General availability release for Azure File Sync Agent: July 2018

This article describes the Azure File Sync general availability (GA) release for the Azure File Sync agent, including how to get it and how to run a silent installation.

The Azure File Sync agent is supported on Windows Server 2016 and Windows Server 2012 R2. It consists of three main components:

• FileSyncSvc.exe: The background Windows service that's responsible for monitoring changes on server endpoints and initiating sync sessions to Azure.
• StorageSync.sys: The Azure File Sync file system filter that's responsible for tiering cold files to Azure Files (when cloud tiering is enabled).
• PowerShell management cmdlets: PowerShell cmdlets for interacting with the Microsoft.StorageSync Azure Resource Provider. By default, the cmdlets can be found at the following locations:
   
  • %ProgramFiles%\Azure\StorageSyncAgent\StorageSync.Management.PowerShell.Cmdlets.dll
  • %ProgramFiles%\Azure\StorageSyncAgent\StorageSync.Management.ServerCmdlets.dll

To learn more about an Azure File Sync deployment, go to the Planning for an Azure File Sync deployment topic on the Microsoft Docs website.

The following are the improvements and the issues that are fixed in this general availability release:

• The Azure File Sync service now fails over to a paired region if an outage occurs (BCDR support).
• Server endpoint health improvements are made in the portal. This includes the following items:
   
  • Health state is now determined by sync session results and current sync progress.
  • You can view sync details for upload and download sessions.
  • You can see the number of per-item sync errors.
     
• Support is provided for moving Storage Sync Service and Storage Accounts to different resource groups.
• Storage Sync Agent (FileSyncSvc) crashes when it tries to do a background recall if junction points exist in the server endpoint directory.
• Miscellaneous performance, reliability, and telemetry improvements are made.

• The Azure File Sync agent is supported on Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows Server 2016.
• A restart may be required if files are being used during the installation of this general availability release.
• Public Preview Refresh 2 agent (version 3.0.12.0) is required to upgrade existing agent installations to the GA version.
• The agent version for the general availability release is 3.1.0.0

The Azure File Sync agent is available from Microsoft Update, Microsoft Update Catalog, and Microsoft Download Center.

Note If the Azure File Sync agent is not currently installed on a server, use the agent installation package on the Microsoft Download Center. The agent installation package on the Microsoft Update and Microsoft Update Catalog is intended for agent upgrades only.

Microsoft Update

To get and install the Azure File Sync Agent from Microsoft Update, follow these steps on a server that has Azure File Sync agent installed.

Server 2016

1. Click Start, and then click Settings.
2. In Settings, click Update & security.
3. In the Windows Update window, click Check online for updates from Microsoft Update.
4. Verify that the Azure File Sync Agent update is listed, and then click Install now.

Server 2012 R2

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. In Control Panel, double-click Windows Update.
3. In the Windows Update window, click Check for updates.
4. Click Important updates are available.
5. Verify that the Azure File Sync Agent update is selected, and then click Install.

Microsoft Update Catalog

Go to the Microsoft Update Catalog to manually download the Azure File Sync Agent update.

To manually install the agent update package, run the following command at an elevated command prompt:

msiexec.exe /p packagename.msp REINSTALLMODE=OMUS REINSTALL=StorageSyncAgent,StorageSyncAgentUpdater,StorageSyncAgentAzureFileSync /qb /l*v AFSUpdate.log

For example, to install the Azure File Sync Agent update for Server 2016, run the following command:

msiexec.exe /p StorageSyncAgent_WS2016_KB4341442.msp REINSTALLMODE=OMUS REINSTALL=StorageSyncAgent,StorageSyncAgentUpdater,StorageSyncAgentAzureFileSync /qb /l*v AFSUpdate.log

Microsoft Download Center

Go to the Microsoft Download Center to manually download the Azure File Sync Agent.

To run a silent installation for a new agent installation, you must use the MSI package that is included in the agent installer package. To extract the MSI package, double-click the appropriate agent installer package (for example, StorageSyncAgent_V3_WS2016.exe), copy the MSI packages that are located under %systemdrive%\AfsAgentSetup to another location, and then cancel the attended agent installation.

To perform a silent installation for a new agent installation, run the following command at an elevated command prompt:

msiexec /i packagename.msi /qb /l*v AFSInstaller.log

For example, to install the Azure File Sync agent for Windows Server 2016, run the following command:

msiexec /i StorageSyncAgent.msi /qb /l*v AFSInstaller.log

Note Use the /qb switch to display restart prompts (if required), agent update, and server registration screens. To suppress the screens and automatically restart the server (if required), use the /qn switch.

Learn about the terminology that Microsoft uses to describe software updates.