Replication is one of the more complex of the SQL native “HA/DR” technologies. There are a lot of moving parts. Here are the steps to configure a basic transactional replication topology, with a publisher and distributor on the same instance and using push subscriptions. Most of the stored procedures have many more parameters than I am supplying – check the details in BOL. One example is that by not specifying logins and passwords all the replication agents will run using the SQL Server agent credentials.

Step 1: Set up a shared folder for snapshots.

Step 2: Configure the distributor and publisher:

use master
exec sp_adddistributor @distributor = N'SSLMATTB2'
, @password = N''
GO
exec sp_adddistributiondb @database = N'distribution'
, @data_folder = N'C:\MSSQL\SQLData'
, @log_folder = N'C:\MSSQL\SQLLogs'
, @log_file_size = 2
, @min_distretention = 0
, @max_distretention = 72
, @history_retention = 48
, @security_mode = 1
GO
use [distribution] 
if (not exists (
select * 
from sysobjects 
where name = 'UIProperties' and type = 'U ')) 
create table UIProperties(id int)
if (exists (
select * 
from ::fn_listextendedproperty('SnapshotFolder'
, 'user'
, 'dbo'
, 'table'
, 'UIProperties'
, null, null))) 
EXEC sp_updateextendedproperty N'SnapshotFolder'
, N'C:\MSSQL\SQL_Share'
, 'user'
, dbo
, 'table'
, 'UIProperties' 
else 
EXEC sp_addextendedproperty N'SnapshotFolder'
, N'C:\MSSQL\SQL_Share'
, 'user'
, dbo
, 'table'
, 'UIProperties'
GO
exec sp_adddistpublisher @publisher = N'sslmattb2'
, @distribution_db = N'distribution'
, @security_mode = 1
, @working_directory = N'C:\MSSQL\SQL_Share'
, @trusted = N'false'
, @thirdparty_flag = 0
, @publisher_type = N'MSSQLSERVER'
GO

Step 3: Configure a database for replication, create a publication,  and add an article:

use [AdventureWorks2008]
exec sp_replicationdboption @dbname = N'AdventureWorks2008'
, @optname = N'publish'
, @value = N'true'
GO
use [AdventureWorks2008]
exec sp_addpublication @publication = N'AW_products'
, @sync_method = N'concurrent'
, @retention = 0
, @allow_push = N'true'
, @allow_pull = N'true'
, @allow_anonymous = N'false'
, @enabled_for_internet = N'false'
, @snapshot_in_defaultfolder = N'true'
, @compress_snapshot = N'false'
, @ftp_port = 21
, @allow_subscription_copy = N'false'
, @add_to_active_directory = N'false'
, @repl_freq = N'continuous'
, @status = N'active'
, @independent_agent = N'true'
, @immediate_sync = N'false'
, @allow_sync_tran = N'false'
, @allow_queued_tran = N'false'
, @allow_dts = N'false'
, @replicate_ddl = 1
, @allow_initialize_from_backup = N'false'
, @enabled_for_p2p = N'false'
, @enabled_for_het_sub = N'false'
GO
exec sp_addpublication_snapshot @publication = N'AW_products'
, @frequency_type = 1
, @frequency_interval = 1
, @frequency_relative_interval = 1
, @frequency_recurrence_factor = 0
, @frequency_subday = 8
, @frequency_subday_interval = 1
, @active_start_time_of_day = 0
, @active_end_time_of_day = 235959
, @active_start_date = 0
, @active_end_date = 0
, @job_login = null
, @job_password = null
, @publisher_security_mode = 1
use [AdventureWorks2008]
exec sp_addarticle @publication = N'AW_products'
, @article = N'Product'
, @source_owner = N'Production'
, @source_object = N'Product'
, @type = N'logbased'
, @description = null
, @creation_script = null
, @pre_creation_cmd = N'drop'
, @schema_option = 0x000000000803509F
, @identityrangemanagementoption = N'manual'
, @destination_table = N'Product'
, @destination_owner = N'Production'
, @vertical_partition = N'false'
, @ins_cmd = N'CALL sp_MSins_ProductionProduct'
, @del_cmd = N'CALL sp_MSdel_ProductionProduct'
, @upd_cmd = N'SCALL sp_MSupd_ProductionProduct'
GO

Step 4: Backup the database on the publisher and restore to the subscription instance.

Step 5: Configure a subscription (because I am creating a push subscription this script should be run on the publisher).

use [AdventureWorks2008]
exec sp_addsubscription @publication = N'AW_pub'
, @subscriber = N'sslmattb2\INST2'
, @destination_db = N'AW_products'
, @subscription_type = N'Push'
, @sync_type = N'automatic'
, @article = N'all'
, @update_mode = N'read only'
, @subscriber_type = 0
exec sp_addpushsubscription_agent @publication = N'AW_pub'
, @subscriber = N'sslmattb2\INST2'
, @subscriber_db = N'AW_products'
, @job_login = N'NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM'
, @job_password = null
, @subscriber_security_mode = 1
, @frequency_type = 64
, @frequency_interval = 0
, @frequency_relative_interval = 0
, @frequency_recurrence_factor = 0
, @frequency_subday = 0
, @frequency_subday_interval = 0
, @active_start_time_of_day = 0
, @active_end_time_of_day = 235959
, @active_start_date = 20120514
, @active_end_date = 99991231
, @enabled_for_syncmgr = N'False'
, @dts_package_location = N'Distributor'
GO

Basic transactional replication is now running. In a future post I’ll look at monitoring and administering the replication environment.