Startup, Scope and Collecting Replication Status Information

This page describes startup of the AD Replication Status Tool, configuring the scope and starting the Replication Status data collection.
 
Startup of the AD Replication Status Tool

The AD Replication Status Tool is started by clicking the AD Replication Status Tool 1.0 shortcut on the Desktop or you can double-click repl.exe from the C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Active Directory Replication Status Tool or C:\Program Files\Microsoft Active Directory Replication Status Tool directory depending if the OS of the machine AD Replication Status Tool is running on is a 32-bits or 64-bits version of Windows.
When AD Replication Status Tool starts a startup screen appears while Forest and Domain information is being collected. No DC information is collected during startup.

After startup the Configuration/Scope Settings screen is presented:

A ribbon is at the top of the AD Replication Status Tool screen. This ribbon has 2 tabs, Home and Help. The Home tab contains groups for the more common controls and commands such as selecting the Scope Settings, Show/Hide AD Target Selector, Dock/Undock Replication Error Guide,  Export Data Set (For offline viewing), or quickly switch between "Replication Status Viewer", "Configuration/Scope Settings", "Replication Error Guide" or TechNet AD Replication Articles. The Help tab has commands to access the AD Replication Status Tool help file and about information.
You can minimize the ribbon toolbar by right-clicking on the ribbon and then click Minimize the Ribbon. The tabs will remain visible allowing access to the ribbon commands.

In the bottom of the screen the status bar will display additional information such as Forest DNS name and the Tombstone Lifetime after the Environment Discovery is complete.

The middle screen displays the Configuration/Scope Settings sections.

Note: After startup only the Configuration/Scope Setting option is available from the Navigation - Replication Status group. The replication Status Viewer and Replication Error Guide become available after collecting replication status data.

After startup of AD Replication Status Tool no replication status information is available and must first be collected. Even if you have collected data before this will not be shown. After startup of the AD Replication Status Tool you must always first select the scope and then collect Replication Status information.

 
Select Scope

In the Configuration/Scope Settings screen click Forest, Domain or Selected Targets as scope.


Option Description
Forest

This option is selected by default and is the preferred option to use when running the AD Replication Status Tool. 

AD Replication Status Tool will contact every domain controller in the forest to collect replication status information.

Domain

Clicking this option unfreezes the Domain selector option. Click the domain for which you want to collect the Replication Status. You can only select a single domain. If you need to check replication status for more than one domain but not all domains, use the Select Targets option.

Select Targets

When clicking the Select Targets option and you have not yet collected the AD Replication Status for the Forest or a Domain, the "Load Target Selector" button will be displayed.

You must then click Load Targets Selector. The environment will be discovered but the AD Replication Status Tool will not yet collect AD Replication Status information.

When discovery of the environment is complete a new AD Target Selector pane opens to the left of the Configuration/Scope Settings pane.

You can select any DC or more than one Domain to collect Replication Status from.

If you have collected the Replication Status before, the AD Target Selector pane will be opened to the left of the Configuration/Scope Settings pane.

After selecting the Domain Controllers or Domains for which you want to review the Replication Status, click Show/Hide AD Target Selector. This allows the screens to use as much space as possible for displaying their information. Click Show/Hide AD Target Selector again to display the AD Target Selector.

 

Collect Replication Status Information

After selecting the Scope click Refresh Replication Status to start collecting the Replication Status for Forest, Domain or Selected Targets.

The Discovery Process, Replication Status Collection details and other information is described on the next pages. 

Exit the AD Replication Status Tool

To exit the AD Replication Status Tool, click the Arrow in the top left corner, and then click Exit.

 

Make sure to select this option to quit the AD Replication Status Tool. This way all temporary files will be removed which were created in C:\users\<UserName>\Appdata\Local\Temp\ADReplicationStatusTool when running Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2008. When running on Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 the files are created in  C:\Documents and Settings\<UserName>\Local Settings\Temp\ADReplicationStatusTool.