sp_changepublication (Transact-SQL)

Applies to: SQL Server Azure SQL Managed Instance

Changes the properties of a publication. This stored procedure is executed at the Publisher on the publication database.

Transact-SQL syntax conventions

Syntax

sp_changepublication [ [ @publication = ] 'publication' ]  
    [ , [ @property = ] 'property' ]  
    [ , [ @value = ] 'value' ]  
    [ , [ @force_invalidate_snapshot = ] force_invalidate_snapshot ]  
    [ , [ @force_reinit_subscription = ] force_reinit_subscription ]  
    [ , [ @publisher = ] 'publisher' ]

Arguments

[ @publication = ] 'publication' Is the name of the publication. publication is sysname, with a default of NULL.

[ @property = ] 'property' Is the publication property to change. property is nvarchar(255).

[ @value = ] 'value' Is the new property value. value is nvarchar(255), with a default of NULL.

This table describes the properties of the publication that can be changed and restrictions on the values for those properties.

Property Value Description
allow_anonymous true Anonymous subscriptions can be created for the given publication, and immediate_sync must also be true. Cannot be changed for peer-to-peer publications.
false Anonymous subscriptions cannot be created for the given publication. Cannot be changed for peer-to-peer publications.
allow_initialize_from_backup true Subscribers can initialize a subscription to this publication from a backup rather than an initial snapshot. This property cannot be changed for non-Microsoft SQL Server publications.
false Subscribers must use the initial snapshot. This property cannot be changed for non-SQL Server publications.
allow_partition_switch true ALTER TABLE...SWITCH statements can be executed against the published database. For more information, see Replicate Partitioned Tables and Indexes.
false ALTER TABLE...SWITCH statements cannot be executed against the published database.
allow_pull true Pull subscriptions are allowed for the given publication. This property cannot be changed for non-SQL Server publications.
false Pull subscriptions are not allowed for the given publication. This property cannot be changed for non-SQL Server publications.
allow_push true Push subscriptions are allowed for the given publication.
false Push subscriptions are not allowed for the given publication.
allow_subscription_copy true Enables the ability to copy databases that subscribe to this publication. This property cannot be changed for non-SQL Server publications.
false Disables the ability to copy databases that subscribe to this publication. This property cannot be changed for non-SQL Server publications.
alt_snapshot_folder Location of the alternate folder for the snapshot.
centralized_conflicts true Conflict records are stored at the Publisher. Can be changed only if there are no active subscriptions. This property cannot be changed for non-SQL Server publications.
false Conflict records are stored at both the Publisher and at the Subscriber that caused the conflict. Can be changed only if there are no active subscriptions. This property cannot be changed for non-SQL Server publications.
compress_snapshot true Snapshot in an alternate snapshot folder is compressed into the .cab file format. The snapshot in the default snapshot folder cannot be compressed.
false Snapshot is not compressed, which is the default behavior for replication.
conflict_policy pub wins Conflict resolution policy for updating Subscribers where the Publisher wins the conflict. This property can be changed only if there are no active subscriptions. Not supported for Oracle Publishers.
sub reinit For updating Subscribers, if a conflict occurs the subscription must be reinitialized. This property can be changed only if there are no active subscriptions. Not supported for Oracle Publishers.
sub wins Conflict resolution policy for updating Subscribers where the Subscriber wins the conflict. This property can be changed only if there are no active subscriptions. Not supported for Oracle Publishers.
conflict_retention int that specifies the conflict retention period, in days. The default retention is 14 days. 0 means that no conflict cleanup is needed. Not supported for Oracle Publishers.
description Optional entry describing the publication.
enabled_for_het_sub true Enables the publication to support non-SQL Server Subscribers. enabled_for_het_sub cannot be changed when there are subscriptions to the publication. You may need to execute Replication Stored Procedures (Transact-SQL) to comply with the following requirements before setting enabled_for_het_sub to true:
- allow_queued_tran must be false.
- allow_sync_tran must be false.
Changing enabled_for_het_sub to true may change existing publication settings. For more information, see Non-SQL Server Subscribers. This property cannot be changed for non-SQL Server publications.
false Publication does not support non-SQL Server Subscribers. This property cannot be changed for non-SQL Server publications.
enabled_for_internet true Publication is enabled for the Internet, and File Transfer Protocol (FTP) can be used to transfer the snapshot files to a subscriber. The synchronization files for the publication are put into the following directory: C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL\Repldata\ftp. ftp_address cannot be NULL. This property cannot be changed for non-SQL Server publications.
false Publication is not enabled for the Internet. This property cannot be changed for non-SQL Server publications.
enabled_for_p2p true The publication supports peer-to-peer replication. This property cannot be changed for non-SQL Server publications.
To set enabled_for_p2p to true, the following restrictions apply:
- allow_anonymous must be false
- allow_dts must be false.
- allow_initialize_from_backup must be true
- allow_queued_tran must be false.
- allow_sync_tran must be false.
- enabled_for_het_sub must be false.
- independent_agent must be true.
- repl_freq must be continuous.
- replicate_ddl must be 1.
false The publication does not support peer-to-peer replication. This property cannot be changed for non-SQL Server publications.
ftp_address FTP accessible location of the publication snapshot files. This property cannot be changed for non-SQL Server publications.
ftp_login User name used to connect to the FTP service, and the value ANONYMOUS is allowed. This property cannot be changed for non-SQL Server publications.
ftp_password Password for the user name used to connect to the FTP service. This property cannot be changed for non-SQL Server publications.
ftp_port Port number of the FTP service for the Distributor. This property cannot be changed for non-SQL Server publications.
ftp_subdirectory Specifies where the snapshot files are created if the publication supports propagating snapshots using FTP. This property cannot be changed for non-SQL Server publications.
immediate_sync true Synchronization files for the publication are created or re-created each time the Snapshot Agent runs. Subscribers are able to receive the synchronization files immediately after the subscription if the Snapshot Agent has been completed once before the subscription. New subscriptions get the newest synchronization files generated by the most recent execution of the Snapshot Agent. independent_agent must also be true. See remarks below for additional information about immediate_sync.
false Synchronization files are created only if there are new subscriptions. Subscribers cannot receive the synchronization files after the subscription until the Snapshot Agent is started and completes.
independent_agent true Publication has its own dedicated Distribution Agent.
false Publication uses a shared Distribution Agent, and each publication/subscription database pair has a shared agent.
p2p_continue_onconflict true The Distribution Agent continues to process changes when a conflict is detected.
Caution: We recommend that you use the default value of FALSE. When this option is set to TRUE, the Distribution Agent tries to converge data in the topology by applying the conflicting row from the node that has the highest originator ID. This method does not guarantee convergence. You should make sure that the topology is consistent after a conflict is detected. For more information, see "Handling Conflicts" in Conflict Detection in Peer-to-Peer Replication.
false The Distribution Agent stops processing changes when a conflict is detected.
post_snapshot_script Specifies the location of a Transact-SQL script file that the Distribution Agent runs after all the other replicated object scripts and data have been applied during an initial synchronization.
pre_snapshot_script Specifies the location of a Transact-SQL script file that the Distribution Agent runs before all the other replicated object scripts and data have been applied during an initial synchronization.
publish_to_ActiveDirectory true This parameter has been deprecated and is only supported for the backward compatibility of scripts. You can no longer add publication information to the Microsoft Active Directory.
false Removes the publication information from Active Directory.
queue_type sql Use SQL Server to store transactions. This property can be changed only if there are no active subscriptions.

