First things first

Clone this repository with

git clone --branch windrbd-1.2 --recursive https://github.com/LINBIT/windrbd.git

Be sure to specify --recursive else you get an incomplete checkout.

To build (within a docker container containing build dependencies), do (on a Linux box):

make pull-docker && make

To install on Windows run the generated install-windrbd-.exe (yes on a Windows box, tough ReactOS should also work, see make help). The installer will be placed in the inno-setup subdirectory of your checked out WinDRBD repo.

For an unattended install (without having to click something or windows popping up) run the installer as follows (replace the EXE file's name):

install-windrbd-1.2.0-rc15-drbd-9.2-x86_64.exe /verysilent

This installation mode is suitable for running from batch scripts or also from within a CygWin ssh session.

To put your Windows box into test mode (required on 64-bit Microsoft Windows for loading the driver), do

bcdedit /set TESTSIGNING ON

and reboot. You now can load the driver you just built.

If you need installable binaries with a signed driver or need assistance using WinDRBD please talk to the project's sponsor LINBIT.

What is WinDRBD?

WinDRBD is a port of Linbit's Distributed Replicated Block Device (DRBD) Linux driver to Microsoft Windows. It is based on the original DRBD sources and is also wire compatible to the Linux version so you can have cross platform replication.

DRBD devices are exported as SCSI disks. As soon as a DRBD resource becomes primary, the disk can be partitioned and formatted with the standard Windows tools (diskpart, partition editor in control panel, powershell).

Quickstart

The DRBD config files can be found in following folder:

C:\windrbd\etc\drbd.d

The C:\windrbd folder can be configured at installation time (use this for example if your C: drive is read only).

Then with

drbdadm up <resource-name>

you can bring your DRBD resource up. To make it primary (and thereby enable Windows to access it) do:

drbdadm primary <resource-name>

Resources

Please refer to the DRBD Users guide for more information of how to configure and administrate DRBD. Most drbdadm commands should work exactly like with the Linux version of DRBD.

There is a WinDRBD specific tech guide which explains how to prepare two Windows Server 2016 nodes for use with WinDRBD at: https://linbit.com/user-guides-and-product-documentation/

Also there are some newer (beginning 2023) articles on WinDRBD at: https://kb.linbit.com

Current limitations

The current 1.2 branch has following restrictions:

• Auto-promote is not supported.

• No read access when there are only secondaries.

• Booting from a WinDRBD disk is not possible.

Logging

To view the log file of the WinDRBD driver, go to

C:\windrbd\windrbd-kernel.log

Make sure that the windrbdlog service is running.

There is also a logfile written by the installer located in the %TEMP% directory. It should be consulted when something with the installation goes wrong.

