To interface with the replication topology, Directory Server provides a command-line utility, dsreplication, that should be used to manage and monitor replication.

The cluster name for an instance should be set to a unique name during install. The cluster-name controls a handle of configuration settings that are used cluster-wide; any changes to the configuration will always get pushed out to other members of the topology. If the cluster-name is set to a unique name for each server, any change to the configuration via the dsconfig command or the console needs to be done on every server in the topology. In a devops model, it is recommended that the cluster name be unique so that everything can be managed with server profiles. If you are doing an on-premise install, you may want to use a common cluster-name across the topology.

Note: You should set a cluster name for the topology if you want cluster-wide settings to propagate across the topology in a single action.

Replication setup involves the following basic steps:

  • Set up the servers.

    This is the basic installation step to set up a Directory Server instance.

  • Import or restore data to one server.

    After setting up the servers, at least one server should have the target data loaded through import-ldif or restore.

  • Enable replication between the servers.

    Using the dsreplication tool, enable replication for each server to be included in the replication topology. The dsreplication enable subcommand should be run N - 1 times for a topology of N servers. For more information, see Command Line Interface.

  • Initialize data from source server to all servers in the topology.

    Run the dsreplication initialize subcommand for every target server that needs a copy of the data from the source server.

  • Verify the replication topology.

    Check the replication status after configuring the topology using the dsreplication status tool.