Copyright © 2007-2024 JumpMind, Inc

Version 3.15.10

Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this SymmetricDS User Guide for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted in perpetuity, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph appear in all copies.

Preface

This user guide introduces SymmetricDS and its features for data synchronization. It is intended for users, developers, and administrators who want to install the software, configure synchronization, and manage its operation. Thank you to all the members of the open source community whose feedback and contributions helped us build better software and documentation. This version of the guide was generated on 2024-11-13.

1. Introduction

SymmetricDS is open source software for database and file synchronization, with support for multi-master replication, filtered synchronization, and transformation. It uses web and database technologies to replicate change data as a scheduled or near real-time operation, and it includes an initial load feature for full data loads. The software was designed to scale for a large number of nodes, work across low-bandwidth connections, and withstand periods of network outage.

1.1. System Requirements

SymmetricDS is written in Java and requires a Java Runtime Environment (JRE) Standard Edition (SE) or Java Development Kit (JDK) Standard Edition (SE). Most major operating systems and databases are supported. See the list of supported databases in the Database Compatibility section. The minimum operating system requirements are:

  • Java SE Runtime Environment 17 or newer

  • Memory - 64 (MB) available

  • Disk - 256 (MB) available

The memory, disk, and CPU requirements increase with the number of connected clients and the amount of data being synchronized. The best way to size a server is to simulate synchronization in a lower environment and benchmark data loading. However, a rule of thumb for servers is one server-class CPU with 2 GB of memory for every 500 MB/hour of data transfer and 350 clients. Multiple servers can be used as a cluster behind a load balancer to achieve better performance and availability.

1.2. Overview

A node is responsible for synchronizing the data from a database or file system with other nodes in the network using HTTP. Nodes are assigned to one of the node Groups that are configured together as a unit. The node groups are linked together with Group Links to define either a push or pull communication. A pull causes one node to connect with other nodes and request changes that are waiting, while a push causes one node to connect with other nodes when it has changes to send.

Each node is connected to a database with a Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) driver using a connection URL, username, and password. While nodes can be separated across wide area networks, the database a node is connected to should be located nearby on a local area network for the best performance. Using its database connection, a node creates tables as a Data Model for configuration settings and runtime operations. The user populates configuration tables to define the synchronization and the runtime tables capture changes and track activity. The tables to sync can be located in any Catalog and Schema that are accessible from the connection, while the files to sync can be located in any directory that is accessible on the local server.

overview

At startup, SymmetricDS looks for Node Properties Files and starts a node for each file it finds, which allows multiple nodes to run in the same instance and share resources. The property file for a node contains its external ID, node group, registration server URL, and database connection information. The external ID is the name for a node used to identify it from other nodes. One node is configured as the registration server where the master configuration is stored. When a node is started for the first time, it contacts the registration server using a registration process that sends its external ID and node group. In response, the node receives its configuration and a node password that must be sent as authentication during synchronization with other nodes.

1.3. Architecture

Each subsystem in the node is responsible for part of the data movement and is controlled through configuration. Data flows through the system in the following steps:

  1. Capture into a runtime table at the source database

  2. Route for delivery to target nodes and group into batches

  3. Extract and transform into the rows, columns, and values needed for the outgoing batch

  4. Send the outgoing batch to target nodes

  5. Receive the incoming batch at the target node

  6. Transform into the rows, columns, and values needed for the incoming batch

  7. Load data and return an acknowledgment to the source node

architecture
Capture

Change Data Capture (CDC) for tables uses database triggers that fire and record changes as comma-separated values into a runtime table called DATA. For file sync, a similar mechanism is used, except changes to the metadata about files are captured. The changes are recorded as insert, update, and delete event types. The subsystem installs and maintains triggers on tables based on the configuration provided by the user, and it can automatically detect schema changes on tables and regenerate triggers.

Route

Routers run across new changes to determine which target nodes will receive the data. The user configures which routers to use and what criteria is used to match data, creating subsets of rows if needed. Changes are grouped into batches and assigned to target nodes in the DATA_EVENT and OUTGOING_BATCH tables.

Extract

Changes are extracted from the runtime tables and prepared to be sent as an outgoing batch. If large objects are configured for streaming instead of capture, they are queried from the table. Special event types like "reload" for Initial Loads are also processed.

Transform

If transformations are configured, they operate on the change data either during the extract phase at the source node or the load phase at the target node. The node’s database can be queried to enhance the data. Data is transformed into the tables, rows, columns, and values needed for either the outgoing or incoming batch.

Outgoing

The synchronization sends batches to target nodes to be loaded. Multiple batches can be configured to send during a single synchronization. The status of the batch is updated on the OUTGOING_BATCH table as it processes. An acknowledgment is received from target nodes and recorded on the batch.

Incoming

The synchronization receives batches from remote nodes and the data is loaded. The status of the batch is updated on the INCOMING_BATCH table as it processes. The resulting status of the batch is returned to the source node in an acknowledgment.

1.4. Features

SymmetricDS offers a rich set of features with flexible configuration for large scale deployment in a mixed environment with multiple systems.

  • Data Synchronization - Change data capture for relational databases and file synchronization for file systems can be periodic or near real-time, with an initial load feature to fully populate a node.

  • Central Management - Configure, monitor, and troubleshoot synchronization from a central location where conflicts and errors can be investigated and resolved.

  • Automatic Recovery - Data delivery is durable and low maintenance, withstanding periods of downtime and automatically recovering from a network outage.

  • Secure and Efficient - Communication uses a data protocol designed for low bandwidth networks and streamed over HTTPS for encrypted transfer.

  • Transformation - Manipulate data at multiple points to filter, subset, translate, merge, and enrich the data.

  • Conflict Management - Enforce consistency of two-way synchronization by configuring rules for automatic and manual resolution.

  • Extendable - Scripts and Java code can be configured to handle events, transform data, and create customized behavior.

  • Deployment Options - The software can be installed as a self-contained server that stands alone, deployed to a web application server, or embedded within an application.

1.5. Why SymmetricDS?

SymmetricDS is a feature-rich data synchronization solution that focuses on ease of use, openness, and flexibility. The software encourages interoperability and accessibility for users and developers with the availability of source code, an application programming interface (API), and a data model supported by documentation. Configuration includes a powerful set of options to define node topology, communication direction, transformation of data, and integration with external systems. Through scripts and Java code, the user can also extend functionality with custom behavior. With a central database for setup and runtime information, the user has one place to configure, manage, and troubleshoot synchronization, with changes taking immediate effect across the network.

The trigger-based data capture system is easy to understand and widely supported by database systems. Table synchronization can be setup by users and application developers without requiring a database administrator to modify the server. Triggers are database objects written in a procedural language, so they are open for examination, and include flexible configuration options for conditions and customization. Some overhead is associated with triggers, but they perform well for applications of online transaction processing, and their benefits of flexibility and maintenance outweigh the cost for most scenarios.

Using an architecture based on web server technology, many simultaneous requests can be handled at a central server, with proven deployments in production supporting more than ten thousand client nodes. Large networks of nodes can be grouped into tiers for more control and efficiency, with each group synchronizing data to the next tier. Data loading is durable and reliable by tracking batches in transactions and retrying of faults for automatic recovery, making it a low maintenance system.

1.6. License

SymmetricDS is free software licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 3.0. See http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html for the full text of the license. This project includes software developed by JumpMind (http://www.jumpmind.com/) and a community of multiple contributors. SymmetricDS is licensed to JumpMind as the copyright holder under one or more Contributor License Agreements. SymmetricDS and the SymmetricDS logos are trademarks of JumpMind.

2. Installation

SymmetricDS at its core is a web application. A SymmetricDS instance runs within the context of a web application container like Jetty or Tomcat, and uses web based protocols like HTTP to communicate with other instances.

An instance has one of the following installation options:

  1. Standalone Installation - SymmetricDS is installed and run as a standalone process using the built-in Jetty web server. This is the simplest and recommended way to install an instance.

  2. Web Archive (WAR) - A SymmetricDS web archive (WAR) file is deployed to an existing web application container that is separately installed, maintained and run.

  3. Embedded - SymmetricDS is embedded within an existing application. In this option, a custom wrapper program is written that calls the SymmetricDS API to synchronize data.

2.1. Standalone Installation

The SymmetricDS standalone ZIP file can be downloaded from Sourceforge. It is installed by unzipping to the installation location.

The sym command line utility starts a standalone instance of SymmetricDS using the built-in Jetty web server to handle requests. The web server can be configured by changing properties in the conf/symmetric-server.properties file.

The following example starts the server on the default port from the command line. SymmetricDS will automatically create a node for each Node Properties File configured in the engines directory.

bin/sym

To automatically start SymmetricDS when the machine boots, see Running as a Service.

