Copying a Replication Agent configuration

When you create a new Replication Agent instance, you can copy the configuration of an existing instance by invoking ra_admin with the -c option and -f option.

The complete syntax is:

ra_admin -c new_inst -p port_num -f old_inst

where:

new_inst is the name of the new Replication Agent instance you are creating.

port_num is the client socket port number for the administration port of the new Replication Agent instance.

old_inst is the name of an existing Replication Agent instance whose configuration you want to duplicate for the new Replication Agent instance.

For information about creating a Replication Agent instance with the default configuration, see “Creating a Replication Agent instance”.

Use the following procedure to create a new Replication Agent instance, based on the configuration of an existing instance.

You must set the SYBASE environment before you invoke the Sybase Replication Agent ra_admin utility. See “Preparing to use the utilities” for more information.

To copy an existing Replication Agent instance configuration to a new instance

Open an operating system command window on the Replication Agent host machine.

At the operating system prompt, navigate to the Sybase Replication Agent bin directory.

On Windows platforms, enter:
```
cd %SYBASE%\RAX-15_0\bin
```
where %SYBASE% is the path to the Sybase Replication Agent installation directory.
On UNIX platforms, enter:
```
cd $SYBASE/RAX-15_0/bin
```
where $SYBASE is the path to the Sybase Replication Agent installation directory.

In the Sybase Replication Agent bin directory, invoke the ra_admin utility to create a new Replication Agent instance whose configuration is based on the configuration of an existing instance:

ra_admin -c new_inst -p port_num -f old_inst

where:

new_inst is the name of the new Replication Agent instance.
port_num is the client socket port number for the administration port of the new instance.
old_inst is the name of an existing Replication Agent instance whose configuration you want to copy for the new instance.

After you invoke ra_admin, the operating system prompt returns when the new Replication Agent instance is created.

Verify that the Replication Agent instance was created properly using one of the following methods:

Invoke ra_admin with the -v option, and specify the name of the new Replication Agent instance:
```
ra_admin -v new_inst
```
where new_inst is the name of the new Replication Agent instance.

When you verify a Replication Agent instance with the -v option, the utility verifies the instance by checking for an instance directory with the specified instance name under the Sybase Replication Agent base directory, and then checking all of the subdirectories under the Replication Agent instance directory.
Invoke ra_admin with the -l (lowercase L) option:
```
ra_admin -l
```
The -l option lists all verifiable Replication Agent instances, which should include the new one you just created.
As an alternative to using the ra_admin utility, you can use operating system commands to verify that the Replication Agent instance directories were created correctly.

When you create a new Replication Agent instance and copy the configuration of an existing instance, some configuration parameters are set to default values, and they are not copied from the existing configuration.

The values of the following configuration parameters are not copied from an existing configuration:

admin_port

log_directory

pds_database_name

pds_datasource_name

pds_host_name

pds_password

pds_port_number

pds_retry_count

pds_retry_timeout

pds_server_name

pds_username

rs_source_db

rs_source_ds

The following parameters are only valid for Replication Agent for Oracle.

rasd_backup_dir

rasd_database

rasd_trace_log_dir

rasd_tran_log

asa_port

See the Sybase Replication Agent Reference Manual for more information about Replication Agent configuration parameters.

After you create a Replication Agent instance, you can use the ra utility to start the instance so that it can be administered and configured.

Sybase recommends that you create a user login name and password to replace the default sa login and secure access to the administration port, immediately after you create a Replication Agent instance. See “Creating the Replication Agent administrator login” for more information.