Implementing 2003 FSRM quotas

This post provides information on implementing Windows Server 2003 FSRM quotas using the command-line dirquota.exe utility, creating a template and then applying that template to the filesystem using an autoquota. Example control files are provided to create the template, and a simple batch file to create a daily log file with quota notifications.

The first command below creates the soft 100MB quota template with three thresholds (85/99/150), and four notifications for those thresholds, two for email and one each for and command execution and event log entry. The second command creates an autoquota using the template on the specified remote server against the specified path. Note that in this example, the commands were run on a 64-bit physical server running MSCS, and the target server was a virtual cluster server (v01).

• dirquota template add /Remote:v01 /Template:Test_Quota /Limit:100mb /type:Soft /label:"Test Default Quota" /add-threshold:85 /add-notification:85,M,c:\admin\control\Test_Quota_Email.txt /add-threshold:99 /add-notification:99,M,c:\admin\control\Test_Quota_Email.txt /add-notification:99,C,c:\admin\control\Test_Quota_Command.txt /add-notification:99,E,c:\admin\control\Test_Quota_Event.txt /add-threshold:150 /add-notification:150,M,c:\admin\control\Test_Quota_Email.txt
• dirquota autoquota add /Remote:v01 /path:q:\folder1 /sourcetemplate:"Test_Quota"

Notes:

1. The use of 99% instead of 100% was intentional, as 100% is not a notification; it’s a limit, so the pre-defined variables are different. This is obvious in the subject of the email, where the ‘[Quota Threshold]’ variable isn’t resolved when it’s a 100% 'notification'.
2. The quota information is logged to \\p01\c$\logs\QuotaUsage_YYYYMMDD.log for 99% of quota usage, as well as sending an email to DiskUsageMonitor and logging an event on the cluster, and all quota information is available through the FSRM MMC snap-in.
3. Within a single email notification, an email can be sent to one or more administrators, and/or the person who took the limit over the threshold – the owner of the file. In the template below, emails will be sent to both users for all three thresholds, and administrators for the 150% notification. E-mail notifications will be limited to one per day for the same notification.
4. Any command can be run; in the example here a simple batch file is run that appends a log entry to a daily log file, providing an easy method to see quota alerts for each day.
5. The notifications aren’t triggered until first create, so if you apply quotas to existing data, the notifications won’t start appearing until new data is written.
6. A quirk with the 64-bit OS - creating the quota template only works with the 32-bit version of the dirquota.exe utility. If the physical server (p01 in the example above) were a 64-bit server, you would have to run the 32-bit dirquota.exe utility to create the template and autoquota (2003 enterprise R2 x64 SP1).

Configuration Files

Templates, quotas and autoquotas can all be created via command-line utilities. When creating templates with notifications, the information is supplied via control files. Example control files for running a command, logging an event, and sending an email are shown below.

Note the following global properties can be specified in each notification:

• Notification – m | e | c | r
• m - an e-mail notification
• e - an event log notification
• c - a command or script execution
• r - a report generation
• RunLimitInterval – The number of minutes to wait between sending notifications to save repeated unnecessary notifications. A setting of 0 indicates a notification will be sent on each trigger.

Test_Quota_Command.txt

Notification=c
Command=c:\windows\system32\cmd.exe
Arguments=/c c:\admin\scripts\logentry.bat "%Date%,%Time%,[Source Io Owner],[Quota Path],[Server],[Quota Limit MB] MB,[Quota Used MB] MB,[Quota Used Percent]"
MonitorCommand=Disable
Account=LocalService
LogResult=Enable
RunLimitInterval=0

Test_Quota_Event.txt

Notification=e
RunLimitInterval=1440
EventType=Warning
Message=Excessive usage by [Source Io Owner] on [Quota Path], shared on [Server]. Limit of [Quota Limit MB] MB, [Quota Used MB] MB in use ([Quota Used Percent]% of limit).

Test_Quota_Email.txt

Notification=m
RunLimitInterval=1440
To=[Source Io Owner Email]
From=FSRM@server.domain.com
ReplyTo=FSRM-DoNotReply@server.domain.com
Cc=DiskUsageMonitor@domain.com
Subject=[Quota Threshold]% quota threshold exceeded
Message=A file written by [Source Io Owner] has exceeded the [Quota Threshold]% quota threshold for the quota on [Quota Path] on server [Server]. \
\
The quota limit is [Quota Limit MB] MB, and [Quota Used MB] MB currently is in use ([Quota Used Percent]% of limit).\
\
\
\

Logging to File

I'm not sure why a method to append to a log file wasn't included in the GUI, but this batch file appends a one-line entry to a rolling log file:

:: LogEntry.bat

:: Write a log for quota alerts

::%Date%,%Time%,[Source Io Owner],[Quota Path],[Server],[Quota Limit MB] MB,[Quota Used MB] MB,[Quota Used Percent]%

Set AdminLog=C:\Logs

for /f "tokens=1-8 delims=/:. " %%i in ('echo %date%') do Set DateFlat=%%l%%k%%j
Set LogFile=%AdminLog%\QuotaUsage_%DateFlat%.log

Echo %~1 >> %LogFile%

References

2003 FSRM and NTFS Quotas compared
http://waynes-world-it.blogspot.com/2009/02/2003-fsrm-and-ntfs-quotas-compared.html

FSRM and NTFS Quotas in 2003 R2
http://waynes-world-it.blogspot.com/2008/06/fsrm-and-ntfs-quotas-in-2003-r2.html

Configuration files for notifications in File Server Resource Manager
http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/library/a4426339-5345-44d5-81b7-a35a703daaac1033.mspx?mfr=true

How to use File Server Resource Manager (FSRM) to configure the notification feature for File Screening Management in Windows Server 2003 R2
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926092

File Server Resource Manager Protocol Specification
http://download.microsoft.com/download/9/5/E/95EF66AF-9026-4BB0-A41D-A4F81802D92C/%5BMS-FSRM%5D.pdf

Dirquota admin options
http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/library/14c2a340-54cf-46fa-8b0d-beed6c220c671033.mspx?mfr=true

LocalService Account
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms684188(VS.85).aspx

Configuration files for notifications in File Server Resource Manager
http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/library/a4426339-5345-44d5-81b7-a35a703daaac1033.mspx?mfr=true

Create an auto quota
http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsServer/en/library/0de5535e-ef25-4ffa-a724-155573044ddc1033.mspx

Dirquota autoquota
http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsServer2008/en/library/2809c575-8d93-47cb-8bfc-a427da83cc2a1033.mspx

File Services

http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/library/6e5bb377-db25-4603-b1ff-ecc4f6c29b691033.mspx?mfr=true

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