Enabling FileFly Stub monitoring on version 3.0 and above

File deletion via FileFly on destination storage only happens when a scrub policy is run.

The scrub policy is an administrative policy that scans the metadata in the destination for 3 things.

has this file been demigrated
when it was last demigrated was it deleted.
Has the time period for the deletion been longer than the grace period for the scrub policy and global grace policy.

This ensures that the file is not deleted on the destination storage out of line with backup policies set by the organization.

By default when a stub file is deleted from a windows host that has been migrated by FileFly this does not make it eligible to be deleted via a scrub policy.

There is a feature that can change that default behaviour that is enabled per volume called ‘Stub Monitoring.’

How to enable Stub Monitoring on a FileFly Agent.

Step 1:

Open up the Administrative console

Go to the “Servers” tab

Click on a Server which you want to modify

Then click on 'Configure'

Then once you are in the configuration screen scroll down to the “stub deletion monitoring” section.

There you can add the volumes that you which to monitor.

Note: It is important to add all volumes which you are migrating data from

Once you have made your edit select “Save” on the top left.

You will see a warning that you will need to restart the agent service for the new settings to take effect.

After clicking “yes” your screen will look like this.

Click on restart agent for the changes to take effect.

You can double-check that the setting is live by going to the agent logs on the FileFly server in question.

in C:\Program files(x86)\Caringo Filefly\logs\Filefly Agent\

Make a copy of the log so that you can read it without needing to stop the running agent service.

Then open it up in your text reader of choice. The below is stub monitoring disabled.

2017-09-07 01:21:30.743 (GMT-07:00) --- end module list ---
2017-09-07 01:21:30.743 (GMT-07:00) Windows Stub Delete Monitoring event processing is disabled.
2017-09-07 01:21:30.743 (GMT-07:00) Attaching to migration driver version 24...
2017-09-07 01:21:30.743 (GMT-07:00) Server WARNING: It is recommended to REBOOT this server at your earliest convenience to load the updated migration driver. New features and/or fixes may not be applied until this time.
2017-09-07 01:21:30.745 (GMT-07:00) server init start... 
2017-09-07 01:21:31.122 (GMT-07:00) server init OK
2017-09-07 01:21:31.122 (GMT-07:00) server version 2.1.1

this would be stub delete monitoring enabled.

2021-01-08 02:25:34.333 (GMT-08:00)   Syslog.targetPort: 514
2021-01-08 02:25:34.333 (GMT-08:00)   Windows.StubDeleteMonitoring.MonitoredVolumes: C:\,E:\
2021-01-08 02:25:34.333 (GMT-08:00) log path is C:\Program Files (x86)\Caringo FileFly\logs\FileFly Agent
2021-01-08 02:25:34.333 (GMT-08:00) port is 4604
2021-01-08 02:25:34.333 (GMT-08:00) migrationSupport is on
2021-01-08 02:25:34.333 (GMT-08:00) logsize is 50
2021-01-08 02:25:34.333 (GMT-08:00) logstoragesizelimit is 1000

Once the setting takes effect when a stub file is deleted on the host it can now result in a deletion of data on the destination storage.