Version history

• 0.1 (Oct 25, 2017): Basic I/O works with separate DRBD device.
• 0.2 (Nov 13, 2017): Creation and basic usage of NT filesystem on DRBD device works.
• 0.2.1 (Nov 16, 2017): Patch bootsector to hide NTFS on backing device from NTFS driver.
• 0.3.0 (Dec 20, 2017): Connection from windrbd to Linux DRBD works.
• 0.3.1 (Dec 20, 2017): Fixed a blue screen introduced with 0.3.0
• 0.3.2 (Dec 21, 2017): Implemented device open and close methods.
• 0.3.3 (Dec 26, 2017): Connection from Linux DRBD to windrbd also works.
• 0.3.4 (Jan 05, 2018): Fixed several blue screens.
• 0.3.5 (Jan 09, 2018): Fixed additional blue screen when connected.
• 0.3.6 (Jan 09, 2018): Updated version of DRBD this is based on.
• 0.3.7 (Jan 11, 2018): Local I/O works again.
• 0.4.0 (Jan 12, 2018): Removed lots of legacy code.
• 0.4.1 (Jan 19, 2018): Sync is almost working.
• 0.4.2 (Jan 22, 2018): Support for I/O to/from backing device with more than 32 pages (needed to split requests).
• 0.4.3 (Jan 26, 2018): Fixed a blue screen.
• 0.4.4 (Jan 27, 2018): Fixed a blue screen on system shutdown.
• 0.4.5 (Jan 29, 2018): Fixed a data integrity error on sync
• 0.4.6 (Feb 06, 2018): supend-io and resume-io should work (quorum not)
• 0.4.7 (Feb 07, 2018): Fixed a Windows 10 blue screen when accessing the windrbd device.
• 0.4.8 (Feb 15, 2018): Refuse to attach to a backing device containing a (known) file system.
• 0.4.9 (Feb 16, 2018): Fixed a blue screen introduced in last commit.
• 0.5.0 (Feb 27, 2018): Beta 1
• 0.5.1 (Mar 14, 2018): Implemented flushing in windrbd device.
• 0.5.2 (Mar 20, 2018): Auto-hide filesystem on attach (user space changes only).
• 0.5.3 (Mar 28, 2018): Assign drive letter from drbd.conf
• 0.5.4 (Mar 28, 2018): Fixed blue screen on drbdadm down and no mount point.
• 0.6.0 (Mar 29, 2018): Beta 2: Usability improvements.
• 0.6.1 (Apr 17, 2018): Use Mountmanager to create Symlinks.
• 0.6.2 (Apr 17, 2018): Fixed reference count error on drbdadm down introduced with last release.
• 0.6.3 (Apr 24, 2018): Fixed blue screen on writing while connected.
• 0.6.4 (May 08, 2018): Fixed very slow sync performance problem (and upgraded to DRBD 9.0.13).
• 0.6.5 (May 09, 2018): Fixed memleaks introduced with last release.
• 0.6.6 (May 11, 2018): Upgraded to DRBD 9.0.14, solving broken split brain handling.
• 0.6.7 (May 14, 2018): Fixed pachting bootsector. Patch is not propagated to peers.
• 0.7.0 (May 15, 2018): Beta 3: Stability fixes
• 0.7.1 (May 24, 2018): Notify Windows explorer about new disk drive(s) (user space only)
• 0.7.2 (May 28, 2018): Windows device only exists while primary.
• 0.7.3 (Jun 15, 2018): Networking fixes
• 0.7.4 (Jun 19, 2018): Error handling on backing device (with fault injection)
• 0.8.0 (Jul 06, 2018): Beta 4: First public beta
• 0.8.1 (Jul 10, 2018): Handling unplugging USB stick should work now.
• 0.8.2 (Jul 31, 2018): Split WinDRBD requests into 1Meg pieces for DRBD
• 0.8.3 (Aug 01, 2018): Fixed BSOD requests > 1Meg and backing dev failure.
• 0.8.4 (Aug 02, 2018): Performance: do not split into 4K requests.
• 0.8.5 (Aug 15, 2018): Fault injection framework, fixed permissions
• 0.8.6 (Aug 27, 2018): Kernel interface now based on ioctl() instead of TCP/IP
• 0.8.7 (Sep 03, 2018): User mode helpers, do not load driver on boot
• 0.8.8 (Sep 17, 2018): kmalloc() debugger. For driver unload to work someday.
