Replication Considerations

SQL Server 7.0 can perform transactional replication to SQL Server 6.5 installations. You cannot take advantage of new replication features until all servers involved in the replication (such as Publisher, Distributor, and Subscriber) have been upgraded to SQL Server 7.0. If you have enabled replication, you do not have to disable it to perform an upgrade to SQL Server 7.0.

Replication can be upgraded only if you are upgrading from SQL Server 6.5 and then only with a one-computer upgrade. Otherwise, you must upgrade the databases, and then manually reestablish replication with SQL Server 7.0.

You upgrade the Distributor server first. Before you begin the upgrade from SQL Server 6.5, ensure:

• No new Subscribers have been added that have not completed initial synchronization.
• No updates occur to the Publisher server(s) that correspond to the Distributor server you are about to upgrade.
• All transactions have been copied from the transaction log of the Publisher to the distribution database by running the log reader task for the production server.
• All transactions have been distributed to the Subscribers before you begin the upgrade of the SQL Server containing the distribution database, by running the distribution task.

To verify there are no undistributed transactions, run exec sp_repltrans against the Publisher database. If activity has stopped, no rows are returned. Then, run exec sp_MSDistribution_counter @publisher = ‘publisher_servername’ on the distribution database for each supported Publisher. The no rows returned message should have 0 in the undelivered_jobs column.