2.2. Running as a Service

SymmetricDS can be configured to start automatically when the system boots, running as a Windows service or Linux/Unix daemon. A wrapper process starts SymmetricDS and monitors it, so it can be restarted if it runs out of memory or exits unexpectedly. The wrapper writes standard output and standard error to the logs/wrapper.log file.

2.2.1. Running as a Windows Service

To install the service, run the following command as Administrator:

bin\sym_service.bat install

Most configuration changes do not require the service to be re-installed. To uninstall the service, run the following command as Administrator:

bin\sym_service.bat uninstall

To start and stop the service manually, run the following commands as Administrator:

bin\sym_service.bat start
bin\sym_service.bat stop

2.2.2. Running as a Linux/Unix daemon

An init script is written to the system /etc/init.d directory. Symbolic links are created for starting on run levels 2, 3, and 5 and stopping on run levels 0, 1, and 6. To install the script, running the following command as root:

bin/sym_service install

Most configuration changes do not require the service to be re-installed. To uninstall the service, run the following command as root:

bin/sym_service uninstall

To start and stop the service manually, run the following commands:

bin/sym_service start
bin/sym_service stop

2.3. Clustering

A single SymmetricDS node can be deployed across a series of servers to cooperate as a cluster. A node can be clustered to provide load balancing and high availability.

Clustering is available in SymmetricDS Pro.

Each node in the cluster shares the same database. A separate hardware or software load balancer is required to receive incoming requests and direct them to one of the backend nodes. Use the following steps to setup a cluster:

  1. Set the cluster.lock.enabled property to true

  2. Optionally, set the cluster.server.id property to a unique name, otherwise the hostname will be used

  3. Set the sync.url property to the URL of the load balancer

  4. Set the initial.load.use.extract.job.enabled property to false if using local staging

  5. Copy the engine properties, security/keystore, and conf/sym_service.conf files to each installation

  6. Configure the load balancer for sticky sessions

  7. If the load balancer requires cookies, then client nodes need to set the server.http.cookies.enabled property to true in conf/symmetric-server.properties

With the cluster.lock.enabled property set to true, jobs will acquire an entry in the LOCK table to ensure that only one instance of the job runs across the cluster. When a lock is acquired, a row is updated in the lock table with the time of the lock and the server ID of the locking job. The locking server ID defaults to the host name, but it can specified with the cluster.server.id property if nodes are running on the same server. Another instance of the job cannot acquire a lock until the locking instance releases the lock and sets the lock time back to null. If an instance is terminated while the lock is still held, an instance with the same server ID is allowed to re-acquire the lock. If the locking instance remains down, the lock can be broken after it expires, specified by the cluster.lock.timeout.ms property. Jobs refresh their lock periodically as they run, which prevents a lock from expiring due to a long run time.

The load balancer should be configured to use sticky sessions if the cluster will receive push synchronization. Push connections first request a reservation from the target node and then connect again using the reservation to push changes. Sticky sessions ensures that the push request is sent to the same server where the reservation is held.

Staging is writing batches to disk before sending over the network, which can use local disk or a shared network drive. Staging can improve performance by reducing the time that resources are held open in the database and by extracting batches before they are served. To use local staging in a cluster, disable the initial.load.use.extract.job.enabled property so the initial load will extract batches on the node serving the request, rather than extracting in the background on a different node. To use shared staging in a cluster, set the staging.dir property to the directory path of the network drive and enable the cluster.staging.enabled property so files are locked during use. With shared staging, the initial load extracts in the background on one node, but batches can be served from any of the nodes in the cluster, which can improve performance.

When deploying nodes in a cluster to an application server like Tomcat or JBoss, the application server does NOT need any clustering of sessions configured.

2.4. Other Deployment Options

It is recommended that SymmetricDS is installed as a standalone service, however there are two other deployment options.

2.4.1. Web Archive (WAR)

This option means packaging a WAR file and deploying to your favorite web server, like Apache Tomcat. It’s a little more work, but you can configure the web server to do whatever you need. SymmetricDS can also be embedded in an existing web application, if desired. As a web application archive, a WAR is deployed to an application server, such as Tomcat, Jetty, or JBoss. The structure of the archive will have a web.xml file in the WEB-INF folder, an appropriately configured symmetric.properties file in the WEB-INF/classes folder, and the required JAR files in the WEB-INF/lib folder.

symmetric war
Figure 1. War

A war file can be generated using the standalone installation’s symadmin utility and the create-war subcommand. The command requires the name of the war file to generate. It essentially packages up the web directory, the conf directory and includes an optional properties file. Note that if a properties file is included, it will be copied to WEB-INF/classes/symmetric.properties. This is the same location conf/symmetric.properties would have been copied to. The generated war distribution uses the same web.xml as the standalone deployment.

bin/symadmin -p my-symmetric-ds.properties create-war /some/path/to/symmetric-ds.war

2.4.2. Embedded

This option means you must write a wrapper Java program that runs SymmetricDS. You would probably use Jetty web server, which is also embeddable. You could bring up an embedded database like Derby or H2. You could configure the web server, database, or SymmetricDS to do whatever you needed, but it’s also the most work of the three options discussed thus far.

The deployment model you choose depends on how much flexibility you need versus how easy you want it to be. Both Jetty and Tomcat are excellent, scalable web servers that compete with each other and have great performance. Most people choose either the Standalone or Web Archive with Tomcat 5.5 or 6. Deploying to Tomcat is a good middle-of-the-road decision that requires a little more work for more flexibility.

A Java application with the SymmetricDS Java Archive (JAR) library on its classpath can use the SymmetricWebServer to start the server.

import org.jumpmind.symmetric.SymmetricWebServer;

public class StartSymmetricEngine {

    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {

        SymmetricWebServer node = new SymmetricWebServer(
                                   "classpath://my-application.properties", "conf/web_dir");

        // this will create the database, sync triggers, start jobs running
        node.start(8080);

        // this will stop the node
        node.stop();
    }

This example starts the SymmetricDS server on port 8080. The configuration properties file, my-application.properties, is packaged in the application to provide properties that override the SymmetricDS default values. The second parameter to the constructor points to the web directory. The default location is web. In this example the web directory is located at conf/web_dir. The web.xml is expected to be found at conf/web_dir/WEB-INF/web.xml.

2.4.3. Client Mode

This option runs the SymmetricDS engine without a web server, so it can initiate push and pull requests, but not receive them. Without the web server, there are no open ports listening for sync requests, which can help with security requirements.

The sym command line utility has an option to start in client mode:

bin/sym --client

The conf/sym_service.conf file has a parameter to start the service in client mode:

wrapper.app.parameter.3=--client

3. Setup

The first node created is called the Primary Node. The primary node is where configuration is managed. Other nodes typically register with the master node to get their initial configuration. After nodes are registered, additional configuration changes made at the primary node are synchronized to the registered nodes automatically.

All nodes require a properties file that contains identity information and database connection information. SymmetricDS configuration needs to be inserted via a SQL script at the primary node.

3.1. Node Properties File

Each node that is deployed to a server is represented by a properties file that allows it to connect to a database and register with a parent node. Properties are configured in a file named xxxxx.properties. It is placed in the engines directory of the SymmetricDS install. The file is usually named according to the engine.name, but it is not a requirement.

To give a node its identity, the following properties are required. Any other properties found in conf/symmetric.properties can be overridden for a specific engine in an engine’s properties file. If the properties are changed in conf/symmetric.properties they will take effect across all engines deployed to the server.

You can use the variable $(hostName) to represent the host name of the machine when defining these properties (for example, external.id=$(hostName)). You can also access external id, engine name, node group id, sync URL, and registration URL in this manner. (for example, engine.name=$(nodeGroupId)-$(externalId)).
You can also use BSH script for the external id, engine name, node group id, sync URL, and registration URL. Use back ticks to indicate the BSH expression, and note that only one BSH expression is supporter for a given property line. The script can be prefixed or suffixed with fixed text. For example, if you wish to based the external id off of just a part of the hostname (e.g., substring of hostName): external.id=store-`import org.apache.commons.lang.StringUtils; return StringUtils.substring(hostName,2,4);\`
You can also set both environmental variables and system properties directly in the engine file. Environmental variables refer to external variables supplied by the Operating System, and system properties are variables that can be passed into the JVM. For example, if the environment variable you’re using is USERNAME, you would use $(USERNAME) in the engine file. Note, this is case sensitive.
engine.name

This is an arbitrary name that is used to access a specific engine using an HTTP URL. Each node configured in the engines directory must have a unique engine name. The engine name is also used for the domain name of registered JMX beans.

group.id

The node group that this node is a member of. Synchronization is specified between node groups, which means you only need to specify it once for multiple nodes in the same group.

external.id

The external id for this node has meaning to the user and provides integration into the system where it is deployed. For example, it might be a retail store number or a region number. The external id can be used in expressions for conditional and subset data synchronization. Behind the scenes, each node has a unique sequence number for tracking synchronization events. That makes it possible to assign the same external id to multiple nodes, if desired.

sync.url

The URL where this node can be contacted for synchronization. At startup and during each heartbeat, the node updates its entry in the database with this URL. The sync url is of the format: http://{hostname}:{port}/{webcontext}/sync/{engine.name}

The {webcontext} is blank for a standalone deployment. It will typically be the name of the war file for an application server deployment.

