Replication failure- the process could not connect to subscriber

[Guest_imported]

I am trying to synchronize two databases that reside on two different servers. I am using merge replication. When I try 'Synchronize now' it says "trying to connect to SERVERNAME' and after a while it says 'the process could not connect to subscriber SERVERNAME'. I suppose it is some kind of permission that isn't configured right, but I don't know what that would be. I've tried some different settings and adding some account and stuff but no improvement so far.

I hope someone can help me!

Thanks!

//Bob

 

[Guest_imported]

I still haven't found any solution to this problem

 

[TomSark]

Hi,

Some things I can think of off the top o' me head...

You need to make sure that the agent accounts (i.e., the merge agent) involved in replication have permissions on both machines.

Also, are you crossing domain boundaries? Make sure that you use TCP/IP.

Is this a PULL or a PUSH subscription? This matters because the location of the merge agent is on the subscriber for PULL subscriptions and on the publisher for PUSH subscriptions.

Also, make sure that you are using a common account for your MSSQLServer and SQLServerAgent accounts. This always helps. You must be using a domain account for replication to work properly.

If I can think of some more stuff, I'll post it...

Tom

 

[Guest_imported]

Thanks for the reply TomSark! I've been trying with a push subscription. What kind of account should the merge-agent have? Is that's something I specify under 'remote servers' or do I have to add a login under 'Logins'. I noticed there's a distributor_admin now, that must have been set up automaticially.

The 2 servers are on the same domain also.

 

[TomSark]

The merge agent in this case will exist on the publisher because you are using push subscriptions. The agent runs as an account (if I remember correctly, the default is the 'sa' account). You need to make sure that this and all other agent accounts used by your replication process are valid across all the publishing and subscribing servers.

Here's a quote from books on-line:
"Cannot Start a Replication Agent
A replication agent may not start because SQLServerAgent always calls the xp_logininfo stored procedure to validate that you still belong to your Microsoft Windows NT® user groups and to verify your login permissions to the server. The called stored procedure always makes a round trip to the domain controller to do this work. If the agent will not start, an error is returned. This error shows only in the Jobs folder. It never gets propagated to the monitoring node because the agents never actually run, so no notification can be returned. The workaround for the agent not starting is to use standard security or a local computer login as the owner for your jobs. "

Hope this helps... not sure if it does, though..


Tom

 

[LOS]

One of the problems I encountered in setting up a Merge between two servers in different locations is that you need to set-up an OS_Shell Job to dial-up. This requires Windows NT to have access to the Schedule Service. Check to make sure that the Schedule Service is active and set up an Account with the right privilages and access rights. If you need more information on this, E-Mail me.