View information and perform tasks using Replication Monitor
Applies to: 
SQL Server
Azure SQL Managed Instance
Replication monitor provides a number of tabs and options to view information and perform various tasks. This article describes the different things that can be viewed and accomplished when using Replication Monitor.
For a Publication
View information
Replication Monitor provides the following tabs that include information about the selected publication:
All Subscriptions - This tab displays information about all subscriptions to the selected publication.
Agents - This tab displays information about all agents used by a publication:
- The Snapshot Agent, which is used by all publications.
- The Log Reader Agent, which is used by all transactional publications.
- The Queue Reader Agent, which is used by transactional publications that have queued updating subscriptions.
Warnings - This tab allows you to specify warnings and alerts for agents.
Tracer Tokens (transactional replication only) - This tab allows you to measure latency, the amount of time that elapses between a transaction being committed at the Publisher and the corresponding transaction being committed at the Subscriber.
For more information about the options on each tab, select the tab in the right pane, and then select Help on the menu bar. For information about starting Replication Monitor, see Start the Replication Monitor.
Perform tasks
- Expand a Publisher group in the left pane, expand a Publisher, and then select a publication.
- To view and modify publication properties, right-click the publication, and then select Properties.
- To view information about subscriptions, select the All Subscriptions tab, right-click the subscription, and then select Properties. You can also access more detailed information and perform tasks on this tab.
- To view information about agents, select the Agents tab. You can also access more detailed information and perform tasks on this tab.
- To view information about agent warnings and thresholds, select the Warnings tab. For more information, see Set Thresholds and Warnings in Replication Monitor.
- To view information about tracer tokens, select the Tracer Tokens tab. For more information about how to use tracer tokens, see Measure Latency and Validate Connections for Transactional Replication.
For a Publisher
View information
Replication Monitor provides the following tabs that display information about the selected Publisher:
- Publications - displays information about all publications at the selected Publisher.
- Subscription Watch List - display information about subscriptions from all publications available at the selected Publisher that have errors, warnings, or the poorest performance. This tab is not displayed for Distributors running versions prior to Microsoft SQL Server 2005 (9.x).
- Agents tab - displays detailed information about the agents and jobs that are used by all types of replication. The tab also allows you to start and stop each agent and job. To view more information about the options on each tab, click the tab in the right pane, and then click Help on the menu bar. For information about starting Replication Monitor, see Start the Replication Monitor.
Perform tasks
- Expand a Publisher group in the left pane, and then click a Publisher.
- To view information about all publications, click the Publications tab.
- To view information about subscriptions, click the Subscription Watch List tab. You can also access more detailed information and perform tasks from this tab:
- To view detailed information about the agent associated with a subscription, right-click the subscription, and then click View Details.
- To view the properties of a subscription, right-click the subscription, and then click Properties.
- To synchronize a push subscription, right-click the subscription, and then click Start Synchronizing.
- To reinitialize a subscription, right-click the subscription, and then click Reinitialize Subscription.
- To view information about agents, click the Agents tab. You can also access more detailed information and perform tasks on this tab:
- To view detailed information about an agent (such as informational messages and any error messages), right-click the agent, and then click View Details.
- To view detailed information about the job that runs the agent (such as the schedule, job step details, and so on), right-click the agent, and then click Properties.
- To manage profiles for the agent, right-click the agent, and then click Agent Profile. For more information, see Work with Replication Agent Profiles.
- To start an agent that is not running, right-click the agent, and then click Start Agent.
- To stop an agent that is running, right-click the agent, and then click Stop Agent.
For a Subscription
View information
Replication Monitor provides the following tabs that include information about subscriptions:
- All Subscriptions - displays information about all subscriptions to the selected publication.
- Subscription Watch List - displays information about subscriptions from all publications available at the selected Publisher that have errors, warnings, or the poorest performance. This tab is not displayed for Distributors running versions prior to Microsoft SQL Server 2005 (9.x). For more information about the options on each tab, click the tab in the right pane, and then click Help on the menu bar. For information about starting Replication Monitor, see Start the Replication Monitor.
Perform tasks
- Expand a Publisher group in the left pane, expand a Publisher, and then click a publication.
- To view information about subscriptions, click the All Subscriptions tab. To view only those subscriptions in a given state, such as synchronizing, select an option from the Show drop-down list.
- To view and modify subscription properties, right-click the subscription, and then click Properties. You can also access more detailed information and perform tasks on this tab.
To view information and perform tasks for subscriptions in the Subscription Watch List tab
- Expand a Publisher group in the left pane, and then click a Publisher.
