Administering FSx for Windows file systems

Amazon FSx provides a wide range of administrative capabilities that help you easily manage and grow your Amazon FSx for Windows File Server file systems to meet changing workload and user requirements, and your organizations regulatory and compliance needs. The following is a list of some of the file system configurations that you can manage using the AWS Management Console, AWS CLI and API, the Amazon FSx CLI for remote management on PowerShell, and native Microsoft Windows Server graphical interfaces.

The following sections provide information about the file system administrative features and setting that are available to you. We've included guidance to help you determine which options are best for your situation, and best practices where applicable.

Amazon FSx file system status

You can view the status of an Amazon FSx file system by using the Amazon FSx console, the AWS CLI command describe-file-systems, or the API operation DescribeFileSystems.

Using the Amazon FSx CLI for PowerShell

This chapter describes how to access the Amazon FSx CLI for remote management on PowerShell to perform file system administrative tasks for FSx for Windows file systems. You can also use the Microsoft Windows–native graphical user interface (GUI) to perform some administrative tasks.

The Amazon FSx CLI for remote management on PowerShell enables file system administration for users in the file system administrators group. To start a remote PowerShell session on your FSx for Windows File Server file system, you first need to meet the following prerequisites:

The Amazon FSx CLI for remote management on PowerShell uses the following security features:

You have two options to run remote management CLI commands on your Amazon FSx file system:

If you want to set and pass variables as parameters to the remote management command, you will need to use Invoke-Command.

You need to use the file system's Windows Remote PowerShell Endpoint to access the Remote PowerShell. The remote administration endpoint has the format of amznfsxctlyaa1k.ActiveDirectory-DNS-name, for example, amznfsxctlyaa1k.corp.example.com. You can find the endpoint name by using the AWS Management Console in the File system details page on the Network & security tab. Use the AWS CLI describe-file-systems command to view the RemoteAdministrationEndpoint property returned in the response.

You can use the Get-Command cmdlet to retrieve information about the cmdlets, functions, and aliases available in PowerShell. For more information, see the Microsoft Get-Command documentation.

You can also run Amazon FSx CLI for remote management CLI on PowerShell commands on your file system using the Invoke-Command cmdlet, using the following syntax:

PS C:\Users\delegateadmin> Invoke-Command -ComputerName amznfsxctlyaa1k.corp.example.com -ConfigurationName FSxRemoteAdmin -scriptblock { fsx-command}

For instructions on how to start a long-lived Remote PowerShell session on your FSx for Windows File Server files system, see Starting an Amazon FSx remote PowerShell session

File system maintenance window

Amazon FSx for Windows File Server performs routine software patching for the Microsoft Windows Server software that it manages. The maintenance window specifies the day of the week and the time of day when this maintenance process begins. You can specify the start period of the maintenance window during file system creation. If you do not specify one, a 30-minute default maintenance start window is assigned. The duration of the maintenance window depends on multiple factors, including the scope of the maintenance, and the process of synchronizing any file read and write activity that occurs during maintenance between the primary and secondary servers for Multi-AZ file systems. For more information, see Failing over process.

FSx for Windows File Server lets you adjust the start time of your maintenance window to accommodate your workload and operational requirements. You can move the start time of your maintenance window as frequently as required, provided that a maintenance window start time is scheduled at least once every 14 days. If a patch is released and you haven’t scheduled a maintenance window within 14 days, FSx for Windows File Server proceeds with maintenance on the file system to ensure its security and reliability. For more information about how to adjust the start time of your file system's maintenance window, see Changing the weekly maintenance window.

While patching is in progress, expect your Single-AZ file systems to be unavailable, typically for less than 20 minutes. Multi-AZ file systems remain available and automatically fail over and fail back between the preferred and the standby file servers. For more information, see Failing over process. Because patching for Multi-AZ file systems involves failing over and failing back between the file servers, any file read and write activity occuring during this time must be synchronized between the preferred and the standby file servers. To reduce patching time, we recommend scheduling your maintenance window during idle periods when there's minimal load on your file system.