How to restore missing SYSVOL folder?

Issue:

SYSVOL folder is missing on domain controllers (DC).

About this issue:

Encountering a missing SYSVOL share on a domain controller is a common issue. You might also face additional conditions/symptoms related to this issue such as finding an empty SYSVOL folder or a faulty DFS replication service in the upstream domain controller. Typically, this issue often occurs in a recently promoted domain controller and in replica domain controllers in an existing domain.

Cause of this issue:

The most common cause of this issue is the faulty state of the source (upstream) domain controller. This happens when replication comes to a halt in the upstream servers due to a dirty shutdown.

Troubleshooting this issue:

This section of the article lists and explains some of the common troubleshooting tips to resolve this issue.

a) Check for NTDS connection objects in the DS of replication partners.

To do this, navigate to the Sites and Services snap-in and assess the connection objects between the faulty machine and the rest of the working domain controllers. Note that both the machines should have an inbound connection object with each other for the replication to be successful. To know more about how each domain controller is involved in intra-domain connection objects, use the Connect to Domain Controller... option in Active Directory Sites and Services.

b) Check if the new and existing domain controllers in the domain are replicating with each other.

Use Repadmin.exe to diagnose AD replication issues and verify if the replication is occurring properly between the domain controllers in the same domain within the scheduled replication interval. Note that, by default, the replication interval for the DCs in the same site is 5 minutes and for those in different sites, it is 3 hours.

c) Check if the Enterprise Domain Controllers group has Access this computer from network right granted in the default domain controllers' policy.

When you run dcpromo.exe, replication occurs according to the credentials previously specified in the Active Directory Installation Wizard. Hence the Enterprise Domain Controllers group has to have sufficient rights required to process it. To verify this, open the DC's application log and search for the respective entry. If the issue persists, you can run a detailed verification instead. To do that, simply run a security configuration analysis in the Basicdc.inf template.

d) Check if every domain controller can ping the fully qualified computer names of the computers in the replica set.

To do this, first, ping the fully qualified computer name of all domain controllers in the domain. Then, verify if the address returned is the same as the IP address returned by running the ipconfig command in the replica set partner.

For more information and to know about other troubleshooting tips, refer to this Microsoft article.

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