Spotlight on SQL Server 10.0.3 - Getting Started Guide

Replication - Agent Failure Alarms

Note: This feature requires Spotlight on SQL Server Enterprise. Spotlight on SQL Server Replication is available for SQL Server 2005 and later.

A Replication - Agent Failure alarm becomes active when a SQL Server replication agent fails. The alarms are:

• Replication - Distribution Agent Failure Alarm
• Replication - Log Reader Agent Failure Alarm
• Replication - Merge Agent Failure Alarm
• Replication - Miscellaneous Agent Failure Alarm
• Replication - Queue Reader Agent Failure Alarm
• Replication - Snapshot Agent Failure Alarm

When a replication agent fails, the replication of your data can be interrupted. It is best to investigate the problem as soon as possible to minimize the amount of work required to reestablish proper replication.

When one of these alarms is current:

• Look at the Actions grid in the Activity drilldown to see the messages returned by the agent. The Actions grid shows the details of the messages logged by the agent. This may help you diagnose the exact task on which an agent failed. To display the Actions grid:
  1. On the Activity drilldown, click the Agents tab.
  2. In the Agents grid, select the affected agent.
  3. Click the Session tab.
  4. In the Session grid, select the affected session.
• Once the problem is resolved the agent can be re-started using SQL Server Enterprise Manager or SQL Server Management Studio.

Tips:

• You can configure this alarm to ignore certain values. See "Configure an Alarm to Ignore Certain Values" (page 1) for more information.

• You can also configure different thresholds for specific agents. See "Configure Keyed Alarms" (page 1) for more information.

Related Topics

Spotlight on SQL Server Replication Alarms (page 1)

Activity Drilldown (page 1)