Merge pull request #225241 from sindamnataraj/patch-1

Update file sync release notes for v16

Author: v-dirichards

articles/storage/file-sync/file-sync-release-notes.md

@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ The following Azure File Sync agent versions are supported:
 
 | Milestone | Agent version number | Release date | Status |
 |----|----------------------|--------------|------------------|
+| V16.0 Release - [KB5013877](https://support.microsoft.com/topic/ffdc8fe2-c653-43c8-8b47-0865267fd520)| 16.0.0.0 | January 30, 2023 | Supported - Flighting |
 | V15.2 Release - [KB5013875](https://support.microsoft.com/topic/9159eee2-3d16-4523-ade4-1bac78469280)| 15.2.0.0 | November 21, 2022 | Supported |
 | V15.1 Release - [KB5003883](https://support.microsoft.com/topic/45761295-d49a-431e-98ec-4fb3329b0544)| 15.1.0.0 | September 19, 2022 | Supported |
 | V15 Release - [KB5003882](https://support.microsoft.com/topic/2f93053f-869b-4782-a832-e3c772a64a2d)| 15.0.0.0 | March 30, 2022 | Supported |
@@ -47,6 +48,82 @@ The following Azure File Sync agent versions have expired and are no longer supp
 ### Azure File Sync agent update policy
 [!INCLUDE [storage-sync-files-agent-update-policy](../../../includes/storage-sync-files-agent-update-policy.md)]
 
+## Agent version 16.0.0.0
+The following release notes are for version 16.0.0.0 of the Azure File Sync agent (released January 30, 2023).
+
+### Improvements and issues that are fixed
+- Improved Azure File Sync service availability
+	- Azure File Sync is now a zone-redundant service which means an outage in a zone has limited impact while improving the service resiliency to minimize customer impact. To fully leverage this improvement, configure your storage accounts to use zone-redundant storage (ZRS) or Geo-zone redundant storage (GZRS) replication. To learn more about different redundancy options for your storage accounts, see: [Azure Storage redundancy](../common/storage-redundancy.md).
+	> [!Note]
+	> Azure File Sync is zone-redundant in all regions that [support zones](../../reliability/availability-zones-service-support.md#azure-regions-with-availability-zone-support) except US Gov Virginia.
+
+- Sync upload performance improvements
+	- Sync upload performance has been improved. This improvement will mainly benefit file share migrations (initial upload) and high churn events on the server in which a large number of files need to be uploaded. 
+ 
+- Immediately run server change enumeration to detect files changes that were missed on the server
+	- Azure File Sync uses the [Windows USN journal](/windows/win32/fileio/change-journals) feature on Windows Server to immediately detect files that were changed and upload them to the Azure file share. If files changed are missed due to journal wrap or other issues, the files will not sync to the Azure file share until the changes are detected. Azure File Sync has a server change enumeration job that runs every 24 hours on the server endpoint path to detect changes that were missed by the USN journal. If you don't want to wait until the next server change enumeration job runs, you can now use the Invoke-StorageSyncServerChangeDetection PowerShell cmdlet to immediately run server change enumeration on a server endpoint path.
+		
+		To immediately run server change enumeration on a server endpoint path, run the following PowerShell commands:
+		```powershell
+		Import-Module "C:\Program Files\Azure\StorageSyncAgent\StorageSync.Management.ServerCmdlets.dll"
+		Invoke-StorageSyncServerChangeDetection -ServerEndpointPath <path>
+		```
+	> [!Note]
+	> By default, the server change enumeration scan will only check the modified timestamp. To perform a deeper check, use the -DeepScan parameter.
+
+- Miscellaneous reliability and telemetry improvements for cloud tiering and sync
+
+### Evaluation Tool
+Before deploying Azure File Sync, you should evaluate whether it is compatible with your system using the Azure File Sync evaluation tool. This tool is an Azure PowerShell cmdlet that checks for potential issues with your file system and dataset, such as unsupported characters or an unsupported OS version. For installation and usage instructions, see [Evaluation Tool](file-sync-planning.md#evaluation-cmdlet) section in the planning guide. 
+
+### Agent installation and server configuration
+For more information on how to install and configure the Azure File Sync agent with Windows Server, see [Planning for an Azure File Sync deployment](file-sync-planning.md) and [How to deploy Azure File Sync](file-sync-deployment-guide.md).
+
+- The agent installation package must be installed with elevated (admin) permissions.
+- The agent is not supported on Nano Server deployment option.
+- The agent is supported only on Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012 R2, and Windows Server 2022.
+- The agent requires at least 2 GiB of memory. If the server is running in a virtual machine with dynamic memory enabled, the VM should be configured with a minimum 2048 MiB of memory. See [Recommended system resources](file-sync-planning.md#recommended-system-resources) for more information.
+- The Storage Sync Agent (FileSyncSvc) service does not support server endpoints located on a volume that has the system volume information (SVI) directory compressed. This configuration will lead to unexpected results.
+
+### Interoperability
+- Antivirus, backup, and other applications that access tiered files can cause undesirable recall unless they respect the offline attribute and skip reading the content of those files. For more information, see [Troubleshoot Azure File Sync](file-sync-troubleshoot.md).
+- File Server Resource Manager (FSRM) file screens can cause endless sync failures when files are blocked because of the file screen.
+- Running sysprep on a server that has the Azure File Sync agent installed is not supported and can lead to unexpected results. The Azure File Sync agent should be installed after deploying the server image and completing sysprep mini-setup.
+
+### Sync limitations
+The following items don't sync, but the rest of the system continues to operate normally:
+- Files with unsupported characters. See [Troubleshooting guide](file-sync-troubleshoot-sync-errors.md#handling-unsupported-characters) for list of unsupported characters.
+- Files or directories that end with a period.
+- Paths that are longer than 2,048 characters.
+- The system access control list (SACL) portion of a security descriptor that's used for auditing.
+- Extended attributes.
+- Alternate data streams.
+- Reparse points.
+- Hard links.
+- Compression (if it's set on a server file) isn't preserved when changes sync to that file from other endpoints.
+- Any file that's encrypted with EFS (or other user mode encryption) that prevents the service from reading the data.
+
+    > [!Note]  
+    > Azure File Sync always encrypts data in transit. Data is always encrypted at rest in Azure.
+ 
+### Server endpoint
+- A server endpoint can be created only on an NTFS volume. ReFS, FAT, FAT32, and other file systems aren't currently supported by Azure File Sync.
+- Cloud tiering is not supported on the system volume. To create a server endpoint on the system volume, disable cloud tiering when creating the server endpoint.
+- Failover Clustering is supported only with clustered disks, but not with Cluster Shared Volumes (CSVs).
+- A server endpoint can't be nested. It can coexist on the same volume in parallel with another endpoint.
+- Do not store an OS or application paging file within a server endpoint location.
+
+### Cloud endpoint
+- Azure File Sync supports making changes to the Azure file share directly. However, any changes made on the Azure file share first need to be discovered by an Azure File Sync change detection job. A change detection job is initiated for a cloud endpoint once every 24 hours. To immediately sync files that are changed in the Azure file share, the [Invoke-AzStorageSyncChangeDetection](/powershell/module/az.storagesync/invoke-azstoragesyncchangedetection) PowerShell cmdlet can be used to manually initiate the detection of changes in the Azure file share.
+- The storage sync service and/or storage account can be moved to a different resource group, subscription, or Azure AD tenant. After the storage sync service or storage account is moved, you need to give the Microsoft.StorageSync application access to the storage account (see [Ensure Azure File Sync has access to the storage account](file-sync-troubleshoot-sync-errors.md?tabs=portal1%252cportal#troubleshoot-rbac)).
+
+    > [!Note]  
+    > When creating the cloud endpoint, the storage sync service and storage account must be in the same Azure AD tenant. Once the cloud endpoint is created, the storage sync service and storage account can be moved to different Azure AD tenants.
+
+### Cloud tiering
+- If a tiered file is copied to another location by using Robocopy, the resulting file isn't tiered. The offline attribute might be set because Robocopy incorrectly includes that attribute in copy operations.
+- When copying files using robocopy, use the /MIR option to preserve file timestamps. This will ensure older files are tiered sooner than recently accessed files.
+
 ## Agent version 15.2.0.0
 The following release notes are for version 15.2.0.0 of the Azure File Sync agent released November 21, 2022. These notes are in addition to the release notes listed for version 15.0.0.0.
 

