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Manage master data synchronisation

After you set up master data synchronisation, when you synchronise for the first time Business Central does the following:

  • Couples records in the selected tables.
  • Creates a recurring job queue entry for each table.

The job queue entries automatically synchronise data in the subsidiary companies when someone makes a change in the source company. Otherwise, you don't need to do anything.

Note

For the automatic synchronisation to work, the user who makes the change in the source company must have:

  • A Business Central licence.
  • Permission sets that allow them to reschedule a background task in the subsidiary company. To learn more about the required licence and permissions, go to Before you start.

Otherwise, the change happens in the next unconditional synchronisation run. The unconditional synchronisation is controlled by the Inactivity Timeout Period field on the job queue entry.

However, sometimes things go wrong, and there might be situations that you need to manage or investigate. For example, if people change the same record in both the source company and a subsidiary, synchronisation fails so that you can specify the change that's correct. Or, the source company might install an extension that changes the schema of one of the tables you're synchronising by adding a field or two. If you want to synchronise the new fields in the subsidiaries, install the same extensions and update the table schemas in their setup.

This article describes the tools you can use to keep synchronisation running smoothly.

Overwrite local changes

You can use the Overwrite Local Change checkbox on the fields and tables you synchronise to allow data from the source company to overwrite data in the subsidiary company.

Note

You can't enable the synchronisation of a field and allow the subsidiary to write values in it independently from the source company. You must either disable synchronisation for the field, or allow the source company to overwrite local changes.

Update table schemas

If the source company changes a table, for example, by adding a field that you want to synchronise, subsidiaries must update their field mappings. On the Synchronisation Fields page, use the Update Fields action.

Enable or disable couplings between records

To start or stop coupling on specific records on a table, on the Synchronisation Fields page, choose the fields, and then use either the Enable or Disable actions.

Tip

A fast way to enable or disable multiple fields at the same time is to select them in the list, and then use either the Enable or Disable actions.

Run a full synchronisation

The Run Full Synchronisation action schedules a synchronisation for all of the table records in the source company, and resynchronises all records unconditionally. For example, resynchronisation is useful if you enable an extra field on a synchronisation table, or add an extra field by using the Update Fields action. The action retroactively synchronises the data in those fields.

Synchronise modified records

If you change a setting for a table or field in a subsidiary, you must update the synchronisation. To update the synchronisation, use the Synchronise Modified Records action on the Synchronisation Tables page.

The Synchronise Modified Records action schedules a synchronisation of the following table records:

  • Records that failed to synchronise in the last attempt.
  • Records that were changed in the source company after the last scheduled synchronisation. You can review the last scheduled synchronisation time on the Synchronisation Tables page in the Synchronise Changes Since field.

The action works in the same way as a scheduled synchronisation, and you can use it as a way to synchronise outside the schedule. For example, if you select the Overwrite Local Change checkbox on a field to allow data from the source company to overwrite local changes, the action updates that data. You can also just wait until the next scheduled synchronisation happens.

Investigate the status of synchronisation

There are two actions on the Synchronisation Tables page that can help you monitor your synchronisation:

  • Integration Synchronisation Jobs
  • Job Queue Entries

The following table describes the actions.

Page Description
Integration Synchronisation Jobs Open the Integration Synchronisation Jobs page to investigate what happened each time a job queue entry ran. To dig deeper into the details about new records that were added, or explore why a record failed to synchronise, choose the numbers in the Inserted or Failed columns. You can also use this page to clean up older records that you might not need. To learn more about cleaning up, go to Clean up old entries.
Job Queue Entries Access details about the job queue entry that synchronise data for a selected table. For example, use this page to manage the status of the job queue entry, To learn more about job queue entries, go to Use Job Queues to Schedule Tasks.

Note

If you find an error on the Integration Synchronisation Jobs page that you can't resolve yourself, if you contact your partner or Microsoft for support, it's helpful to provide the error message and callstack information.

Clean up old entries

Over time, the number of entries in the synchronisation log will become large, so you might want to do a little housekeeping to remove unneeded entries. To make it easier to clean up old entries, the Integration Synchronisation Jobs page offers the following actions:

  • Delete Entries Older Than 7 Days
  • Delete All Entries

Adding extensions

If the source company installs a new extension, the subsidiary must also install it if they want to synchronise data for it. The subsidiary can use the Update Fields action On the Synchronisation Fields page to add the tables from the extension to the list.

Note

Some tables get data from related tables. If you add an extension that doesn't include related tables, the fields on those tables aren't available. Verify that you added all related tables.

Get ready to synchronise master data