Invalid Device Paths

Specifying an invalid device path with the ra_devicepath command results in the failure of a subsequent attempt to reinitialize. Also, any log device information in the RASD is cleared.

Note: The ra_devicepath command is available only for Replication Agent for Microsoft SQL Server.

For example, this ra_devicepath command specifies an invalid path:

1> ra_devicepath 1, C:\invalid_path\invalid1.log
2> go

The results of the ra_helpdevice command show the device status corresponding to this path as “INVALID.” A subsequent attempt to reinitialize fails because of the invalid path:

1> ra_admin refresh
2> go
Msg 32000, Level 20, State 0:
Server 'myserver', Procedure 'ra_admin refresh', Line 1:
Command <ra_admin refresh> failed - Replication initialization 
failed because: C:\invalid_path\invalid1.log (The system cannot find the file specified)

After this initialization failure, the ra_helpdevice command returns no information because the log device repository has been cleared.

To avoid clearing the log device repository, verify any new device path before updating the log device repository with the ra_devicepath command.