Note: Support for using Microsoft Message Queuing has been discontinued. Specifying a value of msmq for value results in an error.
redirected_publisher The name of the availability group listener. Used in peer-to-peer replication when a peer is in an availability group. This property cannot be changed for non-SQL Server publications. Introduced in SQL Server 2019 (15.x) CU 13. For additional information see Configure one peer as part of availability group or Configure both peers in availability groups.
repl_freq continuous Publishes output of all log-based transactions.
snapshot Publishes only scheduled synchronization events.
replicate_ddl 1 Data definition language (DDL) statements executed at the publisher are replicated. This property cannot be changed for non-SQL Server publications.
0 DDL statements are not replicated. This property cannot be changed for non-SQL Server publications. Replication of schema changes cannot be disabled when using peer-to-peer replication.
replicate_partition_switch true ALTER TABLE...SWITCH statements that are executed against the published database should be replicated to Subscribers. This option is valid only if allow_partition_switch is set to TRUE. For more information, see Replicate Partitioned Tables and Indexes.
false ALTER TABLE...SWITCH statements should not be replicated to Subscribers.
retention int representing the retention period, in hours, for subscription activity. If a subscription is not active within the retention period, it is removed.
snapshot_in_defaultfolder true Snapshot files are stored in the default snapshot folder. If alt_snapshot_folderis also specified, snapshot files are stored in both the default and alternate locations.
false Snapshot files are stored in the alternate location specified by alt_snapshot_folder.
status active Publication data is available for Subscribers immediately when the publication is created. Not supported for Oracle Publishers.
inactive Publication data are not available for Subscribers when the publication is created. Not supported for Oracle Publishers.
sync_method native Uses native-mode bulk copy output of all tables when synchronizing subscriptions.
character Uses character-mode bulk copy output of all tables when synchronizing subscriptions.
concurrent Uses native-mode bulk-copy program output of all tables, but does not lock tables during the snapshot generation process. Not valid for snapshot replication.
concurrent_c Uses character-mode bulk copy program output of all tables, but does not lock tables during the snapshot generation process. Not valid for snapshot replication.
taskid This property has been deprecated and is no longer supported.
allow_drop true Enables DROP TABLE DLL support for articles which are part of transactional replication. Minimum supported version: SQL Server 2014 (12.x) Service Pack 2 or above and SQL Server 2016 (13.x) Service Pack 1 or above. Additional reference: KB 3170123
false Disables DROP TABLE DLL support for articles that are part of transactional replication. This is the default value for this property.
NULL (default) Returns the list of supported values for property.

