Script for checking the replication process in Netscape Directory Sever 4.1

Question

Hi,
We are using Netscape Directory Server 4.1.6 in our production environment. Where we want to know is there any script available to check the replication process. Or can we write a script to check the process.
Waiting for your replies at the earliest.
Thanks,
Syed A.

Answer 1

Hi Syed,
Replication state is very easy to see in 4.x and earlier. The last changenumber in the supplier changelog is visible (on the root DSE IIRC), and each consumer suffix has an operational attribute "copiedfrom" that tells you the name of the supplier, the database generation id, and the last change replayed from the supplier.
So a script that compares the results of
ldapsearch -h <supplier> -s base -b "" "objectclass=*" lastchangenumber
and
ldapsearch -h <consumer> -s base -b <base_suffix> "objectclass=*" copiedFrom
will show you if a replica has fallen out of sync. It won't tell you more than how many changes behind the replica is, though, because pre-5.x changenumbers are sequential integers, not timestamps.
However, the change that corresponds to the changenumber is clearly visible under the "cn=changelog" suffix. So if you look at the change itself you can see the timestamp on it.
For more info on the status of replication, you should be able to query the agreements on the supplier. Those live under the "Netscape Machine Data Suffix", which you can also find on the supplier's root DSE:
ldapsearch -h <supplier> -s base -b "" "objectclass=*" netscapemdsuffix
And of course the error logs will usually tell you if replication is failing outright.
I may be off on some of the attribute names, but if you do some investigating along these lines, you should be able to figure it out.