DFS Setup - The namespace server cannot be added. The system cannot find the path specified

Question

I went to DFS Management and added a created a New Namespace.

For the namespace server, I specified my Primary Domain controller (netbios name: primarydc).

For the namespace, I enter Files.

I use a domain-based namespace (Windows Server 2008 mode).

Namespace server: primarydc.

Preview of the namespace is \\mydomain.corp\Files

I got an error saying \\mydomain.corp\files: The namespace server \\primarydc\Files cannot be added. The system cannot find the path specified.

Now when i browse the network shares on the \\primarydc, I see a shared folder named Files exists, but when i double click it i get an error from Explorer The system cannot find the path specified.

I cannot try again with the same DFS name Files as it says there is already a file share called Files on the primarydc.

How can i remove this file share and go back to a clean state so i can start again?

Any things I should check for that could have caused the initial setup to fail in the first place?

Answer 1

I was able to remove the share by logging on to the primary dc, typing the unc in explorer to bring up the share \\primarydc\ and right clicking the Files folder -> sharing and removing the sharing tick.

The error was due to a mistake on my part, when setting the dfs root path I have used D:\DFSRoot instead of C:\DFSRoot and since the D:\ drive didn't exist on the local DC it was returning path not found.

Unsharing the failed Files share and using a valid path allowed the DFS namespace to be setup properly without issues.