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Removing orphan files

An orphan file is a file that exists in the target’s copy of the replication set data, but it does not exist in the source replication set data. An orphan file can be created when you delete a file contained in the source replication set while there is no Double-Take Availability connection. For example, if a connection was made and a mirror was completed and then the connection was stopped and a file was deleted on the source, an orphan file will exist on the target. Because the connection has been disconnected, the delete operation is not replicated to the target and the file is not deleted on the target. Additionally, orphan files may also exist if files were manually copied into or deleted from the location of the target’s copy of the replication set data.

You can configure orphan files to be moved or deleted automatically during a mirror, verify, or restore, or you can move or delete orphan files manually at any time. You can move or delete all orphan files on the target or only those orphan files that are older than a specified period of time. The results of orphan processing are maintained in the Double-Take Availability log on the target, including the number of moved/deleted orphan files, the directories, and the number of bytes.

Orphan file configuration is a per target option. All connections to the same target will have the same orphan file configuration.

If Double-Take Availability is configured to move orphan files, the Double-Take Availability log file will indicate that orphan files have been deleted even though they have actually been moved. This is a reporting issue only.

If delete orphans is enabled, carefully review any replication set rules that use wildcard definitions. If you have specified wildcards to be excluded from your replication set, files matching those wildcards will also be excluded from orphan file processing and will not be deleted from the target. However, if you have specified wildcards to be included in your replication, those files that fall outside the wildcard inclusion rule will be considered orphans and will be deleted from the target.

1. If you want to preview which files are identified as orphan files, right-click an established connection and select Remove Orphans, Preview. Check the log file on the target for the list of orphaned files.
2. If you want to remove orphan files manually, right-click an established connection and select Remove Orphans, Start.
3. If you want to stop the process after it has been started, right-click the connection and select Remove Orphans, Stop.
4. To configure orphan files for processing during a mirror, verify, or restore, use the following instructions.
1. Right-click the connection on the right pane of the Replication Console and select Connection Manager.

2. Select the Orphans tab.

   

3. Specify if you want to log the name of the orphan files to the Double-Take Availability log file on the target by marking Log Orphaned Files to Target Log.
4. By default, the orphan files feature is disabled. To enable it, mark Move/Delete Orphan Files.

5. Specify if you want to Delete Orphaned Files or Move Orphaned Files to a different location. If you select the move option, identify the location where these orphan files will be located.

   If you are moving files, make sure the directory you specify to move the files to is not included in the destination of the replication set data so that the orphan files are only moved once.

    

6. Specify if you want to Remove All Orphans or Remove Orphans not modified within the following time period. If you select the time-based option, only orphans older than the time you specify will be removed.
7. Click OK to save the settings.

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