The {engine.name} can be left blank if there is only one engine deployed in a SymmetricDS server.

When a new node is first started, it is has no information about synchronizing. It contacts the registration server in order to join the network and receive its configuration. The configuration for all nodes is stored on the registration server, and the URL must be specified in the following property:

registration.url

The URL where this node can connect for registration to receive its configuration. The registration server is part of SymmetricDS and is enabled as part of the deployment. This is typically equal to the value of the sync.url of the registration server.

Note that a registration server node is defined as one whose registration.url is either blank or identical to its sync.url.

For a deployment where the database connection pool should be created using a JDBC driver, set the following properties:

db.driver

The class name of the JDBC driver.

db.url

The JDBC URL used to connect to the database.

db.user

The database username, which is used to login, create, and update SymmetricDS tables.

db.password

The password for the database user.

See Startup Parameters, for additional parameters that can be specified in the engine properties file.

3.2. Adding Nodes

Section Add Node talks about creating additional nodes.

3.3. Load Only Node

Load only nodes can be configured for nodes that are only designed to load data into the database. This prevents any triggers or runtime tables from being installed on this database but still allow data to be replicated to it.

Advantages of Load Only Nodes
  • No SymmetricDS runtime tables (SYM_*) installed inside the target database.

  • No SymmetricDS triggers installed inside the target database.

  • There is still support for bulk loaders if provided (MSSQL, Oracle, Postgres, MySQL for example).

  • Allows SymmetricDS to load data into dialects that are not fully supported yet or may not have full trigger support.

Constraints of Load Only Nodes
  • Can not be set up to capture changes

  • Requires a JDBC driver

  • May require table creation outside of SymmetricDS

  • Requires an additional database to be used for SymmetricDS runtime usage. H2 is used in the setup below but any other database could be used as the runtime database.

3.3.1. Setup Load Only Node

  1. Begin by setting up a Node Properties File. You do not need to provide any of the db.* properties just yet as they will be adjusted in step 2.

  2. Adjust the db.* properties in the load only engine properties file to utilize H2 for runtime information and configuration. The db.user and db.password values are required but do not have to contain values, an empty property for these is sufficient.

db.driver=org.h2.Driver
db.url=jdbc:h2:file:load-only;LOCK_TIMEOUT=60000
db.validation.query=select 1
db.user=
db.password=
If you have multiple load only nodes under a single installation of SymmetricDS you will need to provide a unique H2 database name for each in the db.url above (default is load-only).
  1. Add the following properties to identify the node as load only and provide connection information for your load only database.

load.only=true
target.db.driver=
target.db.url=
target.db.user=
target.db.password=
If additional database properties are needed you can add the prefix target. to any other existing SymmetricDS parameters Startup Parameters.
  1. Add the jar file containing the jdbc driver provided in the target.db.driver property to the /lib folder of SymmetricDS

  2. Restart SymmetricDS

4. Configuration

Configuring SymmetricDS is the process of setting up your synchronization scenario.

4.1. Groups

In SymmetricDS, configuration rules are applied to groups of nodes versus individual nodes. A group is a categorization of nodes with similar synchronization needs. For example, in a synchronization scenario where a corporate office database is synchronized with field office databases, two node groups would be created, one for the corporate office database (Corporate), and one for the field office databases (Field_office). In the corporate group, there would be a single node and database. In the field_office group, there would be many nodes and databases, one for each field office. Configuration rules/elements are applied to the node group versus the individual nodes in order to simplify the configuration setup (no need to configure each individual field office node, just how the field office nodes sync with the corporate office node).

Required Fields
Group ID

Unique identifier for the group.

Description

Description of the group that is available through the console.

Example 1. Sample Node Groups
insert into SYM_NODE_GROUP
        (node_group_id, description)
        values ('store', 'A retail store node');

insert into SYM_NODE_GROUP
        (node_group_id, description)
        values ('corp', 'A corporate node');

Group links define at a high level how data moves throughout your synchronization scenario. The group link defines which node groups will synchronize data to other node groups and within that exchange, which node group will initiate the conversation for that exchange.

Source Group ID

The source group of the communication link.

Link

Defines how the source and target groups will communicate.

Table 1. Options for Group Links

Push [P]

Indicates that nodes in the source node group will initiate communication over an HTTP PUT and push data to nodes in the target node group.

Wait for Pull [W]

Indicates nodes in the source node group will wait for a node in the target node group to connect via an HTTP GET and allow the nodes in the target node group to pull data from the nodes in the source node group.

Route-only [R]

Route-only indicates that the data isn’t exchanged between nodes in the source and nodes in the target node groups via SymmetricDS. This action type might be useful when using an XML publishing router or an audit table changes router.

Target Group ID

The target group of the communication link.

Sync Configuration

Determines if configuration is also sent through this group link during routing. This affects all SymmetricDS configuration tables except for extract_request, monitor_event, node, node_host, node_security, table_reload_request, and table_reload_status. By default this is checked and configuration will communicate on this path. There are configurations that might cause configuration to continuously loop through the network. As a result, this might need to be unchecked for some links.

Sync SQL/DDL

Determines if SQL events (including DDL) is also sent through this group link during routing. By default this is checked and SQL/DDL will communicate on this path. When using DDL replication, this gives the user control of where to route DDL changes.

Reversible

Allows the communication link to send in the reverse direction if specified on the channel. A push link can be overridden to pull and a pull link can be overridden to push using a setting on the channel.

Example 2. Sample Group Links
insert into SYM_NODE_GROUP_LINK
(source_node_group_id, target_node_group_id, data_event_action)
      values ('store', 'corp', 'P');

insert into SYM_NODE_GROUP_LINK
(source_node_group_id, target_node_group_id, data_event_action)
      values ('corp', 'store', 'W');

4.3. Routers

Routers ride on top of group links. While a group link specifies that data should be moved from nodes in a source node group to nodes in a target node group, routers define more specifically which captured data from a source node should be sent to which specific nodes in a target node group, all within the context of the node group link.

Router Id

Unique description of a specific router

Group Link

The group link used for the source and target node groups of this router

Router Type

The type of router. Standard router types are listed below. Custom routers can be configured as extension points. If a router does not support non-DML data events, then it will send all non-DML data events to the default router instead.

Table 2. Router Types
Type Description Supports Non-DML

default

A router that sends all captured data to all nodes that belong to the target node group defined in the router. See Default Router

column

A router that compares old or new column values in a captured data row to a constant value or the value of a target node’s external id or node id. See Column Match Router

audit

A router that inserts into an automatically created audit table. It records captured changes to tables that it is linked to. See Audit Table Router

java

A router that executes a Java expression in order to select nodes to route to. The script can use the old and new column values. See [Java Router]

lookuptable

A router which can be configured to determine routing based on an existing or ancillary table specifically for the purpose of routing data. See Lookup Table Router

subselect

A router that executes a SQL expression against the database to select nodes to route to. This SQL expression can be passed values of old and new column values. See Subselect Router

convertToReload

When subselect router is too slow and there are too many tables or rows for lookuptable router, a convertToReload router can efficiently sub-set data by converting multiple changes into a reload batch. See ConvertToReload Router

bsh

A router that executes a Bean Shell script expression in order to select nodes to route to. The script can use the old and new column values. See Beanshell Router

csv

A router that sends data from a CSV file to a target table of the target node group defined in the router. See CSV Router

dbf

A router that sends data from a dBase generated DBF file to a target table of the target node group defined in the router. See DBF Router

Router Expression

An expression that is specific to the type of router that is configured in router type. See the documentation for each router for more details.

Use Source Catalog/Schema

If set then the source catalog and source schema are sent to the target to be used to find the target table.

Target Catalog

Optional name of catalog where a target table is located. If this field is unspecified, the catalog will be either the default catalog at the target node or the "source catalog name" from the table trigger, depending on how "use source catalog schema" is set for the router. Variables are substituted for $(sourceNodeId), $(sourceExternalId), $(sourceNodeGroupId), $(targetNodeId), $(targetExternalId), $(targetNodeGroupId), $(sourceCatalogName), and $(sourceSchemaName). Parameter values can be substituted using $(name) syntax. See Variables.

Target Schema

Optional name of schema where a target table is located. If this field is unspecified, the schema will be either the default schema at the target node or the "source schema name" from the table trigger, depending on how "use source catalog schema" is set for the router. Variables are substituted for $(sourceNodeId), $(sourceExternalId), $(sourceNodeGroupId), $(targetNodeId), $(targetExternalId), $(targetNodeGroupId), $(sourceCatalogName), and $(sourceSchemaName). Parameter values can be substituted using $(name) syntax. See Variables.