- To view information about subscriptions, click the Subscription Watch List tab.
- Select the type of subscription to display from the Show <SubscriptionType> Subscriptions drop-down list. To view only those subscriptions in a given state, such as synchronizing, select an option from the Show drop-down list.
- To view and modify subscription properties, right-click the subscription, and then click Properties. You can also access more detailed information and perform tasks on this tab.
For Publication Agents
Replication Monitor provides the Agents tab, which includes information about the agents associated with the selected publication. The Distribution Agent and Merge Agent are associated with subscriptions.
View information
This tab displays information about the following agents:
- The Snapshot Agent, which is used by all publications.
- The Log Reader Agent, which is used by all transactional publications.
- The Queue Reader Agent, which is used by transactional publications enabled for queued updating subscriptions.
To view more information about the options on this tab, click Help on the menu bar. For information about starting Replication Monitor, see Start the Replication Monitor.
To view information and perform tasks for the agents associated with a publication
- Expand a Publisher group in the left pane, expand a Publisher, and then click a publication.
- Click the Agents tab to view information about agents. You can also access more detailed information and perform tasks on this tab:
- To view detailed information about an agent (such as informational messages and any error messages), right-click the agent, and then click View Details.
- To view detailed information about the job that runs the agent (such as the schedule, job step details, and so on), right-click the agent, and then click Properties.
- To manage profiles for the agent, right-click the agent, and then click Agent Profile. For more information, see Work with Replication Agent Profiles.
- To start an agent that is not running, right-click the agent, and then click Start Agent.
- To stop an agent that is running, right-click the agent, and then click Stop Agent.
For Subscription Agents
View information
All Subscriptions - displays information about all subscriptions to the selected publication.
Subscription Watch List - intended to display information about subscriptions from all publications available at the selected Publisher that have errors, warnings, or the poorest performance. This tab is not displayed for Distributors running versions prior to Microsoft SQL Server 2005 (9.x). For more information about the options on each tab, click the tab in the right pane, and then click Help on the menu bar. For information about starting Replication Monitor, see Start the Replication Monitor.
Perform tasks
- Expand a Publisher group in the left pane, expand a Publisher, and then click a publication.
- Click the All Subscriptions tab to view information about subscriptions. You can also access more detailed information and perform tasks on this tab:
To view detailed information about the agent associated with a subscription, right-click the subscription, and then click View Details. Detailed information includes: agent history and error messages; performance statistics for transactional replication; and article-level synchronization statistics for merge replication.
The tabs on the detail window that is launched depend on the type of subscription: for snapshot subscriptions, the tab is Distributor to Subscriber History; for transactional subscriptions, the tabs are Publisher to Distributor History, Distributor to Subscriber History, and Undistributed Commands; for merge subscriptions, the tab is Synchronization History.
To synchronize a push subscription, right-click the subscription, and then click Start Synchronizing.
To reinitialize a subscription, right-click the subscription, and then click Reinitialize Subscription.
To validate a single merge subscription, right-click the subscription, and then click Validate Subscription. To validate all subscriptions to a merge publication, right-click the publication, and then click Validate All Subscriptions; to validate all subscriptions for a transactional publication, right-click the publication, and then click Validate Subscriptions.
To manage profiles for the agent, right-click the agent, and then click Agent Profile. For more information, see Work with Replication Agent Profiles.
Subscription Watch List tab
- Expand a Publisher group in the left pane, and then click a Publisher.
- Click the Subscription Watch List tab to view information about subscriptions. You can also access more detailed information and perform tasks on this tab:
To view detailed information about the agent associated with a subscription, right-click the subscription, and then click View Details. Detailed information includes: agent history and error messages; performance statistics for transactional replication; and article-level synchronization statistics for merge replication.
The tabs on the detail window that is launched depend on the type of subscription: for snapshot subscriptions, the tab is Distributor to Subscriber History; for transactional subscriptions, the tabs are Publisher to Distributor History, Distributor to Subscriber History, and Performance; for merge subscriptions, the tab is Synchronization History.To synchronize a push subscription, right-click the subscription, and then click Start Synchronizing.
To reinitialize a subscription, right-click the subscription, and then click Reinitialize Subscription.
To validate a single merge subscription, right-click the subscription, and then click Validate Subscription. To validate all subscriptions to a merge publication, right-click the publication, and then click Validate All Subscriptions; to validate all subscriptions for a transactional publication, right-click the publication, and then click Validate Subscriptions.
To manage profiles for the agent, right-click the agent, and then click Agent Profile. For more information, see Work with Replication Agent Profiles.