles with GPO Policies in this environment.

At the GPO Logon Script sometimes the fslogix Profile wasn't loaded already and sometimes at logoff is was allready deloaded when the Script runs.

 

At least, if you deploy it in the Windows Startup Folder, you can use it in any Clone without the need of an GPO. Just create a Link in "C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp"

 

with the following command 

 

C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe -windowstyle hidden -file "C:\Windows\OneDrive-CleanUp.ps1"

 

 

and of course don't forgett to put the Powershell Script in the described folder ;)

 

You can also extend the Script and remove some unwanted Windows Apps for every User like this:

Get-AppxPackage *WindowsAlarms*| Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage *windowscommunicationsapps*| Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage *officehub*| Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage *skype*| Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage *xbox*| Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage *sol* | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage *real* | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage *weather* | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage *feedback* | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage *zune* | Remove-AppxPackage
Get-AppxPackage *stick* | Remove-AppxPackage

@Travis_78 ----
I read through the entire exchange between you and Micha. We are facing the same issue where we need to dehydrate the onedrive cache. And as you mentioned in the beginning of the conversation, - setting up storage sense would probably not fulfill our need to rehydrate the onedrive cache in fslogix profiles as storage sense runs once a day, and does not make a difference on the profiles which are not attached at the time storage sense runs.

Did you happen to try out the script that was provided by @Micha118835, and does that fulfill our requirement?? Could you please give us a feedback if that has been tested.
I tested it out, but I'm not sure its working. I hvae had a file on the desktop (txt file) that is redirected, and it has never dehydrated.
Is there any way to make storage sense run more often than once a day? I was trying to test it today setting the gpo and left my session connected for 6 hours and nothing was removed from onedrive cache. Does the storage sense only run randomly during the day or does something trigger it to run? If it only runs once a day unless your machine is running 24/7 it seems like it’s not a useful feature for avd?
I wish I knew. Moving known folders for one drive seems like a thing Microsoft is pushing, but they dont seem to have a proper way of keeping things clean in an AVD environment. Theres no real straightforward documentation on this fact. They dont ever mention AVD in this configuration, its always windows 10 desktops..

It sounds like you are implementing OneDrive Known Folder Move and want to ensure that files are dehydrated within a certain timeframe.

To address your first question about Storage Sense, it is correct that Storage Sense only runs once per day by default. However, you can configure Storage Sense to run more frequently or on a custom schedule. To do this, you can use Group Policy to configure the "Configure Storage Sense schedule" setting under "Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Storage Sense".

As for your second question about OneDrive with FSLogix profiles using Storage Sense, there is not currently a Microsoft-supported solution for this specific scenario. However, there are a few options you can consider:

Use third-party tools: There are third-party tools available that can help manage the storage used by OneDrive Known Folder Move, such as 2BrightSparks' SyncBackPro or Insync. These tools can be configured to automatically remove files that have not been accessed within a certain timeframe.

Use a script or scheduled task: You could also create a script or scheduled task that periodically checks for files that have not been accessed within a certain timeframe and removes them. This can be done using PowerShell or another scripting language.

Use a combination of Storage Sense and third-party tools or scripts: You could use Storage Sense to dehydrate files that have not been accessed within a certain timeframe, and then use a third-party tool or script to remove any remaining files that have not been accessed within a longer timeframe.

@steveturnbull1975 

You can try to create a scheduled Task with the Command "c:\windows\System32\cleanmgr.exe /autoclean /d C:"  on User Logon with a delay of 5 or 10 Minutes.
This will trigger a cleanup for the User.

When you use the Powershell Script for configure Storage Sense with OneDrive, this command also cleanup OneDrive Files.

Can you confirm that this command runs against the users FS logix profile to clean up Onedrive folders?

@Travis_78 so I’ve put together a solution that runs a scheduled task at user logon but delays it by 30 minutes so it doesn’t overload the logon process.  The task goes through a users onedrive folder and “removes” locally cached files in the container which haven’t been modified for more than 30 days and sets them back to online only.  

then fslogix shrinks the container at logoff.  

there is some issues with onedrive (bugs) since testing however.  If someone tries to download a large file to onedrive and it breaks during the process, onedrive will show the cloud icon but the partial download actually ends up in the profile container.  I have no idea how to fix this.  The only way this will be fixed is with the user re-attempting the same download to completion which would then flag the file with a green circle.  This appears to be a major design flaw in onedrive. 

the other issues I’ve come across is if the files are a cloud icon and if you attempt to copy the same files over the top from a file share and select the replace option the files remain a cloud icon but the files actually end up in the container (maybe more of an edge case) 

 

I have serious concerns around the level of testing on this onedrive product as it seems to be pretty inconsistent sometimes in its operations.  

ill be implementing the script soon to do the clean up so will see how much of a difference I see on the storage.  However as mentioned there are scenarios where it’s not going to work optimally due to what appear to be bugs with onedrive