Sync on Update

Flag that indicates that this router should send updated rows from nodes in the source node group to nodes in the target node group.

Sync on Insert

Flag that indicates that this router should send inserted rows from nodes in the source node group to nodes in the target node group.

Sync on Delete

Flag that indicates that this router should send deleted rows from nodes in the source node group to nodes in the target node group.

Target Table

Optional name for a target table. Only use this if the target table name is different than the source.

4.3.1. Router Types

Default Router

The simplest router is a router that sends all the data that is captured by its associated triggers to all the nodes that belong to the target node group defined in the router.

The following SQL statement defines a router that will send data from the 'corp' group to the 'store' group.
insert into SYM_ROUTER (router_id,
        source_node_group_id, target_node_group_id, create_time,
        last_update_time) values ('corp-2-store','corp', 'store',
        current_timestamp, current_timestamp);
The following SQL statement maps the 'corp-2-store' router to the item trigger.
insert into SYM_TRIGGER_ROUTER
        (trigger_id, router_id, initial_load_order, create_time,
        last_update_time) values ('item', 'corp-2-store', 1, current_timestamp,
        current_timestamp);
Column Match Router

Sometimes requirements may exist that require data to be routed based on the current value or the old value of a column in the table that is being routed. Column routers are configured by setting the router_type column on the ROUTER table to column and setting the router_expression column to an equality expression that represents the expected value of the column.

The first part of the expression is always the column name. The column name should always be defined in upper case. The upper case column name prefixed by OLD_ can be used for a comparison being done with the old column data value.

The second part of the expression can be a constant value, a token that represents another column, or a token that represents some other SymmetricDS concept. Token values always begin with a colon (:).

  1. Consider a table that needs to be routed to all nodes in the target group only when a status column is set to 'READY TO SEND.'

The following SQL statement will insert a column router to accomplish that.
 insert into SYM_ROUTER (router_id,
                source_node_group_id, target_node_group_id, router_type,
                router_expression, create_time, last_update_time) values
                ('corp-2-store-ok','corp', 'store', 'column', 'STATUS=READY TO SEND',
                current_timestamp, current_timestamp);
  1. Consider a table that needs to be routed to all nodes in the target group only when a status column changes values.

The use of OLD_STATUS, where the OLD_ prefix gives access to the old column value.
insert into SYM_ROUTER (router_id,
        source_node_group_id, target_node_group_id, router_type,
        router_expression, create_time, last_update_time) values
        ('corp-2-store-status','corp', 'store', 'column', 'STATUS!=:OLD_STATUS',
        current_timestamp, current_timestamp);
Attributes on a NODE that can be referenced with the following tokens
  • :NODE_ID

  • :SOURCE_NODE_ID

  • :EXTERNAL_ID

  • :SOURCE_EXTERNAL_ID

  • :NODE_GROUP_ID

  • :SOURCE_NODE_GROUP_ID

  • :REDIRECT_NODE

  1. Consider a table that needs to be routed to only nodes in the target group whose STORE_ID column matches the external id of a node.

The following SQL statement will insert a column router to accomplish that.
insert into SYM_ROUTER (router_id,
        source_node_group_id, target_node_group_id, router_type,
        router_expression, create_time, last_update_time) values
        ('corp-2-store-id','corp', 'store', 'column', 'STORE_ID=:EXTERNAL_ID',
        current_timestamp, current_timestamp);
  1. Consider a table that needs to be routed to a redirect node defined by its external id in the REGISTRATION_REDIRECT table.

The following SQL statement will insert a column router to accomplish that.
insert into SYM_ROUTER (router_id,
        source_node_group_id, target_node_group_id, router_type,
        router_expression, create_time, last_update_time) values
        ('corp-2-store-redirect','corp', 'store', 'column',
        'STORE_ID=:REDIRECT_NODE', current_timestamp, current_timestamp);
  1. More than one column may be configured in a router_expression. When more than one column is configured, all matches are added to the list of nodes to route to. The following is an example where the STORE_ID column may contain the STORE_ID to route to or the constant of ALL which indicates that all nodes should receive the update.

The following SQL statement will insert a column router to accomplish that.
insert into SYM_ROUTER (router_id,
        source_node_group_id, target_node_group_id, router_type,
        router_expression, create_time, last_update_time) values
        ('corp-2-store-multiple-matches','corp', 'store', 'column',
        'STORE_ID=ALL or STORE_ID=:EXTERNAL_ID', current_timestamp,
        current_timestamp);
  1. The NULL keyword may be used to check if a column is null. If the column is null, then data will be routed to all nodes who qualify for the update. This following is an example where the STORE_ID column is used to route to a set of nodes who have a STORE_ID equal to their EXTERNAL_ID, or to all nodes if the STORE_ID is null.

The following SQL statement will insert a column router to accomplish that.
insert into SYM_ROUTER (router_id,
        source_node_group_id, target_node_group_id, router_type,
        router_expression, create_time, last_update_time) values
        ('corp-2-store-multiple-matches','corp', 'store', 'column',
        'STORE_ID=NULL or STORE_ID=:EXTERNAL_ID', current_timestamp,
        current_timestamp);
  1. External data collected as part of the trigger firing (see External Select) can also be used as a virtual column in the router expression as well.

The following SQL statement will insert a column router to accomplish that.
insert into SYM_ROUTER (router_id,
        source_node_group_id, target_node_group_id, router_type,
        router_expression, create_time, last_update_time) values
        ('corp-2-store-multiple-matches','corp', 'store', 'column',
        'EXTERNAL_DATA=:EXTERNAL_ID', current_timestamp,
        current_timestamp);
Audit Table Router

This router audits captured data by recording the change in an audit table that the router creates and keeps up to date. The router creates a table named the same as the table for which data was captured with the suffix of _AUDIT. It will contain all of the same columns as the original table with the same data types only each column is nullable with no default values.

The following parameter must be set to true so that the audit table can be created.
auto.config.database=true
Three extra "AUDIT" columns are added to the table:
AUDIT_ID

the primary key of the table.

AUDIT_TIME

the time at which the change occurred.

AUDIT_EVENT

the DML type that happened to the row.

The following is an example of an audit router
insert into SYM_ROUTER (router_id,
        source_node_group_id, target_node_group_id, router_type, create_time,
        last_update_time) values ('audit_at_corp','corp', 'local', 'audit',
        current_timestamp, current_timestamp);
The audit router must be associated with a node group link of type 'R'. The 'R' stands for 'only routes to' (see Group Links). In the above example, we refer to a 'corp to local' group link. Here, local is a new node_group created for the audit router. No nodes belong to the 'local' node_group. If a trigger linked to an audit router fires on the corp node, a new audit table will be created at the corp node with the new data inserted.
Lookup Table Router

A lookup table may contain the id of the node where data needs to be routed. This could be an existing table or an ancillary table that is added specifically for the purpose of routing data. Lookup table routers are configured by setting the router_type column on the ROUTER table to lookuptable and setting a list of configuration parameters in the router_expression column.

Each of the following configuration parameters are required.
LOOKUP_TABLE

This is the name of the lookup table.

KEY_COLUMN

This is the name of the column on the table that is being routed. It will be used as a key into the lookup table.

LOOKUP_KEY_COLUMN

This is the name of the column that is the key on the lookup table.

EXTERNAL_ID_COLUMN

This is the name of the column that contains the external_id of the node to route to on the lookup table.

ALL_NODES_VALUE

This is an optional parameter that allows you to specify a value for the EXTERNAL_ID_COLUMN that means "send to all nodes". The value of "null" will be interpreted as a null value, not the string "null".

The lookup table will be read into memory and cached for the duration of a routing pass for a single channel.

Consider a table that needs to be routed to a specific store, but the data in the changing table only contains brand information. In this case, the STORE table may be used as a lookup table.

insert into SYM_ROUTER (router_id,
                source_node_group_id, target_node_group_id, router_type,
                router_expression, create_time, last_update_time) values
                ('corp-2-store-ok','corp', 'store', 'lookuptable', 'LOOKUP_TABLE=STORE
                KEY_COLUMN=BRAND_ID LOOKUP_KEY_COLUMN=BRAND_ID
                EXTERNAL_ID_COLUMN=STORE_ID', current_timestamp, current_timestamp);
Subselect Router

Sometimes routing decisions need to be made based on data that is not in the current row being synchronized. A 'subselect' router can be used in these cases. A 'subselect' is configured with a router expression that is a SQL select statement which returns a result set of the node ids that need routed to. Column tokens can be used in the SQL expression and will be replaced with row column data.