includes/storage-sync-files-agent-update-policy.md

@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ There are five approved and tested ways to install the Azure File Sync agent upd
 3. **Use AfsUpdater.exe to download and install agent updates.**  
     The AfsUpdater.exe is located in the agent installation directory. Double-click the executable to download and install agent updates. 
 4. **Patch an existing Azure File Sync agent by using a Microsoft Update patch file, or a .msp executable. The latest Azure File Sync update package can be downloaded from the [Microsoft Update Catalog](https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=Azure%20File%20Sync).**  
-    Running a .msp executable will upgrade your Azure File Sync installation with the same method used automatically by Microsoft Update in the previous upgrade path. Applying a Microsoft Update patch will perform an in-place upgrade of an Azure File Sync installation.
+    Running an .msp executable will upgrade your Azure File Sync installation with the same method used automatically by Microsoft Update in the previous upgrade path. Applying a Microsoft Update patch will perform an in-place upgrade of an Azure File Sync installation.
 5. **Download the newest Azure File Sync agent installer from the [Microsoft Download Center](https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=858257).**  
     To upgrade an existing Azure File Sync agent installation, uninstall the older version and then install the latest version from the downloaded installer. The server registration, sync groups, and any other settings are maintained by the Azure File Sync installer.
 
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ Azure File Sync is a cloud service, which continuously introduces new features a
 - Major agent versions are supported for at least six months from the date of initial release.
 - We guarantee there is an overlap of at least three months between the support of major agent versions. 
 - Warnings are issued for registered servers using a soon-to-be expired agent at least three months prior to expiration. You can check if a registered server is using an older version of the agent under the registered servers section of a Storage Sync Service.
-- The lifetime of a minor agent version is bound to the associated major version. For example, when agent version 12.0.0.0 is set to expire, agent versions 12.\*.\*.\* will all be set to expire together.
+- The lifetime of a minor agent version is bound to the associated major version. For example, when agent version 14.0.0.0 is set to expire, agent versions 14.\*.\*.\* will all be set to expire together.
 
 > [!Note]
 > Installing an agent version with an expiration warning will display a warning but succeed. Attempting to install or connect with an expired agent version is not supported and will be blocked.