Azure File Sync Troubleshooting

Verify the following:

• Connectivity: Ensure the Azure File Sync agent on your server has internet access and can reach Azure endpoints. Check firewall rules and proxy settings.
• Agent Status: Open the "Azure File Sync" console on your server. Check if the agent is registered and healthy. Look for any error messages.
• Service Health: Check the Azure Service Health dashboard for any ongoing incidents related to Azure File Sync.
• Event Viewer: Examine the Azure File Sync operational logs in the Event Viewer (Applications and Services Logs -> Microsoft -> AzureStorageSync -> Agent). Look for error codes or specific file path issues.
• Path Length and Characters: Ensure file and folder paths adhere to Azure Files limits (maximum path length of 2048 characters) and do not contain invalid characters.
• File Locks: Files that are open or locked by other applications may not sync. Try closing the application or waiting for the lock to be released.
• Permissions: Ensure the account running the Azure File Sync agent service has appropriate read/write permissions on the local server paths and the Azure File Share.

If issues persist, consider restarting the Azure File Sync agent service.

Conflicts typically occur when a file is modified on both the server endpoint and the cloud endpoint (Azure File Share) before the sync can complete. Azure File Sync creates conflict files with a .conf. suffix.

• Locate the conflict files.
• Manually resolve the conflicts by comparing the versions and deciding which version to keep.
• Delete the .conf. file once the conflict is resolved and the correct version is in place.

• Network Bandwidth: Assess the available upload and download bandwidth between your server and Azure.
• Server Resources: Monitor CPU, memory, and disk I/O on the server hosting the Azure File Sync agent. Insufficient resources can bottleneck sync performance.
• Throughput Limits: Azure Files has limits on IOPS and bandwidth. For higher performance, consider Azure Files Premium tier.
• Number of Files: Syncing a very large number of small files can be less efficient.
• Background Tasks: Other applications or processes on the server might be consuming significant resources, impacting sync performance.

• Azure Credentials: Ensure you are using valid Azure credentials with the necessary permissions to register the agent.
• Network Restrictions: Verify that the server can reach the required Azure File Sync management endpoints.
• Firewall and Proxy: Check if firewalls or proxy servers are blocking communication.

• Tiering Policy: Review your cloud tiering policy settings in the Azure portal. Ensure the thresholds (e.g., "Minutes since last access") are configured correctly.
• Free Space on Server Endpoint: Cloud tiering requires a minimum amount of free space on the server endpoint to store frequently accessed files locally. Check your server endpoint's free disk space.
• File Access: Files are tiered based on their last access time. If files are constantly being accessed, they won't be tiered.
• Agent Health: Ensure the Azure File Sync agent is running and healthy.

Accessing tiered files requires rehydrating them from Azure Files over the network. This will naturally be slower than accessing locally cached files.

• Network Latency: High latency between the server and Azure can impact rehydration speed.
• Azure File Share Performance: The performance tier of your Azure File Share can affect rehydration speed.
• Increase Cache Size: If possible, increase the disk space allocated for the Azure File Sync cache on your server to store more frequently accessed files locally.