The overhead of using this router type is high because the 'subselect' statement runs for each row that is routed. It should not be used for tables that have a lot of rows that are updated. It also has the disadvantage that if the data being relied on to determine the node id has been deleted before routing takes place, then no results would be returned and routing would not happen.

The router expression you specify is appended to the following SQL statement in order to select the node ids:

select c.node_id
from sym_node c
where c.node_group_id=:NODE_GROUP_ID
        and c.sync_enabled=1 and ...

The SQL statement has access to the following variables that are replaced before running:

Table 3. Variables available to the subselect router

:NODE_GROUP_ID

The target node group ID that is configured for the router.

:EXTERNAL_DATA

The external data for current row, as configured by sym_trigger.external_select.

:DATA_EVENT_TYPE

The event type of either INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE.

:TABLE_NAME

The table name for the current row.

:COLUMN_NAME

Variables named for each column name (in uppercase), which return the column value for the new row.

:OLD_COLUMN_NAME

Variables named for each column name (in uppercase and prefixed with OLD_), which return the column value for the old row.

Example 3. Sample Use Case for Subselect Router

For an example, consider the case where an Order table and an OrderLineItem table need to be routed to a specific store. The Order table has a column named order_id and STORE_ID. A store node has an external_id that is equal to the STORE_ID on the Order table. OrderLineItem, however, only has a foreign key to its Order of order_id. To route OrderLineItems to the same nodes that the Order will be routed to, we need to reference the master Order record.

There are two possible ways to solve this in SymmetricDS.

  1. Configure a 'subselect' router type (shown below).

  2. Use an external select to capture the data via a trigger for use in a column match router, see External Select.

insert into SYM_ROUTER (router_id,
        source_node_group_id, target_node_group_id, router_type,
        router_expression, create_time, last_update_time) values
        ('corp-2-store','corp', 'store', 'subselect', 'c.external_id in (select
        STORE_ID from order where order_id=:ORDER_ID)', current_timestamp,
        current_timestamp);
In this example that the parent row in Order must still exist at the moment of routing for the child rows (OrderLineItem) to route, since the select statement is run when routing is occurring, not when the change data is first captured.
ConvertToReload Router

This router converts multiple change events into a single reload event, which can be used to sub-set data quickly when the subselect router is too slow or when the lookuptable router can’t handle the amount of lookup data. ConvertToReload inserts the primary key values for each row, along with a unique load ID, into a temporary table. The reload event uses the initial load SQL along with a join to the temporary table to retrieve the changes and sub-set data.

The router expression requires the name of the temporary table to use:

temptable=mytable_router
Example 4. Sample Use Case for ConvertToReload Router
create table mytest (id integer, name varchar(50), primary key(id));
create table mytest_router (id integer, load_id integer, primary key(load_id, id));
insert into SYM_ROUTER (router_id,
        source_node_group_id, target_node_group_id, router_type,
        router_expression, create_time, last_update_time) values
        ('corp-2-store','corp', 'store', 'convertToReload', 'temptable=mytest_router', current_timestamp,
        current_timestamp);
Beanshell Router

When more flexibility is needed in the logic to choose the nodes to route to, then the a scripted router may be used. The currently available scripting language is Bean Shell. Bean Shell is a Java-like scripting language. Documentation for the Bean Shell scripting language can be found at http://www.beanshell.org .

The router type for a Bean Shell scripted router is 'bsh'. The router expression is a valid Bean Shell script that:

Table 4. Variables available to the script

nodes

Collection of org.jumpmind.symmetric.model.Node objects the router would route to normally.

nodeIds

Collection of node ids that the router would route to normally. You can just return this if you want the bsh router to behave like the default router.

targetNodes

Collection of org.jumpmind.symmetric.model.Node objects to be populated and returned.

engine

The instance of org.jumpmind.symmetric.ISymmetricEngine which has access to SymmetricDS services.

Any Data Column

Data column values are bound to the script evaluation as Java object representations of the column data. The columns are bound using the uppercase names of the columns. For example, a table with a store_id column will have a STORE_ID variable name available in Bean Shell script. When using file sync, columns from the FILE_SNAPSHOT table will be available in the script.

Any Old Values

Old Data column values are bound to the script evaluation as Java object representations of the column data. The columns are bound using the uppercase representations that are prefixed with 'OLD_'. For example, a table with a store_id column will have an OLD_STORE_ID variable name available in Bean Shell script representing the old value for the store_id before the change. When using file sync, columns from the FILE_SNAPSHOT table will be available in the script.

Table 5. Return options

targetNodes

Collection of org.jumpmind.symmetric.model.Node objects that will be routed to.

true

All nodes should be routed

false

No nodes should be routed

The last line of a bsh script is always the return value.
Example 5. Use case using a Bean Shell where the node_id is a combination of STORE_ID and WORKSTATION_NUMBER, both of which are columns on the table that is being routed.
insert into SYM_ROUTER (router_id,
        source_node_group_id, target_node_group_id, router_type,
        router_expression, create_time, last_update_time) values
        ('corp-2-store-bsh','corp', 'store', 'bsh', 'targetNodes.add(STORE_ID +
        "-" + WORKSTATION_NUMBER);', current_timestamp, current_timestamp);

The same could also be accomplished by simply returning the node id.

insert into SYM_ROUTER (router_id,
        source_node_group_id, target_node_group_id, router_type,
        router_expression, create_time, last_update_time) values
        ('corp-2-store-bsh','corp', 'store', 'bsh', 'STORE_ID +
        "-" + WORKSTATION_NUMBER', current_timestamp, current_timestamp);
Example 6. Use case using a Bean Shell script to synchronize to all nodes if the FLAG column has changed, otherwise no nodes will be synchronized.
insert into SYM_ROUTER (router_id,
        source_node_group_id, target_node_group_id, router_type,
        router_expression, create_time, last_update_time) values
        ('corp-2-store-flag-changed','corp', 'store', 'bsh', 'FLAG != null
        && !FLAG.equals(OLD_FLAG)', current_timestamp,
        current_timestamp);
Here we make use of OLD_, which provides access to the old column value.
Example 7. Use case using a Bean Shell script that iterates over each eligible node and checks to see if the trimmed value of the column named STATION equals the external_id.
 insert into SYM_ROUTER (router_id,
        source_node_group_id, target_node_group_id, router_type,
        router_expression, create_time, last_update_time) values
        ('corp-2-store-trimmed-station','corp', 'store', 'bsh', 'for
        (org.jumpmind.symmetric.model.Node node : nodes) { if (STATION != null
        && node.getExternalId().equals(STATION.trim())) {
        targetNodes.add(node.getNodeId()); } }', current_timestamp,
        current_timestamp);
CSV Router

This router is used to route csv files to a specified target database table.

In your router expression you can tell the router to include a transaction ID for the routed data with INCLUDE_TRANSACTION_ID=true|false. Default is false.

The following SQL statement defines a router that will send data from a CSV file to table1 in the 'corp' node group.
insert into SYM_ROUTER (router_id, target_table_name,
        source_node_group_id, target_node_group_id, router_type,
        router_expression, create_time, last_update_time) values
        ('store-2-corp-csv','table1','store', 'corp', 'csv',
        'INCLUDE_TRANSACTION_ID=true', current_timestamp, current_timestamp);
The CSV Router routes from file to database so a file trigger must be created to specify the directory or path that the file trigger should watch. (see File Triggers)
DBF Router

This router is used to route dbf files that are generated from a dBase system to a specified target database table.

The following SQL statement defines a router that will send data from a DBF file to table1 in the 'corp' node group.
insert into SYM_ROUTER (router_id, target_table_name,
        source_node_group_id, target_node_group_id, router_type,
        create_time, last_update_time) values
        ('store-2-corp-dbf','table1','store', 'corp', 'dbf',
        current_timestamp, current_timestamp);
The DBF Router routes from file to database so a file trigger must be created to specify the directory or path that the file trigger should watch. (see File Triggers)

4.4. Channels

Once group links and routers are defined, configuration must be completed to specify which data (tables, file systems, etc.) should be synchronized over those links and routers. The next step in defining which specific data in the database is moved is to define logical groupings for that data. Channels define those logical groupings. As an example, a set of tables that hold customer data might be logically grouped together in a Customer channel. Sales, returns, tenders, etc. (transaction data) might be logically grouped into a transaction channel. A default channel is automatically created that all tables will fall into unless other channels are created and specified. The default channel is called 'default'.

Channels can be disabled, suspended, or scheduled as needed.

Transactions will NOT be preserved across channels so its important to setup channels to contain all tables that participate in a given transaction.
Channel ID

Identifier used through the system to identify a given channel.

Processing Order

Numeric value to determine the order in which a channel will be processed. Channels will be processed in ascending order.

Batch Algorithm

Batching is the grouping of data, by channel, to be transferred and committed at the client together.

