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SQL Server › Replication

How would you troubleshoot a transactional replication setup where a subscriber has stopped receiving new changes entirely?

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Answer

You would check the status of the relevant replication agents, such as the log reader agent and distribution agent, in Replication Monitor or through their job history, review any error messages logged, verify network connectivity between the involved servers, and check whether a specific data change caused a replication conflict or error that halted the process entirely.
-- Check the job history for the distribution agent
EXEC sp_help_agent_default;

-- Review recent errors
SELECT * FROM MSrepl_errors ORDER BY time DESC;
Real-world example A database administrator discovers that a subscriber stopped receiving updates due to a distribution agent job failing repeatedly because of a network timeout, resolving the issue by adjusting the agent's timeout settings and restarting the job.

Common follow-ups: What are the most common causes of a replication agent failing?;How do you safely reinitialize a subscription if it has fallen too far out of sync to recover normally?