Making the Primary Transaction Log Files Readable for Replication Agent

Install and set up the sybfilter driver so that Replication Agent can read the primary transaction log files.

1. In Windows Explorer, navigate to the sybfilter driver installation directory. This directory is located at %SYBASE%\RAX-15_5\system\<platform>, where <platform> is winx86, winx64, or winvistax64.

   • winvistax64 is for Windows Server Vista x64 and Windows Server 2008 R1 x64

   • winx64 is for Windows Server XP Professional x64 and Windows Server 2003 x64.

   • winx86 is for Windows Server XP Professional x86, Windows Server 2003 x86, Windows Server Vista x86, and Windows Server 2008 R1 x86.

2. Right-click the sybfilter.inf file to install the sybfilter driver.
   Note:

   There can be only one installation of the sybfilter driver on a Windows machine. After the driver is installed, it works for all Replication Agent for Microsoft SQL Server instances running on the same machine.

3. Under any directory, create a configuration file to store all log file paths for primary databases. The configuration file must have a .cfg suffix. For example, under the directory %SYBASE%\RAX-15_5\system\<platform>, create a file named LogPath.cfg.
4. Add a system environment variable named RACFGFilePath, and set its value to the path of the configuration file.
   1. Open the Control Panel, click System, click the Advanced tab, and choose Environment Variables.
   2. Click New to add a new system variable.
   3. Name the variable RACFGFilePath, and set its value to the location of your configuration file.
5. In Windows Explorer, navigate to %SYBASE%\RAX-15_5\bin, and double-click the sybfiltermgr.exe file to start the sybfilter driver management console.
6. To start the sybfilter driver, enter start at the management console.
7. Add the log file path to the sybfilter driver with the user manager or by modifying the configuration file:

   • User manager – use the add command in the management console. The syntax for this command is as follows:

     add serverName dbName logFilePath

     For example, to add the log file named pdb2_log.ldf at C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\Data\ to the dbName database on the serverName data server, use this:

     add myserverName dbName C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL
     Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\Data\pdb2_log.ldf	

     Note:

     If you add the log file path with the user manager, the user manager refreshes all log paths in the sybfilter driver automatically after adding the log path into the configuration file.

   • Configuration file – to add the log file path directly to the configuration file, open and manually edit the configuration file. This an example of log file path entries:

     [myserver, pdb1]

     log_file_path=C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL

     Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\Data\pdb11_log.ldf

     log_file_path=C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL

     Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\Data\pdb12_log.ldf

     [myserver, pdb2]

     log_file_path=C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL

     Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\Data\pdb2_log.ldf

     Note:

     After you have added the log file paths to the configuration file, use the refresh command in the management console.

8. If you added a log file for your primary database before adding the log file path to the sybfilter driver, restart Microsoft SQL Server to make the log file readable.
9. At the management console, verify that log files are readable. If some log files are unreadable, make sure the files have been created and that Microsoft SQL Server has been restarted, if necessary.
   See the Replication Agent Primary Database Guide.