---
title: Populate an empty sync destination topology
description: The following procedure uses the resync command to populate an empty Sync Destination topology for small datasets. For large deployments, use the bin/translate-ldif command.
component: pingdirectory
version: 11.0
page_id: pingdirectory:pingdatasync_server_administration_guide:pd_sync_populate_emtpy_sync_dest_top
canonical_url: https://docs.pingidentity.com/pingdirectory/11.0/pingdatasync_server_administration_guide/pd_sync_populate_emtpy_sync_dest_top.html
revdate: September 13, 2023
section_ids:
  about-this-task: About this task
  steps: Steps
---

# Populate an empty sync destination topology

## About this task

The following procedure uses the `resync` command to populate an empty Sync Destination topology for small datasets. For large deployments, use the `bin/translate-ldif` command.

In this example, assume that the Sync Destination topology has only the base entry (`dc=example,dc=com`) and the `cn=Sync User` entry. Perform the following steps to populate an empty Sync Destination:

## Steps

1. Run the `resync` command with the log file path and with the log level `debug`. Logging is located in `logs/tools/resync.log` and in `logs/tools/resync-errors.log`.

   ```shell
   $ bin/resync --pipe-name sun-to-ds-sync-pipe \
     --numPasses 1 \
     --logLevel debug
   ```

2. Open the `logs/resync-failed-DNs.log` file in a text editor to locate the error and fix it. An entry cannot be created because the parent entry does not exist.

   ```
   # Entry '(see below)' was dropped because there was a failure at the
   resource:
   Failed to create entry uid=mlott,ou=People,dc=example,dc=com. Cause:
   LDAPException(resultCode=no such object, errorMessage='Entry
   uid=user.38,ou=People,dc=example,dc=com cannot be added because its parent
   entry ou=People,dc=example,dc=com does not exist in the server',
   matchedDN='dc=example,dc=com')
   (id=1893859385ResourceOperationFailedException.java:126 Build
   revision=4881)
   dn: uid=user.38,ou=People,dc=example,dc=com
   ```

3. Rerun the `resync` command. The command creates the entries in the Sync Destination topology that are present in the Sync Source topology.

   ```shell
   $ bin/resync --pipe-name sun-to-ds-sync-pipe
   ```

   ```
   ...(output from each pass)...
   Status after completing all passes[20/Mar/2016:14:23:33 -0500]
   -----------------------------
   Source entries retrieved 160
   Entries in-sync 156
   Entries created 4
   Duration (seconds) 11

   Resync completed in 12 s.

   156 entries were in-sync, 0 entries were modified, 4 entries were created,
   0 entries are still out-of-sync, 0 entries are still missing, and 0
   entries could not be processed due to an error
   ```

   |   |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
   | - | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
   |   | If importing a large amount of data into a PingDirectory server, run `export-ldif` and `import-ldif` on the newly populated backend for most efficient disk space use. If needed, run `dsreplication initialize` to propagate the efficient layout to additional replicas. |