Publishing entity and link data

The following section describes how to publish the entity and link data in the main iBase database. The procedure for publishing the security and audit data is slightly different. There are some optional steps at the end of the procedure that are required if you need to transfer the initial snapshot of data to the subscriber sites by using removable media rather than over a communications link.

Before you begin

Before you can configure the Publisher, the iBase administrator should have prepared the database, and advised whether Audit History is being used.

Use the same server for all publications of iBase data.

Procedure

  1. From the Object Explorer list, select Replication > Local Publications, right-click and select New Publication.
  2. On the Publication Database page, select the existing database that contains the iBase entity and link data that you want to publish.
  3. On the Publication Type page, select Merge publication.
  4. On the Subscriber Types page, ensure that only SQL Server 2008 or later is selected.
  5. On the Articles page, expand the Tables node. Select these iBase system tables:
    Note: Do not include the tables beginning _AL_, _FTS_, the SQL Server system tables or the remainder of the iBase system tables. These iBase system tables are not designed for replication— the names of these system tables begin with an underscore.
  6. If you are using Audit History, in Article Properties, for all the selected tables, set Copy User Triggers to False.
  7. Accept any article issues that are reported.
    Typically SQL Server warns that “ Uniqueidentifier columns will be added to tables”.
  8. Enter the publication name. For example, iBase_entity_and_link_data.
  9. Generate the publication in the usual way.
  10. Set the publication property Anonymous pull subscriptions to False as this option is not supported.
    Note: Do not change any other publication properties. Specifically, allowing anonymous pull subscriptions invalidates the publication.
  11. If you are replicating this database for the first time and you need to transfer the initial snapshot to each Subscriber using removable media, then perform a full backup of the database.