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Manage Inter-Sync Gateway Replications

    March 16, 2025
    + 12

    Managing inter-Sync Gateway replications

    Related inter-syncgateway topics: Overview | Run | Manage | Monitor | Conflict

    Other related topics: Configuration Properties | Admin REST API

    Context Clarification

    This content relates only to inter-Sync Gateway replication in Sync Gateway 2.8+. For documentation on pre-2.8 inter-Sync Gateway replication (also known as SG Replicate) — see SG-Replicate

    Admin capabilities

    The Admin REST API provides two endpoints to assist in the monitoring, administration and management of replications. These enable users to examine, update, start and stop replications:

    You can use the endpoints manually or by using automation (for example, scripts or a container orchestration system such as Kubernetes).

    The available endpoints used for admin tasks are:

    • _replication — Retrieve, Update or Remove a replication definition

    • _replicationStatus — Stop, Start or Reset a replication

    COMMUNITY EDITION Only

    Replications always run on the node on which they are configured. Users can only access replications on the node from which they make the request.

    Getting Replication Details

    You can view the current definition details of a replication. This includes replications configured in the JSON file and those initialized using the Admin REST API. You can do this for:

    • Individual replications (Example 1)

    • All replications defined for a specified database (Example 2)

    Replication information is returned a JSON object.

    Example 1. Get a replication definition
    json
    Copy
    curl --location --request GET 'http://localhost:4985/db1-local/_replication/db1-rep-id1' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \

    The following example retrieves definitions for all replications on a specified database, regardless of the node on which it was configured. The results are returned in an array; one entry per replication.

    Example 2. Get all replication definitions (for a database)
    json
    Copy
    curl --location --request GET 'http://localhost:4985/db1-local/_replication' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \

    Updating a Replication

    You can update an existing replication’s definition, whether configured or initialized by Admin Rest API, by providing the details you want to change in an API call (Example 3). Changes will only be made to those parameters provided in the call.

    If you change the remote URI it must be to a valid URI.

    How do I change an existing replication’s definition details?

    Send a PUT request to the _replication endpoint. Specify just the changed items in the JSON body.
    Example 3. Update a replication’s details
    json
    Copy
    curl --location --request PUT 'http://localhost:4985/db1-local/_replication/db1-rep-id1 \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data-raw '{
  "direction": "push",
  "purge_on_removal":false, // set back to default
  "remote": "http://user1:password1@example.com:4984/db1-remote",
  "filter":"sync_gateway/bychannel",
  "query_params": {
    "channels":["channel.user1"]
  },
  "continuous": false
  }'

    See: Admin REST API | Endpoint PUT/{tkn-url}/{tkn-db}/_replication/example-rep-db1

    Removing a Replication

    Removing a replication will delete:

    • The persisted replication definition

    • All checkpointsglossary icon associated with the replication

    • All replication status information associated with the replication

    To find the replication_id of an existing replication see Getting Replication Status Data.

    Action: Send a DELETE request to the replication endpoint specifying the replication_id to remove

    Example 4. Removing a replication
    json
    Copy
    curl --location --request DELETE 'http://localhost:4985/db2-local/_replication/db2-rep-id3' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \

    See: Admin REST API | Endpoint DELETE/{tkn-url}/{tkn-db}/_replication/example-rep-db1

    Getting Replication Status Data

    Sync Gateway provides easy access to replication status data through the Admin REST API.

    You can obtain the replication status details for a specific replication, or for all replications across all nodes. This option can be useful, for example, to find any auto-generated replication_id details needed to enable further replication management activities.

    COMMUNITY EDITION Only

    Replications always run on the node on which they are configured. Users can only access replications on the node from which they make the request.

    For more information on monitoring see: Monitor Inter-Sync Gateway Replications

    Example 5. For a Single Replication

    This example targets a known replication-id and returns its status data.

    json
    Copy
    curl --location --request GET 'http://localhost:4985/db1/_replicationStatus/db1-rep-id2' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
    Example 6. For All Replications

    This example targets all replications across all nodes. It filters the results using a query string — see: Monitor Inter-Sync Gateway Replications for more on using this option.

    json
    Copy
    curl --location --request GET "http://localhost:4985/db1-local/_replicationStatus?activeOnly=false&includeConfig=true&localOnly=false&includeError=true" \ (1)
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
    1 This example’s criteria selects replications with any status (including errors), on local and remote nodes. The returned status details also include replication definition details.

    Starting a Replication

    You can start a persistent or ad hoc replication not already in the running state. You need to specify the replication_id.

    If the replication is resetting it cannot be started until the reset is complete.

    Action: Send a POST request to the _replicationStatus endpoint with action=start

    Example 7. Start a replication
    json
    Copy
    curl --location --request PUT 'http://localhost:4985/db1-local/_replicationStatus/\{{db1-rep-id}}?action=start' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \

    Stopping a Replication

    You can stop a persistent or ad hoc replication not already in the stopped state. You can use this, for example, to offline an edge cluster without waiting for a long replication to complete.

    Action: Send a POST request to the _replicationStatus endpoint with action=stop

    Example 8. Stopping replications
    json
    Copy
    curl --location --request PUT 'http://localhost:4985/db1-local/_replicationStatus/\{{db1-rep-id1}}?action=stop' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \

    Resetting a Replication

    You can reset a persistent replication not in the running state. This can be useful to escape a system state where one or more documents have failed to sync but where resuming from previous synced checkpointglossary icon would skip over those documents. You need to specify the replication_id.

    If the replication is resetting it cannot be started until the reset is complete. The replication must be stopped before it can be reset.

    Action: Send a POST request to the _replicationStatus endpoint with action=reset

    Example 9. Reset a replication
    json
    Copy
    curl --location --request PUT 'http://localhost:4985/db1-local/_replicationStatus/\{{db1-rep-id2}}?action=reset' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \

    Skipping TLS Certificate Verification

    Development and Testing Option ONLY

    This is an unsupported configuration option. It must not be used in a production environment. Its ongoing availability is not guaranteed.

    The configuration setting. database.this_db.unsupported.sgr_tls_skip_verify, can be used to skip the validation of TLS certificates, simplifying development and testing — see: Example 10 and the configuration item unsupported.sgr_tls_skip_verify.

    Example 10. Using sgr_tls_skip_verify
    json
    Copy
    {
  "databases": {
    "db1": {
      "server": "couchbase://localhost",
      "bucket": "db1",
      "username": "Administrator",
      "password": "password",
      "unsupported": {
        "sgr_tls_skip_verify": true
      },
      "replications": {
        "repl1": {
          "direction": "pushAndPull",
          "remote": "https://remotehost:4985/db1",
          "continuous": true
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

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