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Use of Distributed File System ( DFS ) on Server 2022

  • 1.  Use of Distributed File System ( DFS ) on Server 2022

    Posted 06-05-2023 16:01

    I have a customer who's outsourced IT setup DFS on a new Server 2022.

    I installed Sage 100 2022.x Advanced to the 2022 server.

    It works great if I launch it from the server itself.

    It works great if I launch MAS90 mode

    However, if I try to launch "normally" I get odd errors like: 

    I've looked at the service account and moved it from SYSTEM to one that I'm told is local admin / Domain Admin - with no difference.

    Is this DFS and known issue? 

    I spotted that they were synchronizing folders on day one and they claimed that it would be ok and seemed unwilling to remove it.



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    Wayne Schulz
    wayne@s-consult.com
    Schulz Consulting
    (860) 516-8990
    Moodus, CT
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  • 2.  RE: Use of Distributed File System ( DFS ) on Server 2022

    Posted 06-05-2023 16:27

    I remember one issue with a client using DFS related to My Documents not being a local path. 

    When installing Sage server, you used proper local paths?  Anything that changes based on the active Windows login won't work for the Sage service.

    You might want to try running the Sage service using application mode, to test if paths not being available to the Windows Service is the issue.



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    Kevin Moyes
    Technical Systems Analyst
    Munjal White Consulting Co.
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  • 3.  RE: Use of Distributed File System ( DFS ) on Server 2022

    Posted 06-05-2023 16:37

    I did try running it as an application - it didn't seem to work any worse/better.



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    Wayne Schulz
    wayne@s-consult.com
    Schulz Consulting
    (860) 516-8990
    Moodus, CT
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  • 4.  RE: Use of Distributed File System ( DFS ) on Server 2022

    Posted 06-06-2023 01:49
    What is the path that is used in the application setup? Is the account the local user or a domain user or did you try both for the service? Does the file path in Sage 100 for the company reflect the path used for DFS or the local?


     

    Todd Martin 
    President
    Main: 678-495-5700 • DiD: 678-495-5712
    Support: 770-399-8021 • Fax: 770-399-5772
        






  • 5.  RE: Use of Distributed File System ( DFS ) on Server 2022

    Posted 06-06-2023 08:11
    Edited by Wayne Schulz 06-06-2023 08:13

    The new Sage 100 2022 Advanced is setup on a new server. The paths appear to be correct and I've been checking them very regularly in *INFO and it always seems to point to the \\dc01 ( correct new server ).

    At this point, I don't have another four weeks to wait and see whether more people log in to 90 Minds, and the IT vendor seems a bit ahead of their skis in terms of knowing what DFS is doing for them ( they at first denied using it and then later said "oh year" without much information on why it's there. I opened a case with Sage and they didn't have much to offer except their thoughts and prayers.

    I'm rolling back and suggesting the customer is going to be indefinitely on 2021

    And I've made a reasonable effort - short of pulling out the polygraph -  to ensure that the account running the service is a global super domain admin.  When you have third-party IT running the show and they seem a little out of their element, then these things - at least for me - end with a big question mark as to whether I fully have a Domain Admin account.

    On to my next gig - quoting people for extracting data to Intacct and Netsuite....



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    Wayne Schulz
    wayne@s-consult.com
    Schulz Consulting
    (860) 516-8990
    Moodus, CT
    ------------------------------



  • 6.  RE: Use of Distributed File System ( DFS ) on Server 2022

    Posted 06-06-2023 08:25
    Edited by Steve Iwanowski 06-06-2023 08:28

    It sounds like you've moved on, but I'm a daily digest guy, so here are my thoughts for posterity:

    One quick question: on the client, if you go to CMD and type ECHO %USERPROFILE%, do you see C:\users\blahblah or is it a redirected folder (\\server\folder\blahblah)?

    DFS can be configured to do two things: replicate folders/files from server to server (DFS Replication) or create a logical network path in front of the true network path (DFS-N, which eases future server migrations or recovery efforts). We used to use both DFS for Paperless Office so that we wouldn't need to update the links after upgrades/movements but neither DFS was reliable for the Application Service for us. I'm guessing that the service is trying to use the actual path but the client is trying to use the logical path (or vice versa), but either way, IT should be able to remove Sage from their DFS namespace and replication. 



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    Steve Iwanowski, NextStep Technology Advisors, aka DSD Lancaster PA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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  • 7.  RE: Use of Distributed File System ( DFS ) on Server 2022

    Posted 06-06-2023 08:44

    What this customer did is confusingly name their servers nearly identically: 

    \\dc1 (old Sage 100 v2021)

    \\dc01 (new Sage 100 v2022)

    Then DFS mirrors a D: drive to both servers.

    I installed Sage 100 2022 to the new \\dc01 server ( I used the \\dc01 full name wherever I was prompted for a path and avoided using a local D: drive). And that drive is mirrored/synchronized so that it shows up in \\dc1 ( old server ) with the same path d:\acct.

