Verifying a Replication System

Verify that the entire replication system is working when you are about to create replication definitions or subscriptions or when you are performing diagnostics on your system.

Prerequisites

Ensure that no threads are down before you confirm that the replication system is working.

Task

If you encounter errors, verifying your system allows you to rule out the possibility that threads or components are not running, or that routes and connections are not properly set up.

To make sure that Replication Server threads are running, you can execute admin who_is_down, which displays only threads that are not running. Alternatively, execute admin who to display information about all threads.

Verify that replication system servers and Replication Agents are running and available.
At the primary site, log in to these servers:
- Data server with the primary database and its Replication Agent
  
  If you are using Adaptive Server, execute sp_help_rep_agent at Adaptive Server to display status information for RepAgent thread.
- Replication Server managing the primary database
- RSSD (and its Replication Agent) for the primary Replication Server
  
  If you are using Adaptive Server, execute sp_help_rep_agent at Adaptive Server to display status information for RepAgent thread.
At replicate sites, log in to these servers:
- Data servers with replicate databases and, if request functions are executed at these databases, their Replication Agents
  
  If you are using Adaptive Server, execute sp_help_rep_agent at Adaptive Server to display status information for RepAgent thread.
- Replication Servers managing replicate databases
- RSSDs (and their Replication Agents) for replicate Replication Servers
  
  If you are using Adaptive Server, execute sp_help_rep_agent at Adaptive Server to display status information for RepAgent thread.
Use the admin show_connections command at Replication Server to verify that these routes and connections are in place:
- Routes from the primary Replication Server to each replicate Replication Server
- Database connection between the primary Replication Server and the primary database
- Route from a replicate Replication Server to the primary Replication Server, if the replicate Replication Server manages a replicate database in which request functions are executed
- Database connections between each replicate Replication Server and its replicate database
Verify the accuracy of entries in the interfaces file.

When creating subscriptions, be sure an entry for the primary data server exists in the interfaces file for the replicate Replication Server. If you are using atomic or non-atomic materialization, the replicate Replication Server retrieves initial rows through a direct connection to the primary data server.
Use admin who to verify that these Replication Server threads are running:
- Data Server Interface (DSI)
- Replication Server Interface (RSI)
- Distributor (DIST)
- Stable Queue Manager (SQM)
- Stable Queue Transaction interface (SQT)
- RepAgent User