January 14, 2008 at 11:33 am
Is it possible to set up merge replication between two servers that are not on the same network. We are looking to replicate from one of our client machines to our server. I have set up merge replication with a push subscription. I don't fully understand the account requirements for the reciever (subscriber) to participate with the client server. The merge agent is failing when i attempt to subscribe across machines but works fine on the same box.
January 14, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Yes, in fact you can configure merge replication over http or https with both named and anonymous subscriptions.
The books online instructions are not bad.
January 15, 2008 at 8:43 am
Thanks for your response. I have looked at the books online documentation and it does cover this issue but it is not clear how the replication merge agent account is setup for authentication on the subscriber for a non domain machine. Also since I am performing a push subscription does the subscriber need access to the snapshot folder?
January 15, 2008 at 8:51 am
The subscriber either needs to be able to use an NT login that is valid in the publishing database, or you will need to use SQL authentication. Using SQL authentication will make this far easier for you to set up.
As far as the snapshot folder, if you manually set up the initial database, you technically never need access to the snapshot folders from the subscriber. You can set up and run merge replication without using the snapshot agent at all. In practice, this is typically not the way to go. You will usually want to be able to have the snapshot agent reinitialize your database as necessary or send schema changes to your subscribers. Luckily, you have the option during the wizard to use an ftp folder for the snapshot folder. You configure the publishing database to use a local folder on it's network and then publish this folder via ftp to make it available to the subscribers.
Securing this can be a bit of a trick as ftp is not very secure, but if you have someone around that knows a bit about web security, authentication can be handled through certificates.
January 15, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Thanks. I have configured a push replication with all agents running on the publisher, will the subscriber need access to the snapshot folder in this case? I would like to be able to replicate schema changes as well as replicate data from the subscriber to the publisher. If i understand the security requirements correctly i can use a valid Windows Account setup for replication for the merge agent to run on the publisher and a SQL login for the subscriber database.
Again thanks for your assistence.
January 31, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Hello I am Having the same problem. Could anyone help me?
Here is the scenario.
1. I have 2 MS SQL Server 2005 each residing in different computers.
server1> area1\sqlExpress
server2> area2\sqlExpress
2. I have already configured the Distributor to have the snapshot saved in the accesible drive (external hard disk, accessible to all)
snapshot folder> \\extdrive\sqlsnapshot
3. I have also used SQL Server Agent Authentication
4. I have tried performing Merge Replciation and during first run,
1. the process was performed and the database is copied to server2
5. But when i try running the process again so that the changes in my subscriber will be copied to the publisher, (means no reinitialization in the subscriber), the SQL Server gives this message:
The Server server2\SQLExpress is not a Subscriber. (.Net SQLClient DataProvider)
I hope somebody could help me. Thank you.
(Btw, I am new in replication)
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