I've read Ned Pyle's great article, which I believe will fix this problem, but one of the steps doesn't work. Here is what is happening:
I've got a W2K12 server had stopped replicating from a certain source server about 3 months ago and no one noticed, so we got into a situation where we are getting event 4012 "This server has been disconnected from other partners for 104 days, which is longer that the time allowed by the MaxOfflineTimeInDays parameter (60). DFS Replication considers the data in this folder to be stale, and this server will not replicate the folder until this error is corrected."
Ned's procedure looks like the fix, but one of the steps doesn't work. When I got to step #8, " In DFSMGMT.MSC, "Enable" the replication again on the affected replicated folders for that server," it won't let me continue without creating a new share, which was not there originally.
Ned's article: http://blogs.technet.com/b/askds/archive/2009/11/18/implementing-content-freshness-protection-in-dfsr.aspx
Instead of just allowing me to "Enable" the server again, it says "These replicated folders must be shared on the new member." On this server, the parent folder is shared, and the subfolders are individually replicated, so I do not want to create a share at the replicated folder level. But the DFS Management console is forcing me to create the share - if I try to skip creating it, the OK button is grayed out, and there is no other option.
How do I get around this? I have about 25 other pairs to re-enable as well, which all live under the one share. I would like to avoid rebuilding this replication structure, because I have several other servers at other locations successfully replicating to this server.
Thanks,
Dan
Dan