• 0.8.9 (Sep 27, 2018): Uninstall works (but needs reboot), switched to inno-setup for installation.
• 0.8.10 (Oct 10,2018): Autostarting user mode helper and log server as Windows Services.
• 0.8.11 (Oct 12,2018): Report kernel driver versions over ioctl's
• 0.8.12 (Oct 17,2018): Upgraded DRBD to 9.0.15
• 0.8.13 (Oct 30,2018): Fixed memory leak in I/O path
• 0.8.14 (Nov 02,2018): Upgraded DRBD to 9.0.16
• 0.8.15 (Nov 13,2018): Sendbuffer limit, fixed BSOD on I/O while connected
• 0.8.16 (Nov 14,2018): Some last fixes to installer
• 0.8.17 (Nov 16,2018): Fixed sync stall bug
• 0.8.18 (Nov 21,2018): Disallow driver unload when there are resources up
• 0.8.19 (Nov 29,2018): Tech guide
• 0.9.0 (Dec 03, 2018): Public beta
• 0.9.1 (Dec 04, 2018): Fixed a buffer overflow in user space utility
• 0.9.2 (Apr 10, 2019): DRBD 9.0.17, support for n > 2 nodes
• 0.10.0 (Oct 15, 2019): Use WinDRBD device as system root ("C:") (without local backing storage and in VMs only).
• 0.10.1 (Nov 6, 2019): Data devices and Disk devices work again.
• 0.10.2 (Nov 14,2019): iPXE passes network address to kernel: no need for static IP and StartType registry patch for booting.
• 0.10.3 (Nov 18,2019): Fixed logging (IP address was hardcoded)
• 0.10.4 (Jan 31,2020): Stability fixes
• 0.10.5 (Mar 03,2020): Key/Value based boot config
• 0.10.6 (Apr 1, 2020): Upgraded DRBD to 9.0.22
• 0.10.7 (May 6, 2020): Online verify, drbdadm status as non-admin and other useful mini-features (see WHATSNEW.md).
• 1.0.0-rc1 (Jul 3, 2020): Stability fixes
• 1.0.0-rc2 (Jul 30, 2020): Fixed fio BSOD
• 1.0.0-rc3 (Aug 4, 2020): Fixed BSOD on upgrade
• 1.0.0-rc4 (Aug 5, 2020): Fixed boot failure introduced with 1.0.0-rc2
• 1.0.0-rc5 (Sep 14, 2020): Reengineered workqueues, stability fixes.
• 1.0.0-rc6 (Oct 8, 2020): Fixed workqueues and ko-count mechanism
• 1.0.0-rc7 (Oct 14, 2020): Upgrade to DRBD 9.0.25
• 1.0.0-rc8 (Nov 6, 2020): Fixed many lockups, fixed 2TB limit
• 1.0.0-rc9 (Dec 11, 2020): Optimized SyncTarget, many fixes when becoming secondary and fixed BSOD on disconnect while sync
• 1.0.0-rc10 (Feb 24, 2021): Optimized secondary writes, fixed wait_event and completions (they should be non-interruptible)
• 1.0.0-rc11 (Apr 26, 2021): Upgrade to DRBD 9.0.28, Fixed mod_timer causing system hang on disconnect
• 1.0.0-rc12 (May 17, 2021): Fixed 3 stability issues, drbd utils support relocation. Now ran 5 days in disconnect/connect loop without issues.
• 1.0.0-rc13 (Aug 2, 2021): Upgrade to DRBD 9.0.29, fixed most issues found by driver verifier.
• 1.0.0-rc14 (Sep 14, 2021): Event log, config key, bundle sed and bash
• 1.0.0-rc15 (Sep 23, 2021): Installer prompts for install paths.
• 1.0.0-rc16 (Sep 30, 2021): Fixed a bug that caused volumes with size 1-2 TB not to work properly.
• 1.0.0-rc17 (Oct 22, 2021): Online resize, no reboot on upgrade/uninstall and many other improvements (see WHATSNEW.md)
• 1.0.0-rc18 (Nov 5, 2021): Installer and event log BSOD fixes
• 1.0.0-rc19 (Jan 12, 2022): Fixed sync BSOD and hard network shutdown BSOD
• 1.0.0-rc20 (Jan 25, 2022): Upgrade to DRBD 9.0.32, Fixed invalid page chain bug and some memory leaks.
• 1.0.0-rc21 (Feb 3, 2022): Do not generate a new current UUID while IO is frozen
• 1.0.0 (Feb 4, 2022): Production ready release.
• 1.0.1 (Feb 17, 2022): No timeout for user mode helpers, minor JSON fix
• 1.0.2 (Mar 28, 2022): Do not fill log file when drbdadm status is run periodically.