    I suspect, but have no way to know;

    a. Somehow, the service account running Sage 100 doesn't have proper access to whatever DFS is doing. Yet I replaced that SERVICE acct with the Windows Account I'm using to access their network "Sage" and restarted the service and the same results. Yet I can MAS90 mode this and run MAS90 "As Sage," and everything works fine without error ( seems to possibly rule out a permissions issue on the Windows user account 'sage').

    b. Some other magic that DFS is doing and jumping into a position between the Sage service and the actual network path

    c. This seems to hamper the typical diagnostic things I would try -- for example, renaming the old folder on \\dc1 to \old.mas90 to be sure there wasn't some confusion in paths ( I think if I rename that folder on \\dc1 it's just going to replicate/sync to \\dc01)



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    Wayne Schulz
    wayne@s-consult.com
    Schulz Consulting
    (860) 516-8990
    Moodus, CT
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  • 8.  RE: Use of Distributed File System ( DFS ) on Server 2022

    Posted 06-06-2023 08:56

    If that service account is a domain user, then the permissions should be fine (unless IT actually restricted it), but it sounds like DFS-R's getting you and that IT took the lazy way out and replicated the whole drive rather than folders (which means they are not using or misusing DFS-N). The simplest' solution would be to add a new drive (outside DFS-R) for just the Sage/MAS90 folders and let them know it's not aware or compatible with DFS.



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    Steve Iwanowski, NextStep Technology Advisors, aka DSD Lancaster PA ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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  • 9.  RE: Use of Distributed File System ( DFS ) on Server 2022

    Posted 06-06-2023 10:33

    Why do you not use the local path (D:\Sage\MAS90) for the server that the application is on? Only use the DFS path for reports/paperless/links for the clients (\\domain\share\mas90). Like Steve, we use it to help move servers and not have to change all the links for everything and that works great. We use it on the Sage Share (not the full drive).

     

     

    Todd Martin

    Empowering our clients to successfully manage and control their business 

     

    President

     

    6100 Lake Forrest Drive, Suite 520
    Atlanta, Georgia 30328-3837

    Main: 678-495-5700 • DiD: 678-495-5712
    Support: 770-399-8021 • Fax: 770-399-5772
       
    ToddMartin@mbabsi.com/bookings/">Book time on my calendar!

     

     






  • 10.  RE: Use of Distributed File System ( DFS ) on Server 2022

    Posted 06-06-2023 10:40

    I didn't set up or configure ( or request )  DFS and only spotted what looked like synchronized drives when I installed v2022. I wanted to be sure I was installing the correct drive/server since the IT company had recently set up a new server.

    By DFS path, I think you're referring to what the DFS shows as the path, which is something like company.dfs//.

    I didn't use anything except the D: that the server was located on.

    Ultimately the DFS may be completely harmless in this situation. After a full (full) day of debugging on a small GLAPAR upgrade that should have taken 15 minutes, I cut my losses and reverted. If I can't debug by either disabling DFS or renaming the old folders, then I will cut my losses. I'm not entirely sure that this IT team knows 100% what they setup or why. Not my circus, not my monkeys....



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    Wayne Schulz
    wayne@s-consult.com
    Schulz Consulting
    (860) 516-8990
    Moodus, CT
    ------------------------------



  • 11.  RE: Use of Distributed File System ( DFS ) on Server 2022

    Posted 06-11-2023 16:32

    I think I finally figured this out though I'm not 100% the customer's DFS was at fault.

    It seems like it's a cause of mappings gone wrong.

    Here's my feedback for anyone who may run across this in a future search.

    1. I never had an issue running Sage 100 2022.2 from the server. I also had no issue running it in MAS90 mode. This led me to rule out data corruption and to believe rights or other environmental issues were at play.
    2. When I looked at the UNC path from the WORKSTATION for this particular customer, I noticed that a portion of the UNC looked like a shortcut.

    However, I could use \\dc01\shares\shared\Sage\v2022\MAS90 in file explorer without issue. This is what ultimately threw me off track for a few days.

    Which is why I initially didn't look much further at this UNC path

    Then I found I could also get to the Sage 100 from the workstation  using \\dc01\shared\Sage\v2022\MAS90, and I considered that maybe the UNC path was somehow setup wrong or had some problem inheriting permissions ( total guess on my part, and someone will likely have a better/more technically accurate explanation )

    So I went on the LOCAL workstation in the SOTA.INI ( ..\mas90\launcher\sota.ini ), and I edited the bottom portion to be: 

    The service running Sage 100 was pointing to the full local path ( on the server ), and I had no problem running Sage 100 on the server ( likely because the UNC for SOTA.INI uses the local drive instead of a UNC )

    Just an FYI to close the loop on what I believe is an environmental issue in case someone runs into a similar setup at some point in the future.



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    Wayne Schulz
    wayne@s-consult.com
    Schulz Consulting
    (860) 516-8990
    Moodus, CT
    ------------------------------