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thiagomf11's avatar
thiagomf11
Explorer | Level 4
8 years ago
Solved

Dropbox stopped working on Windows Server 2008 R2 on 01/19.2018

Dropbox stopped working on Windows Server 2008 R2 on 01/19.2018. Is there any incompatibility with this system?    Does any version of windows server support? (2012, 2016?)
desktop
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Setting up the apps
  • Rich's avatar
    Rich
    8 years ago

    Dropbox has never officially supported server operating systems. It has worked in the past, but newer releases have had issues and you may not be able to get it working. You can try contacting Support by opening a ticket, but since they don't provide support for server operating systems, you may be on your own.

     

    Open your ticket here: https://dropbox.com/support
    Track your ticket here: https://dropbox.zendesk.com

    Replies take approximately 1 - 3 business days with Plus and Professional users getting priority (longer for Basic users).

  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    8 years ago
    There are two questions that been brought up in this thread:
     
    • Why is Windows Server 2008 no longer supported?
    • Why weren’t we informed about this change?
     
    For these questions, I can provide the following answers:
     
     
    However, this does require delving into detail. Even though our site specifically states we don’t support Windows Server, we do know that some users do use Dropbox on their server, so we provide very limited information about how to make it work. After that, if issues crop up, then we can’t really help out.
     
    Now, as you know, as of January 16th, support for Mac OS 10.6, 10.7,  and 10.8 were removed, along with Windows Vista.
     
    The curious thing about Vista is that Windows Server 2008 is “built from the same code base as Windows Vista; therefore, it shares much of the same architecture and functionality.” according to Wikipedia and our dev team.
     
    So, long story short, when support for the desktop app for Vista ended, so did the desktop app for Windows Server 2008. No notifications were sent out to server users because it was never supported to begin with.
     
    We do understand your frustration over this matter and have logged it with our team here to take this into consideration for the future, should other server users be affected with any deprecation of other OSes.
     
    Note however that this can’t be guaranteed from my end, as (and I hate to repeat myself again) Dropbox doesn’t officially support server editions of Windows, or any OSes not on this page.

     

     

    [This thread is now closed. If you have a similar or new question, you can ask here.]

Rich's avatar
Rich
Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
8 years ago
There was no need to post a notice about Server 2008 because Dropbox has never supported Server 2008 (or any server OS). The fact that it did work on previous server operating systems is immaterial to the notification that was sent.

Dropbox ending support and disabling the client on XP, Vista, etc. had nothing to do with the client no longer working on Server 2008. They didn't specifically stop it from working on Server 2008. It just doesn't work anymore.
Bob N.6's avatar
Bob N.6
Helpful | Level 5
8 years ago

You are contradicting yourself:

 

was likely due to the fact that previous server operating systems were based on the exact same technologies used in your desktop operating systems (XP, Windows 7, etc.)

 

I don't know why you're arguing with me.  We are both ostensibly otherwise content DropBox users who want to continue to use DropBox and want to help people who are having problems. 

  • Rich's avatar
    Rich
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
    8 years ago
    I'm not contradicting myself. Server 2003 was XP based, and nearly any piece of software that would run on XP would run on Server 2000 and Server 2003. Only applications that had specific driver requirements were likely to be a problem when server drivers weren't available. This is likely why Dropbox was able to work without issue on those servers. Newer server operating systems, while still based on a desktop OS, have less in common with their desktop counterparts and it takes a bit more effort to make sure a piece of software will run on a server OS. Dropbox is likely not putting that effort into the newer versions of Dropbox because it has never supported servers. Why program for an OS that you don't support?

    And, I'm not arguing with you or anyone else here. I'm simply commenting on the situation with information that I've learned over the years, much of which comes directly from the Dropboxers.

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