Tag: Replication

Monitoring Transaction Replication : Replicating On-Premise SQL Server databases to SQL Azure databases


In previous post, we saw How to setup Transactional Replication to replicate On-Premise SQL Server databases to SQL Azure databases, in this post we will how to monitor the Replication process and make changes to data in On-Premise and verify the changes in SQL Azure database

Replication Monitoring

Step 1: Right click on Replication –> Local Publications –> Launch Replication Monitor

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Step 2: We can see the summary of subscriptions, current average performance and current worst performance

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Step 3: Expand the Publication to see the list of subscribers, we can see the list of subscribers and each of their Performance, Latency and Last Synchronization time

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Step 4: If we need to review the status of each Agent status, we can use Agents tab and see their status

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The different types of Agents status available are as follows

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Step 5: To view the details of a particular publisher/subscriber, Please right click on the Publication/Subscription and click on “View Details”

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In details view we can see the completed (Success and Failure) and current sessions, if we click on a particular session, we can also see the steps ran on that session

Details of the publication session

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Details of the Subscriber session

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On-Premise Data Update verification in SQL Azure database

We will make data changes using below query in On-Premise server

Query to insert a new record and update one record in On-Premise SQL Server database

INSERT INTO dbo.Customers 
( 
CustomerID, 
CustomerName, 
CustomerAddress, 
Comments, 
Value 
) 
VALUES 
( 80001, -- CustomerID - int 
'CustomerName80001', -- CustomerName - char(100) 
'CustomerAddress80001', -- CustomerAddress - char(100) 
'Comments80001', -- Comments - char(185) 
80001 -- Value - int 
);

UPDATE dbo.Customers 
SET Comments = 'Update Comments 80000' 
WHERE CustomerID = 80000;

After 2 minutes, we ran the below query in SQL Azure database

Query to verify data changes in SQL Azure database

SELECT [CustomerID], 
[CustomerName], 
[CustomerAddress], 
[Comments], 
[Value] 
FROM [dbo].[Customers] 
WHERE CustomerID >= 80000;

Output: We can see the changes made in On-Premise server is replicated to SQL Azure database

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Hope you find this post helpful !!!

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Transactional Replication: Replicate On-Premise SQL Server databases to SQL Azure databases


Transactional replication to SQL Azure Database is now available as of Oct 23, 2017, This feature will help us in replicating/migrating data from On-Premise SQL Server databases to SQL Azure databases with minimal impact and downtime

In this post we will see the following

1. Setup new publisher and configure new distributor

2. Add SQL Azure Database as Subscriber

For this demo we are using

Tools/Servers Used

On-Premise SQL Server 2017 Developer Edition

SQL Azure Database

SQL Server Management Studio 2017 v 17.3

How to Setup new publisher and configure new distributor

 

Step 1: Please connect to the On-Premise SQL Server on which we are planning to publish the data, Right click on Replication and click on New –> Publication

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Step 2: Click next to continue

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Step 3: We are going to configure the publisher to act as Distributor as well, but if you prefer to use a different server, use the 2nd option

After selecting, Please click Next to continue

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Step 4: By default SQL Server will create the ReplData folder under Data folder, but if you prefer to use a different folder, Please change it

Please make sure the Process account which you are planning to use and SQL Server service account has rights to Read/Write to this folder else you Replication Snapshot job will fail to generate scripts

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Step 5: Please select the database from which we need to publish data, In this demo we are using database “Demo”

After selecting the database click “Next” to proceed

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Step 6:  Please select “Transactional Publication” and click “Next” to proceed

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Step 7: Please select the required objects, you wish to replicate, we will use Customers table for this demo, after selecting the required objects, Please click “Next” to continue

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Step 8: This is an optional step, if you want only filtered data to be replication, Please click on “Add…” add relevant filters

In this demo, we are going to replicate the entire table, so we will skip this and click “Next” to continue

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Step 9: Please select the first option to create the initial snapshot and then use the 2nd option to setup the schedule in which the snapshot agent needs to run

Please click “Change…” to setup the schedule details

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For this demo, we are setting it up to 24 hours/day for every 30 minutes

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After configuring the schedule, Please click “Next” to proceed

Step 10: In this step we will be configuring the Snapshot and Log Reader Agent security settings

Click on “Security Settings…” to configure

If you want to use 2 different account for Snapshot agent and Log Reader agent, please unselect “Use the security settings from the Snapshot Agent” and use “Security Settings…” for Log Reader Agent

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Please provide the Windows User account to run the Snapshot Agent

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After providing the details, click “Ok” to close and then review the user name provided and click “Next” to continue

Step 11: By default “Create the publication” option will be selected, Please select “Generate a script file with steps to create the publication” if you prefer to run the script manually

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If you selected the 2nd option, Please specify the path where you want the script to be created and click “Next” to continue

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Step 12: Please provide the Publication Name and review the settings and click “Finish” to start the publisher/distributor configuration process

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We can see the progress for each steps

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After all steps are completed, we should see the Success message and click “Close” to continue

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Step 13: To verify the created publication, Please refresh the Local Publications node under Replication and you should see the newly created Publication

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We have successfully created the Publication now, you can verify the status of initial snapshot scripts creating by verifying the job status in SQL Server Agent – Job Activity Monitor

We can see the highlighted job as completed Successfully

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How to setup SQL Azure Database as Subscriber

We will now see how to create a new SQL Azure Database subscriber

Step 1: Right click on the Replication –> Local Publications –> Publication Name and click on “New Subscriptions…”

 

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Step 2: Click “Next” to continue

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Step 3: Please review the selected Publisher and Publication and click “Next” to continue

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Step 4: Please select “Run all agents at the Distributor” option and click “Next” to continue

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Step 5: Click on “Add Subscriber”

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Click on “Add SQL Server Subscriber”

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Please provide the SQL Azure Database server name and select SQL Server Authentication and provide the user name and password and click “Connect” to continue

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Step 6: Please select the Subscription Database and click “Next” to continue

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Step 7: Please click  “…” button to configure the Distribution Agent security

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Please provide the windows user name to run the process account in Distributor Agent

For “Connect to the Subscriber”, Please provide the SQL Server Login account to connect

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Please click “Ok” and then review the selected settings and click “Next” to continue

Step 8: Please specify the Agent Schedule and click “Next” to continue

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Step 9: Please select “Initialize” and select “Immediately” for Initialize When, Please choose this accordingly if your snapshot agent job is completed or not

Click “Next” to continue

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Step 10: By default “Create the subscription(s)” will be selected, if you prefer to create the subscription manually using script, Please select Generate Script option and click “Next” to continue

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Please provide the script path and click “Next” to continue

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Step 11: Please review the settings and click “Finish” to start the process

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Once the process is complete, Please refresh the publication to see the Subscription

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After the Replication Distribution job is run, Please connect to SQL Azure database to see the Table is created in SQL Azure database

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In next post, we will see how to monitor the Replication, we will also make changes to local data and see the changes being replicated to SQL Azure

Hope you find this post helpful !!!

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