- Configuring your Web Server for Web Synchronization
- Configuring Your SQL Server Publisher for Web Synchronization
- Configuring Your Publication for Web Synchronization
- Configure Your Local Subscribers for Web Synchronization
- Configure your Remote Subscribers for Web Synchronization
- Summary
Configuring Your SQL Server Publisher for Web Synchronization
To configure your SQL Server Publisher for web synchronization, connect to SQL Server Publisher using SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), expand the Replication folder, expand the Local Publications folder, and right-click on the merge publication that you want to enable for web synchronization.
You will see the Welcome to Configure Web Synchronization Wizard splash screen. Click Next.
In the Subscriber Type dialog box, select the type of subscribers you will have. The two choices are SQL Server 2005 subscribers (Enterprise, Standard, Workgroup, Developer, and Express) and SQL Server 2005 Mobile clients. Make your selection and click Next.
You will be prompted to enter the name of the web server that will host the web synchronization process. For security reasons, this server should be different from your SQL Server Publisher. Select Create A New Virtual Directory or Configure An Existing Virtual Directory. After selecting your web server, you can select existing virtual directories or choose the web site in which you want to create your new virtual directory.
If you select a new virtual directory, you are prompted to create a new physical folder (if it does not already exist). You are prompted to accept the copying of an ISAPI extension that will process your web synchronization requests. Accept Yes for both of these prompts.
You then see a dialog box for Authentication Access. Microsoft recommends that you use Basic Authentication. For the domain, enter the name of the domain as it appears on the certificate (MyDomain.com); for the realm, enter the name of your fully qualified domain name as it appears on your certificate (Server.MyDomain.com). You can connect to your web server, right click on your web site, select Properties and Directory Security, and click View Certificate if you have forgotten these names.
After clicking Next, you see the Directory Access dialog box. Select an account or a group here that will be used to connect to your snapshot share.
This group should have rights to access the snapshot share which could be on the publisher, an ftp server, or a file server. By default, the snapshot share will have everyone’s read permission. When you share the snapshot share, ensure that the group that you will be using to access the snapshot share has read and list folder contents permissions. If you look at the dialog box closely, you will notice that it has a default check box: Grant The Above Users Permission To Access The UNC Snapshot Share. If you are using an FTP server, ensure that you are using anonymous authentication, or the account you are using has rights to read and list folder contents permissions. Click on the Add button in this dialog box and browse to locate the group.
Click on Next to advance to the Snapshot Share Access dialog box. Enter the name of the share your snapshot share is on as a UNC: \\MyServerName\ShareName. The share must preexist. Click on Next. If you have not already configured a publication to use this share as its snapshot folder, you will get a prompt telling you that the share is empty. Ensure that this is the share that you want to use and click on Next to continue to the Complete The Wizard dialog box. Evaluate your choices and click on Finish.
After the Web Configuration Wizard completes, you will get a success/failure report that will enable you to determine which component failed and rerun the wizard to correct portions that failed.