Upgrading the route allows the Replication Servers to exchange information about newer software features.
The route version is the earliest site version of the source and destination Replication Server. After you upgrade the source and destination Replication Servers on either end of a route and also set their site versions to a higher Replication Server version, you need to upgrade the route.
Upgrading a route rematerializes data in system tables, making information associated with new features available to a newly upgraded Replication Server. After upgrading, new types of information that were not previously allowed can be exchanged.
To display the current version number of routes that originate or terminate at a Replication Server, use the admin show_route_versions command.
See Replication Server Reference Manual > Replication Server Commands > admin show_route_versions for complete syntax and usage information.
You cannot downgrade a route after you have upgraded it, and there are restrictions if you have mixed-version replication systems.
See the installation and configuration guides for your platform for more information about upgrading routes and setting the site version for a Replication Server.