Environment Discovery and Replication Status Details 

Environment Discovery

Environment Discovery begins immediately after the Forest or Domain scope has been selected and the Refresh Replication Status button has been clicked.
Or, in case where "Select Targets" has been chosen as scope, when the Load Target Selector button has been clicked.

Environment Discovery

  • Node
    • A list of all nodes that have been found and contacted during discovery.
  • Type
    • The type of node that has been discovered. Values can be:
      • Forest
      • NamingContext
      • Domain
      • Server (a Domain Controller has Server as node type)
  • Errors
    • Displays if errors have been detected during discovery
  • Status Text.
    • Shows a status text while discovery runs and after discovery is completed successfully the text "Completed Discovery".
      • A "Get AD Replication Status And Connection Data_<Some_GUID>.log" can be found in C:\Users\<UserName>\AppData\Local\Temp\ADReplicationStatusTool of the user running AD Replication Status Tool. This file holds detailed information on the discovery process and the Status Text messages.
    • As long as not all nodes have a status text of "Completed Discovery" discovery is not finished.

 

Collected Data and Re-Discovery

A folder named ADReplicationStatusTool is automatically created in: 'C:\Users\<UserName>\Appdata\Local\Temp\' of the logged on user after starting the AD replication Status Tool. 

Within this folder a folder called DataModel contains the DataModelIndex.xml file. This file is created every time you start the AD Replication Status Tool. All sub-folders in the ADReplicationStatusTool folder are removed when exiting the tool using the exit menu in the left top corner.

Environment discovery is only performed once after the AD Replication Status Tool is started. After the environment has been discovered all the information needed by AD Replication Status Tool is stored in the DataModelIndex.xml. This file contains all discovered node types such as forest, domain, naming context and DC information and is used by the tool from that point on.
The DataModelIndex.xml is updated if you run "Re-Discover Environment?" in the tool. 

If new DCs are added or DCs are removed when the tool is still running the DataModelIndex.xml needs to be updated to reflect these changes. If not the changes will be unknown by the tool until you exit the tool and start it again.

In the same directory as where the DataModelIndex.xml is located all data is stored that is collected for the environment. You typically will see the forest and all DCs have their own separate folder where the collected data is stored in xml files. After exiting the tool all collected data is automatically deleted. If you need to save the current Data Set for later reviewing, the Data Set can be exported. This export process is explained in the Exporting Replication Status information  page.

To rerun discovery select Re-Discover Environment? in the Select Replication Status for all DCs in: section, and then click Refresh Replication Status .

 


Load Exported Data Set

 

The option Load Exported Data Set allows you to review previously collected AD Replication Status data offline. On the Exporting Replication Status Data page the process is described how to Export the Data Set (for offline viewing).

Click Load Exported Data Set to import a previously exported data set. When the option is clicked an option becomes available where you can browse for the exported data set.
Note that you cannot enter the path to the ADReplicationStatusToolData.zip file but need to click "..."

Click "...", browse for the exported data set in the Open dialog box, click the ADReplicationStatusToolData.zip file which was exported before, and then click Open .

Click Load Selected Data Set . The selected zip file is being verified and if does not contain a correct Data Model it will tell you so.
If all was correct the data set is loaded and you can review the AD Replication Status in offline mode without collecting new data.

Replication Status Collection Details
The Replication Status Collection Details tab displays information during and after Replication Status data collection. If a failure occurs during Replication Status data collection the Replication Status Collection Details tab will be displayed.

Clicking Refresh Replication Status will start collecting the Replication Status data for the selected scope. If the Environment Discovery was not performed yet it needs to be discovered first. Replication Status Collection will automatically start immediately after Environment Discovery is complete. If the scope was set to Select Targets, Replication Status information can be started by clicking Refresh Replication Status after you selected the machines for which you want to collect the Replication Status information.

  • Node
    • Lists the Domain Controllers that were contacted to collect Replication Status information
  • Collection Status
    • Displays Collection Status information
    • Possible values are:
      • Running (This is displayed during Replication Status collection)
      • Success
      • Failure (Failed to collect Replication Status information)
  • Message
    • Displays information when a failure has occurred during collection.

 

When errors are detected during collection a third tab is added to the Configuration/Scope Settings screen, Replication Status Collection Errors.

Hide Environment Discovery and Replication Status Collection Details

The Environment Discovery and Replication Status Collection Details tabs can be hidden from the Configuration/Scope Settings screen.

 

Clicking the Hide/Show buttons allows you to hide or show the Environment Discovery and/or Replication Status Collection Details tabs from the Configuration/Scope Settings screen.