• 1.1.0-rc1 (May 20, 2022): Secure boot, fix most HLK test failures, updated cygwin binaries
• 1.1.0-rc2 (Aug 17, 2022): Some fixes, improve sync source speed
• 1.1.0-rc3 (Sep 9, 2022): Fixed c-max-rate, negotiating stuckness, existing NTFS data
• 1.1.0-rc4 (Sep 27, 2022): Quit drbdsetup events2 on driver unload, fixed remove lock BSOD
• 1.1.0-rc5 (Oct 19, 2022): drbdadm adjust does not detach, drbdsetup hang fix
• 1.1.0 (Oct 25, 2022): SecureBoot support, many smaller fixes
• 1.1.1 (Oct 28, 2022): Release for upgrading from 1.1.0 without official signature
• 1.1.2 (Nov 3, 2022): Fixed a BSOD when REMOVE_DEVICE timed out
• 1.1.3 (Nov 11, 2022): Show driver unload messages, fix BSOD on unsuccessful driver update
• 1.1.4-rc1 (Dec 7, 2022): Virtual partition table for existing NTFS data partitions
• 1.1.4 (Jan 23, 2023): Drive letter in config ignored, fixed a memory leak, virtual partition tables
• 1.1.5 (Jan 31, 2023): Fixed bug with large disks (>2TB) introduced with 1.1.4
• 1.1.6 (Feb 14, 2023): Fixed ReFS support, install from Windows Service, updated cygwin binaries
• 1.1.7 (Jun 27, 2023): Fixed BSOD on low memory, fixed performance bug, poll_hup support for utils
• 1.1.8 (Nov 21, 2023): backing dev I/O cork/uncork, resize fix, sync stall fix and many others
• 1.1.9 (Jan 15, 2024): Disk timeout, fix for drbdadm adjust network config BSOD
• 1.1.10 (Feb 21, 2024): Memory pressure fixes, drbdadm primary hang fix
• 1.1.11 (Mar 26, 2024): update cygwin DLL 3.4.5 -> 3.4.10
• 1.1.12 (Apr 15, 2024): several fixes (in DRBD) related to fencing
• 1.1.13 (Apr 30, 2024): update cygwin DLL 3.4.10 -> 3.5.3
• 1.1.14 (May 14, 2024): Fix for drbdadm create-md, downgrade cygwin DLL 3.5.3 -> 3.4.10
• 1.1.15 (May 27, 2024): Kernel stacks locked in memory fixing a rare BSOD
• 1.1.16 (June 26, 2024): Initialize bios_event also for upper block devices
• 1.1.17 (July 24, 2024): Disk timeout now handled by WinDRBD (not DRBD)
• 1.1.18 (July 25, 2024): Cygwin console close patch: drbdadm shouldn't hang on exiting
• 1.1.19 (August 5, 2024): Disabled backing device I/O corking again
• 1.1.20 (April 1, 2025): Fixed adding volumes while connected
• 1.2.0-rc1 (Aug 14, 2023): Compile with gcc. Don't use 1.2.0-rc's in production.
• 1.2.0-rc2 (Sep 12, 2023): Build everything within a docker container (WinDRBD, drbd-utils, ...)
• 1.2.0-rc3 (Sep 20, 2023): Fix for BSOD on Primary, ReactOS support
• 1.2.0-rc4 (May 22, 2024): DRBD with minimal patches compiles
• 1.2.0-rc5 (Jul 09, 2024): DRBD 9.1 (with minimal patches) compiles
• 1.2.0-rc6 (Oct 01, 2024): Lots of stability fixes (full sync, primary/secondary, application I/O, ...)
• 1.2.0-rc7 (Feb 03, 2025): DRBD 9.0, 9.1 and 9.2 support. First public beta of 1.2 branch.
• 1.2.0-rc8 (Mar 05, 2025): Connection problems in 3 node setups fixed.
• 1.2.0-rc9 (Mar 26, 2025): DRBD 9.2.13
• 1.2.0-rc10 (Apr 9, 2025): Windows Server 2003 32-bit support.
• 1.2.0-rc11 (Apr 18, 2025): NETIO.SYS fixes
• 1.2.0-rc12 (Apr 23, 2025): Even more NETIO.SYS fixes, debug symbols for NETIO.SYS
• 1.2.0-rc13 (May 8, 2025): Hyper-V physical disk, listen backlog, fixed online resize, removed netlink mutex
• 1.2.0-rc14 (May 22, 2025): KMALLOC_DEBUG optional, several fixes
• 1.2.0-rc15 (Jun 4, 2025): DRBD 9.2.14 support, fixes in networking and um helper
• 1.2.0 (Jun 17, 2025): Installer fixes, no SEH