Default

All changes that happen in a transaction are guaranteed to be batched together. Multiple transactions will be batched and committed together until there is no more data to be sent or the max_batch_size is reached. The routing.max.batch.size.exceed.percent parameter is used to keep batch sizes within a percentage over the max_batch_size, or it can be set to zero for no limit.

Transactional

Batches will map directly to database transactions. If there are many small database transactions, then there will be many batches. The max_batch_size column has no effect.

Nontransactional

Multiple transactions will be batched and committed together until there is no more data to be sent or the max_batch_size is reached. The batch will be cut off at the max_batch_size regardless of whether it is in the middle of a transaction.

Max Batch Size

Specifies the maximum number of data events to process within a batch for this channel.

Max Batch To Send

Specifies the maximum number of batches to send for a given channel during a 'synchronization' between two nodes. A 'synchronization' is equivalent to a push or a pull. For example, if there are 12 batches ready to be sent for a channel and max_batch_to_send is equal to 10, then only the first 10 batches will be sent even though 12 batches are ready.

Max Data To Route

Specifies the maximum number of data rows to route for a channel at a time.

Max KB/s

Specifies the maximum network transfer rate in kilobytes per second. Use zero to indicate unlimited. When throttling the channel, make sure the channel is on its own queue or within a queue of channels that are throttled at the same rate. This is currently only implemented when staging is enabled.

Data Loader Types

Determines how data will be loaded into the target tables. These are used during an initial load or a reverse initial load. Data loaders do not always have to load into the target relational database. They can write to a file, a web service, or any other type of non-relational data source. Data loaders can also use other techniques to increase performance of data loads into the target relation database.

default

Performs an insert first and if this fails will fall back to an update to load the data.

ftp_localhost

Sends the data in CSV format to a configured ftp location. These locations are setup in the TODO {SYM_HOME}/conf/ftp-extensions.xml

bulk

Assigns the appropriate bulk loader to this channel. Supported bulk loaders include: Microsoft SQL, PostgreSQL, MySQL and Amazon Redshift over S3.

mongodb

MongoDB data loader.

Tables that should be data loaded should be configured to use this channel. Many times, a reload channel will be set to bulk load to increase the performance of an initial load.
Queue Name

Determines a queue that the channel will sync in. Channels with the same queue name are processed synchronously (one at a time) and channels on different queues are processed asynchronously (in parallel).

Group Link Direction

For a node group link that is reversible, the channel can specify either "push" or "pull" to override the default group link communication. If this field is empty, the default group link communication is used.

Enabled

Indicates whether the channel is enabled or disabled. If a channel is disabled, data is still captured for changes that occur on the source system, but it will not be routed and sent to the target until the channel is re-enabled.

Reload Channel

Indicates whether a channel is available for initial loads and reverse initial loads.

File Sync Channel

Indicates whether a channel is available for file synchronization.

Use Old Data To Route

Indicates if the old data will be included for routing. Routing can then use this data for processing. Defaults to true.

Use Row Data To Route

Indicates if the current data will be included for routing. Routing can then use this data for processing. Defaults to true.

Use Primary Key (PK) Data to Route

Indicates if the primary key data will be include for routing. For example maybe a store ID is needed to apply logic on before sending to the appropriate target nodes. Defaults to true.

Contains Lob or Wide Row Data

For Oracle, Tibero, Firebird, and Interbase, this setting can be enabled when change data capture exceeds the character limit. Oracle and Tibero have a character limit of 4000, while Firebird and Interbase have a character limit of 20000 for changes and 1000 for primary key values. Change data capture is first attempted to extract as character data for better performance, then it will automatically fall back to extract as a large object (LOB). Enable this setting when most changes captured on the channel need extracted as LOB or when the extraction is receiving a truncation error.

Example 8. Sample Channels
insert into SYM_CHANNEL (channel_id, processing_order, max_batch_size, max_batch_to_send,
         extract_period_millis, batch_algorithm, enabled, description)
     values ('item', 10, 1000, 10, 0, 'default', 1, 'Item and pricing data');

insert into SYM_CHANNEL (channel_id, processing_order, max_batch_size,
          max_batch_to_send, extract_period_millis, batch_algorithm, enabled, description)
          values ('sale_transaction', 1, 1000, 10, 60000,
          'transactional', 1, 'retail sale transactions from register');
Channel Tips and Tricks
Increase performance by creating designated channels for tables that use LOB data types. For these channels be sure to check the "Table Contains Big Lobs" to increase performance.

4.5. Table Triggers

SymmetricDS captures synchronization data using database triggers. SymmetricDS' Triggers are defined in the TRIGGER table. Each record is used by SymmetricDS when generating database triggers. Database triggers are only generated when a trigger is associated with a ROUTER whose source_node_group_id matches the node group id of the current node.

When determining whether a data change has occurred or not, by default the triggers will record a change even if the data was updated to the same value(s) they were originally. For example, a data change will be captured if an update of one column in a row updated the value to the same value it already was. There is a global property, trigger.update.capture.changed.data.only.enabled (false by default), that allows you to override this behavior. When set to true, SymmetricDS will only capture a change if the data has truly changed (i.e., when the new column data is not equal to the old column data).

Trigger Id

Unique identifier for a trigger.

Source Catalog

Optional name for the catalog the configured table is in. If the name includes * then a wildcard match on the table name will be attempted. \ Wildcard names can include a list of names that are comma separated. The ! symbol may be used to indicate a NOT match condition. Parameter values can be substituted using $(name) syntax. See Variables.

Source Schema

Optional name for the schema a configured table is in. If the name includes * then a wildcard match on the table name will be attempted. Wildcard names can include a list of names that are comma separated. The ! symbol may be used to indicate a NOT match condition. Parameter values can be substituted using $(name) syntax. See Variables.

Source Table

The name of the source table that will have a trigger installed to watch for data changes. See Trigger Wildcards for using wildcards to specify multiple source tables. Parameter values can be substituted using $(name) syntax. See Variables.

Channel

The channel_id of the channel that data changes will flow through.

Sync On Insert

Flag for installing an insert trigger.

Sync On Update

Flag for installing an update trigger.

Sync On Delete

Flag for installing a delete trigger.

Reload Channel Id

The channel_id of the channel that will be used for initial loads.

Sync Conditions

A procedure language expression included in the trigger text to determine whether a change is captured or not. Most platforms include the condition inside an "IF" statement, while SQL-Server includes the condition in a "WHERE" clause. Old and new values of a column can be referenced using "$(oldTriggerValue)" and "$(newTriggerValue)" aliases respectively. See Trigger Variables. For example, if a character column is named "STATUS" and the row should be captured when the value is "2", then the condition would be:

 $(newTriggerValue).status = '2'
Sync On Insert Condition

Conditional expression for the insert trigger to determine if a change is captured or not. See Sync Conditions.

Sync On Update Condition

Conditional expression for the update trigger to determine if a change is captured or not. See Sync Conditions.

Sync On Delete Condition

Conditional expression for the delete trigger to determine if a change is captured or not. See Sync Conditions.

Custom Insert Trigger Text

Specify insert trigger text (SQL) to execute after the SymmetricDS trigger fires. This field is not applicable for H2, HSQLDB 1.x or Apache Derby.

Custom Update Trigger Text

Specify update trigger text (SQL) to execute after the SymmetricDS trigger fires. This field is not applicable for H2, HSQLDB 1.x or Apache Derby.

Custom Delete Trigger Text

Specify delete trigger text (SQL) to execute after the SymmetricDS trigger fires. This field is not applicable for H2, HSQLDB 1.x or Apache Derby.

Sync On Incoming

Whether or not an incoming batch that loads data into this table should cause the triggers to capture changes. Changes are never sent back to the source node, but enabling this setting makes it possible to create a never-ending loop through intermediary nodes, such as A to B to C to A.

Capture Row As LOB

For Oracle, Tibero, SQL Server, and DB2, row data that exceeds the character limit needs converted into a large object (LOB) for capture. Oracle and Tibero have a character limit of 4000, SQL Server has a nvarchar limit of 4000 and a varchar limit of 8000, while DB2 has a character limit of 32767. The trigger will try to automatically capture the row correctly, so only enable this setting if you are getting truncation errors during trigger creation or when changing data.

Stream LOBs

Captures an empty placeholder for large object (LOB) data types when a row is changed, then queries for the LOB value later when the batch is extracted. If normal capturing of LOBs is not working, enabling this setting may work instead. When very large LOB data is involved, this setting can reduce the overhead of making changes in the database, but it usually results in worse performance of synchronization since it queries each row during extraction.

Stream Row

Captures only the primary key values when the trigger fires, which can reduce overhead for tables with wide data or many columns. The data will be queried using the PK values when the batch is extracted. This results in worse performance of synchronization, but it can be used when triggers for all columns won’t install or when contention from triggers is too high.

Capture Old Data

Indicates whether this trigger should capture and send the old data, which is the previous state of the row before the change. Enable this option if you need to access old data in custom trigger text, routing expression, or transform expression. Otherwise, disable this option for better performance.