[ @force_invalidate_snapshot = ] force_invalidate_snapshot Acknowledges that the action taken by this stored procedure may invalidate an existing snapshot. force_invalidate_snapshot is a bit, with a default of 0.

  • 0 specifies that changes to the article do not cause the snapshot to be invalid. If the stored procedure detects that the change does require a new snapshot, an error occurs and no changes are made.
  • 1 specifies that changes to the article may cause the snapshot to be invalid. If there are existing subscriptions that would require a new snapshot, this value gives permission for the existing snapshot to be marked as obsolete and a new snapshot generated.
    See the Remarks section for the properties that, when changed, require the generation of a new snapshot.

[@force_reinit_subscription = ] force_reinit_subscription
Acknowledges that the action taken by this stored procedure may require existing subscriptions to be reinitialized. force_reinit_subscription is a bit with a default of 0.

  • 0 specifies that changes to the article do not cause the subscription to be reinitialized. If the stored procedure detects that the change would require existing subscriptions to be reinitialized, an error occurs and no changes are made.
  • 1 specifies that changes to the article cause the existing subscription to be reinitialized, and gives permission for the subscription reinitialization to occur.

[ @publisher = ] 'publisher' Specifies a non- SQL Server Publisher. publisher is sysname, with a default of NULL.

Note

publisher should not be used when changing article properties on a SQL Server Publisher.

Return Code Values

0 (success) or 1 (failure)

Remarks

sp_changepublication is used in snapshot replication and transactional replication.

After changing any of the following properties, you must generate a new snapshot, and you must specify a value of 1 for the force_invalidate_snapshot parameter.

  • alt_snapshot_folder
  • compress_snapshot
  • enabled_for_het_sub
  • ftp_address
  • ftp_login
  • ftp_password
  • ftp_port
  • ftp_subdirectory
  • post_snapshot_script
  • pre_snapshot_script
  • snapshot_in_defaultfolder
  • sync_mode

To list publication objects in the Active Directory using the publish_to_active_directory parameter, the SQL Server object must already be created in the Active Directory.

Impact of immediate sync

When immediate sync is on, all changes in the log are tracked immediately after the initial snapshot is generated even if there are no subscriptions. Logged changes are used when a customer is using backup to add a new peer node. After the backup is restored, the peer is synched with any other changes occurring after the backup was taken. Since the commands are tracked in the distribution database, the synchronization logic can look at the last backed up LSN and use this as a starting point, knowing that the command is available if the backup was taken within the max retention period. (The default value for the min retention period is 0 hrs and max retention period is 24 hrs.)

When immediate sync is off, changes are kept at least the min retention period and cleaned up immediately for all the transactions that are already replicated. If immediate sync is off and configured with the default retention period, it is likely that the required changes after the backup was taken were cleaned up and the new peer node will not be initialized properly. The only option left is to quiesce the topology. Setting immediate sync to on provides greater flexibility and is the recommended setting for P2P replication.

Example

DECLARE @publication AS sysname
SET @publication = N'AdvWorksProductTran' 

-- Turn off DDL replication for the transactional publication.
USE [AdventureWorks2022]
EXEC sp_changepublication 
  @publication = @publication, 
  @property = N'replicate_ddl', 
  @value = 0
GO

Permissions

Only members of the sysadmin fixed server role or db_owner fixed database role can execute sp_changepublication.

See Also

View and Modify Publication Properties
Change Publication and Article Properties
sp_addpublication (Transact-SQL)
sp_droppublication (Transact-SQL)
sp_helppublication (Transact-SQL)
Replication Stored Procedures (Transact-SQL)