Description

It is important to monitor the replication to make sure it works properly and does not have inconsistency in the data. Monitoring replication assumes that:

• files are coming through to/from a site
• files are being imported/exported
• errors, if any, are logged to a log file

The Replicator service has an automatic monitoring alerting mechanism that can be configured. Such a mechanism sends alerts by e-mail.

Here are the messages you can choose to receive/send for monitoring purposes:

• Status report. It is intended for the cases when Replicator stops or hangs and you may not notice it as the application cannot send any alerts. To handle that, you can choose to receive a status report at a defined interval. If you don't receive the status report at the scheduled interval, that might mean there are some issues either in the replicator service or the mail transfer.
• Warning. You can choose to send a warning if you have not received any replication files within a given period. If you have received a status report, but failed to receive any files at a defined period, it may indicate some difficulties at the remote site.
• Reports on errors. If an error occurs while executing a replication task, it is recommended to send an error report to our dedicated support team.

There are several ways you can use to check the replication status:

• In Replicator Manager. For more information, see Monitor in Replicator Manager.
• In Adonis Personnel Manager. For more information, see Monitor in APM.
• On the Main site for all the satellites. For more information, see Monitor on Main Site.

Monitor in Replicator Manager

To monitor the replication status, first, run Adonis Replicator Manager. Within the application, select the service to which you got connected and navigate to Status > Adonis Replication:

In the Replication Status workspace, click Start to initiate the replication. Once the replication process is triggered, the progress can be viewed on the screen:

Additionally, the advancement of a progress bar is directly proportional to the amount of work that has been completed.

Right above the progress bar, you can see the tasks being covered: Receive Files, Import, Export, Send Files. By default, all the tasks are pre-selected. In case you want to skip a task, simply clear the corresponding checkbox. Tasks are considered successful in case bullets next to them remain green-colored. Failed operations are marked with red bullets:

You can get detailed information on the occurred error by clicking the Show Error Details button.

To get to know how to resolve the issue, see Fix Replication Errors.

Besides, you can set the schedule for monitoring the replication status at a specific time in the future on a regular basis. To do this, select the service to which you got connected and navigate to Scheduler > Adonis Replication:

In the Schedule of Adonis Replication workspace, select Use built-in scheduler to enable the schedule settings:

• Run Replicator on. Define the weekdays when the task becomes due. By default, all the weekdays are pre-selected. If you want to skip a weekday, clear the corresponding checkbox. 
• Start at, Repeat every, Until. In these options, define the frequency interval when the task is due.
• Replication tasks to be executed. The following replication tasks are available: Receive Files, Import, Export, Send Files. By default, all the tasks are pre-selected. If you want to skip executing a task, clear the corresponding checkbox.

When completed, click Save to confirm the changes or Cancel to revert the changes.

For monitoring purposes, Replicator provides you with the possibility to send/receive such messages:

• Reports on errors. If an error occurs, it is recommended to send an error report to our dedicated support team.
• Warning messages. Set up the warning message to be received in case no CAB/RPL files have been received for a certain period.
• Status reports. Set up the status reports to be received as a replication summary over a certain time period.

To enables sending/receiving messages, first, on the left-hand side pane of Replicator Manager, select the service which you got connected to and go to Settings. When the Rel Settings workspace appears, click Run Settings Wizard. Clicking the command opens the Replicator Settings Wizard dialog. Navigate through the wizard pages, until you reach the dialog where you can set up sending emails with reports and warnings:

Select Send emails with reports and warnings to enable the notification service settings and configure the settings:

• Server Name. Enter the server name to which to connect.
• Port. Specify the port number for communication between mail servers.
• Server requires authentication. Select the checkbox if the connection to the server requires authentication.
• Use SSL. Select the option to create an encrypted transmission channel.
• User Name. Enter a username.
• Password. Enter a password.
• Sender Email. Enter the sender's email address.
• Receiver email list. Enter the email address(es) to which the data is to be sent. To do this, click the Add email button and type an email address. To remove an email address from the list, click Delete email.
• Send reports on errors. Select the checkbox to send error reports.
• Send Status Reports. Select the checkbox to send status reports. On selecting, set the interval for sending reports.
• Send warnings if no cab/rpl files have been received recently. Select the checkbox to send warnings. On selecting, define the interval at which Replicator checks whether no files have been received.

While installing/updating Replicator, you are suggested to install the RPL Viewer utility that can open CAB/RPL files and view the content of DAT files:

To monitor the DAT files in Adonis RPL Viewer, first, run the viewer:

Within the application window, click Open File. Clicking the command opens the Open dialog where you can select the DAT file to be monitored:

Click Open to open the selected file in RPL Viewer:

Now, select a file and click Show Details to view the detailed information on the file:

Monitor in APM

Check Communication Channels

Each site tracks and stores data on import/export, specifically the time when the recent import/export on incoming/outgoing channels was performed. Therefore, this data can be easily monitored.

To get started, log into APM and navigate to the Setup ribbon tab > Adonis Replicator > Views 2, the Communication Channels tab:

In the grid, there are several columns intended for monitoring purposes. They are: Last File Nr, Last Export, Last Import. The data in these columns is updated only after the replication has been successfully performed.

Following the defined schedule, verify that the replication runs correctly. To do this, simply compare the dates in the Communication Channels tab with the scheduled intervals of your replication setup. In case the dates coincide, the replication is running correctly, if they do not coincide, it is recommended to check the error log file.

Set up warnings 

You can set up the warnings to be displayed in case an import/export fails. 

For this, within the APM application, navigate to the Setup ribbon tab > Global Options > Modules > Replicator:

Within the dialogue, proceed with the following steps:

1. Define the path to the Replicator INI file:
   • Click the Browse button to display the Open dialogue.
   • In the dialogue, select the directory where the INI file is located and click Open.
2. Define Surveillance Options by selecting/clearing the options:

• Don't check the Existence of log files.
• Don't check Last Export Time.
• Don't check Last Import Time.

When launching the application upon logging in, the system proceeds in different ways, based on the selection made. In case the options are not selected, the system checks for any errors that may have occurred when attempting to export/import data. If there are any errors in IN/OUT folder, the system displays a warning:

Click Yes to confirm sending the log file to the system administrator.

Monitor on Main Site

You can monitor the replication activity of all the satellites on the main site. It is the most time-saving monitoring method.

To get started, simply, add new connections to satellites (vessel sites) on the main site.

To add connections, follow the steps below:

1. Run Replicator Manager.
2. On the left-hand pane, right-click Services and Connections. This opens the menu:
   
3. In the menu, select Add New Connection... The Connect to Replicator Service dialog then appears:
   
4. Within the dialog, you can define the connection and authentication properties:
   • Protocol. Select TCP/IP to get connected to another computer.
   • Server Name. Enter the IP address of the computer to which you want to get connected to.
   • Port. Enter the port number required to connect to the server. Usually, the same port number is used for all connections inside one client and may be found in the ReplManager.ini file.
   • Username. Enter the username you have defined while installing the application. The username is available in the ReplManager.ini file.
   • Password. Enter the password you have defined while installing the application. The password is available in the ReplManager.ini file.
5. When done, click Connect.