Handle Key Updates

For SQL-Server and Sybase, enable this setting to capture changes to the primary key. The trigger needs to do some additional work to handle changes to the primary key, so this setting is normally disabled.

External Select

Specify a SQL select statement that returns a single row, single column result. It will be used in the generated database trigger to populate the EXTERNAL_DATA field on the data table.

Excluded Column Names

Specify a comma-delimited list of columns that should not be synchronized from this table.

Included Column Names

Specify a comma-delimited list of columns only should be synchronized from this table.

Sync Key Names

Specify a comma-delimited list of columns that should be used as the key for synchronization operations. By default, if not specified, then the primary key of the table will be used.

Channel Expression

An expression that will be used to capture the channel id in the trigger. This expression will only be used if the channel_id is set to 'dynamic'. The variable "$(schemaName)" can be used, which is replaced with the source schema of the table. See Variables.

Example 9. Sample Triggers
insert into SYM_TRIGGER (trigger_id, source_table_name,
          channel_id, last_update_time, create_time)
                  values ('item', 'item', 'item', current_timestamp, current_timestamp);
Multiple Triggers On A Table
Note that many databases allow for multiple triggers of the same type to be defined. Each database defines the order in which the triggers fire differently. If you have additional triggers beyond those SymmetricDS installs on your table, please consult your database documentation to determine if there will be issues with the ordering of the triggers.
Capture Changed Data

When determining whether a data change has occurred or not, by default the triggers will record a change even if the data was updated to the same value(s) they were originally. For example, a data change will be captured if an update of one column in a row updated the value to the same value it already was. There is a global property that allows you to override this behavior (defaults to false).

trigger.update.capture.changed.data.only.enabled=false

This property is currently only supported on MySQL, DB2, SQL Server, and Oracle.

4.5.1. Trigger Wildcards

The source table name may be an expression that is used to match multiple table names. Special characters include the asterisk ('*') for wildcards, the comma (',') for multiple expressions, and the exclamation ('!') for negation.

Wildcard Rules
  • Separate multiple table names or table name expressions with a comma.

  • Characters are always evaluated from left to right.

  • When a table match is made, the table is either added to or removed from the list of tables. If another trigger already exists for a table, then that table is not included in the wildcard match (the explicitly defined trigger entry take precedence).

  • System tables and any table names that start with the SymmetricDS table prefix will be excluded.

  • To negate the expression and exclude tables, start the expression with an exclamation.

  • Double up special characters to match a single literal character. (Use two asterisks to match a single asterisk.) The entire expression is processed as wildcarded when an odd number of consecutive special characters are found.

4.5.2. External Select

Occasionally, you may find that you need to capture and save away a piece of data present in another table when a trigger is firing. This data is typically needed for the purposes of determining where to 'route' the data to once routing takes place. Each trigger definition contains an optional "external select" field which can be used to specify the data to be captured. Once captured, this data is available during routing in DATA 's external_data field.

For these cases, place a SQL select statement which returns the data item you need for routing in external_select. See Trigger Variables for a list of variables available for use.

The external select SQL must return a single row, single column
Example 10. Sample Trigger With External Select SQL that returns STORE_ID based on the ORDER_ID captured in the trigger.
insert into SYM_TRIGGER
        (trigger_id,source_table_name,channel_id,external_select, last_update_time,create_time)
values ('orderlineitem', 'orderlineitem','orderlineitem',
        'select STORE_ID from order where order_id=$(curTriggerValue).$(curColumnPrefix)order_id',
        current_timestamp, current_timestamp);
External select SQL statements should be used carefully as they will cause the trigger to run the additional SQL each time the trigger fires.
Using an external select on the trigger is similar to using the 'subselect' router. The advantage of this approach over the 'subselect' approach is that it guards against the (somewhat unlikely) possibility that the master Order table row might have been deleted before routing has taken place. This external select solution also is a bit more efficient than the 'subselect' approach.

4.5.3. Trigger Variables

The Sync Condition, External Select, and Custom Trigger Text configurations allow the user to provide procedure language text that is included inside the trigger. Variables can be used for configuration that works across different database platforms. When triggers are created, the variables are replaced with the syntax needed for that specific database.

Table 6. Trigger Template Variables

$(newTriggerValue)

New row alias for inserts and updates. For example, "$(newTriggerValue).MYCOLUMN" becomes ":new.MYCOLUMN" for an insert/update trigger on Oracle.

$(oldTriggerValue)

Old row alias for updates and deletes. For example, "$(oldTriggerValue).MYCOLUMN" becomes ":old.MYCOLUMN" for an update/delete trigger on Oracle.

$(curTriggerValue)

Current row alias for insert, updates, and deletes. This variable acts like $(newTriggerValue) for inserts and updates, and it acts like $(oldTriggerValue) for deletes.

$(curColumnPrefix)

Column prefix only used by H2 database. It is replaced with the NEW_ or OLD_ column prefix needed by H2. All other platforms will replace the variable with an empty string

4.5.4. Load Only Triggers

Occasionally the decision of what data to load initially results in additional triggers. These triggers, known as load only triggers, are configured such that they do not capture any data changes. In other words, the sync on insert, sync on update, and sync on delete attributes of the trigger are all set to false.

Load only triggers still participate in the following:
  • Initial Loads

  • Reverse Initial Loads

  • Table Reloads

  • Creation of tables during initial loads

Use cases for load only triggers:
  • To load a read-only lookup table, for example. It could also be used to load a table that needs populated with example or default data.

  • Recovery of data for tables that have a single direction of synchronization. For example, a retail store records sales transactions that synchronize in one direction by trickling back to the central office. If the retail store needs to recover all the sales transactions from the central office, they can be sent are part of an initial load from the central office by setting up a load only trigger that "sync" in that direction.

The following SQL statement sets up a non-syncing dead Trigger that sends the sale_transaction table to the "store" Node Group from the "corp" Node Group during an initial load.

insert into sym_trigger (TRIGGER_ID,SOURCE_CATALOG_NAME,
  SOURCE_SCHEMA_NAME,SOURCE_TABLE_NAME,CHANNEL_ID,
  SYNC_ON_UPDATE,SYNC_ON_INSERT,SYNC_ON_DELETE,
  SYNC_ON_INCOMING_BATCH,NAME_FOR_UPDATE_TRIGGER,
  NAME_FOR_INSERT_TRIGGER,NAME_FOR_DELETE_TRIGGER,
  SYNC_ON_UPDATE_CONDITION,SYNC_ON_INSERT_CONDITION,
  SYNC_ON_DELETE_CONDITION,EXTERNAL_SELECT,
  TX_ID_EXPRESSION,EXCLUDED_COLUMN_NAMES,
  CREATE_TIME,LAST_UPDATE_BY,LAST_UPDATE_TIME)
  values ('SALE_TRANSACTION_DEAD',null,null, 'SALE_TRANSACTION','transaction',
  0,0,0,0,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,null,
  current_timestamp,'demo',current_timestamp);

insert into sym_router (ROUTER_ID,TARGET_CATALOG_NAME,TARGET_SCHEMA_NAME,
  TARGET_TABLE_NAME,SOURCE_NODE_GROUP_ID,TARGET_NODE_GROUP_ID,ROUTER_TYPE,
  ROUTER_EXPRESSION,SYNC_ON_UPDATE,SYNC_ON_INSERT,SYNC_ON_DELETE,
  CREATE_TIME,LAST_UPDATE_BY,LAST_UPDATE_TIME)
  values ('CORP_2_STORE',null,null,null, 'corp','store',null,null,1,1,1,
  current_timestamp,'demo',current_timestamp);

insert into sym_trigger_router (TRIGGER_ID,ROUTER_ID,INITIAL_LOAD_ORDER,
  INITIAL_LOAD_SELECT,CREATE_TIME,LAST_UPDATE_BY,LAST_UPDATE_TIME)
  values ('SALE_TRANSACTION_DEAD','CORP_2_REGION',100,null,
  current_timestamp,'demo',current_timestamp);

4.6. Table Routing

The TRIGGER_ROUTER table is used to define which specific combinations of triggers and routers are needed for your configuration. The relationship between triggers and routers is many-to-many, so this table serves as the join table to define which combinations are valid, as well as to define settings available at the trigger-router level of granularity.

Three important controls can be configured for a specific Trigger / Router combination: Enabled, Initial Loads and Ping Back. The parameters for these can be found in the Trigger / Router mapping table, TRIGGER_ROUTER .

Table Trigger

The table trigger determines the source of data.

Router

The router determines where data will be sent.

Initial Load Select

A SQL expression used in the WHERE clause of the SELECT that extracts the table during initial load. Leave blank to retrieve all rows. For correlated joins, reference the table using the "t" alias. Variables are substituted for $(groupId), $(nodeId), and $(externalId). See Variables section for formatting and manipulation of variables.

Initial Load Delete

A SQL statement to run that clears the table on the target node at the beginning of the initial load before data is sent. This is usually a delete or truncate statement. Variables are substituted for $(groupId), $(nodeId), $(externalId), $(sourceGroupId), $(sourceNodeId), and $(sourceExternalId). See Variables section for formatting and manipulation of variables.

Initial Load Order

Numeric position for this table in the initial load, sent in ascending numeric order. When two numeric values are the same, the ordering is based on foreign key constraints. Use a negative number to exclude the table from initial load.

Enabled

When enabled, changes are captured and routed into batches for the table. When disabled, changes are no longer captured for the table and any outstanding changes are placed into batches with a status of "unrouted".

Ping Back Enabled

When enabled, synchronized rows with the Sync On Incoming option set on a trigger will be routed back to the source node. By default, the data is not routed back to the source node (to prevent endless loops of data changes). A reason to turn this option on is when a transform changes some of the data and the transformed data needs to be returned to the source node.

Data Refresh Type

When the data refresh jobs runs (overnight by default), this control how to refresh data in the table. Blank means exclude the table from the data refresh. Auto chooses between full reload or compare and repair. Full uses a table reload request with delete first option. Differences uses a compare and repair request.

4.7. File Triggers

In addition to supporting database synchronization, SymmetricDS also supports File Synchronization. Similar to database synchronization which allows configuring Table Triggers, SymmetricDS also supports setting up File Triggers. A file trigger is equivalent to specifying a directory structure or path that should be "watched" for files that need to be synchronized.

File Trigger Id

Unique identifier for a trigger.

Channel

The channel_id of the channel that data changes will flow through.

Reload Channel Id

The channel_id of the channel that will be used for reloads.

Base Directory

The base directory on the source node that files will be synchronized from.

Recurse

Whether to synchronize child directories.

Include Files

Wildcard-enabled (*), comma-separated list of file to include in synchronization.

Exclude Files

Wildcard-enabled (*), comma-separated list of file to exclude from synchronization.

Sync On Create

Whether to capture and send files when they are created.

Sync On Modified

Whether to capture and send files when they are modified.

Sync On Delete

Whether to capture and send files when they are deleted.

Sync On Ctl File

Combined with sync_on_create, determines whether to capture and send files when a matching control file exists. The control file is a file of the same name with a '.ctl' extension appended to the end.

Delete After Sync

Determines whether to delete the file after it has synced successfully.

Before Copy Script

A beanshell script that is run at the target node right before the file copy to it’s destination directory.

After Copy Script

A beanshell script that is run at the target node right after the file copy to it’s destination directory.

4.7.1. Operation

Not only is file synchronization configured similar to database synchronization, but it also operates in a very similar way. The file system is monitored for changes via a background job that tracks the file system changes (this parallels the use of triggers to monitor for changes when synchronizing database changes). When a change is detected it is written to the FILE_SNAPSHOT table. The file snapshot table represents the most recent known state of the monitored files. The file snapshot table has a SymmetricDS database trigger automatically installed on it so that when it is updated the changes are captured by SymmetricDS on an internal channel named filesync.

The changes to FILE_SNAPSHOT are then routed and batched by a file-synchronization-specific router that delegates to the configured router based on the FILE_TRIGGER_ROUTER configuration. The file sync router can make routing decisions based on the column data of the snapshot table, columns which contain attributes of the file like the name, path, size, and last modified time. Both old and new file snapshot data are also available. The router can, for example, parse the path or name of the file and use it as the node id to route to.

An additional virtual column is available for processing. The column is called TOP_RELATIVE_DIR, and is the first segment of the RELATIVE_DIR value. For example, if the RELATIVE_DIR value for the location of the file is "node1/dir1", the TOP_RELATIVE_DIR value will be set to "node1". This can make it easier for routing by the Column Match Data Router to match the first segment of the RELATIVE_DIR to the node id value or the external id value.

Batches of file snapshot changes are stored on the filesync channel in OUTGOING_BATCH. The existing SymmetricDS pull and push jobs ignore the filesync channel. Instead, they are processed by file-synchronization-specific push and pull jobs.

When transferring data, the file sync push and pull jobs build a zip file dynamically based on the batched snapshot data. The zip file contains a directory per batch. The directory name is the batch_id. A sync.bsh Bean Shell script is generated and placed in the root of each batch directory. The Bean Shell script contains the commands to copy or delete files at their file destination from an extracted zip in the staging directory on the target node. The zip file is downloaded in the case of a pull, or, in the case of a push, is uploaded as an HTTP multi-part attachment. Outgoing zip files are written and transferred from the outgoing staging directory. Incoming zip files are staged in the filesync_incoming staging directory by source node id. The filesync_incoming/{node_id} staging directory is cleared out before each subsequent delivery of files.

The acknowledgement of a batch happens the same way it is acknowledged in database synchronization. The client responds with an acknowledgement as part of the response during a file push or pull.

4.7.2. BeanShell Scripts

There are two types of Bean Shell scripts that can be leveraged to customize file synchronization behavior:

Before copy script

This runs on delivery of a file before it is copied to it’s target location

After copy script

This run on delivery of a file after it is copied to it’s target location

Each of these scripts have access to local variables that can be read or set to affect the behavior of copying files.

targetBaseDir

The preset base directory as configured in file trigger or overwritten in file trigger router. This variable can be set by the before copy script to set a different target directory.

targetFileName

The name of the file that is being synchronized. This variable can be overwritten by the before copy script to rename a file at the target.

targetRelativeDir

The name of a directory relative to the target base directory to which the target file will be copied. The default value of this variable is the relative directory of the source. For example, if the source base directory is /src and the target base directory is /tgt and the file /src/subfolder/1.txt is changed, then the default targetRelativeDir will be subfolder. This variable can be overwritten by the before_copy_script to change the relative directory at the target. In the above example, if the variable is set to blank using the following script, then the target file will be copied to /tgt/1.txt.

targetRelativeDir = "";
processFile

This is a variable that is set to true by default. A custom before copy script may process the file itself and set this variable to false to indicate that the file should NOT be copied to its target location.

sourceFileName

This is the name of the file.

sourceFilePath

This is the path where the file can be found relative to the batch directory.

batchDir

This is the staging directory where the batch has been extracted. The batchDir + sourceFilePath + sourceFileName can be used to locate the extracted file.

engine

This is the bound instance of the ISymmetricEngine that is processing a file. It gives access to all of the APIs available in SymmetricDS.

sourceNodeId

This is a bound variable that represents the nodeId that is the source of the file.

log

This is the bound instance of an org.slf4j.Logger that can be used to log to the SymmetricDS log file.

Example 11. Example of a Before Copy Script
File file = new File(batchDir + "/" + sourceFilePath + "/" + sourceFileName);
if (file.exists()) {
    String path = file.getAbsolutePath();
    cp (path,"/backup/" + sourceFileName);
}

4.8. File Routing

The FILE_TRIGGER_ROUTER table is used to define which specific combinations of file triggers and routers are needed for your configuration. The relationship between file triggers and routers is many-to-many, so this table serves as the join table to define which combinations are valid, as well as to define settings available at the trigger-router level of granularity.

File Triggers

The file trigger to link.

Routers

The router to link.

Target Base Directory

The base directory on the target node that files will be synchronized to.

Conflict Strategy

The strategy to employ when a file has been modified at both the client and the server.

source_wins

The source file will be used when a conflict occurs.

target_wins

The target file will be used when a conflict occurs.

manual

If a conflict occurs the batch will be put in ER (error) status and require manual intervention to resolve the issue.

Initial Load Enabled

Indicates whether this file trigger should be initial loaded.

Enabled

Indicates whether this file trigger router is enabled or not.

4.9. Conflicts

Conflict detection is the act of determining if an insert, update or delete is in "conflict" due to the target data row not being consistent with the data at the source prior to the insert/update/delete. Without any overriding configuration, the system uses a detection of USE_CHANGED_DATA and a resolution of NEWER_WINS by default.

Conflicts are broken into 3 key components in SymmetricDS:
  1. Detection - How to detect a conflict when loading data at the target.

  2. Resolution - When a row is in conflict, what to do with it when loading at the target.

  3. Ping Back - What data to capture at target during resolution, if any, that will be sent back to source.

Conflict detection and resolution strategies are configured in the CONFLICT table. They are configured at minimum for a specific NODE_GROUP_LINK . The configuration can also be specific to a CHANNEL and/or table.

Conflict detection is configured in the detect_type and detect_expression columns of CONFLICT. The value for detect_expression depends on the detect_type.

Conflict Id

Unique identifier for a specific conflict detection setting.

Group Link

References a node group link.

Detection Type

Indicates the strategy to use for detecting conflicts during a dml action.

Conflicts are detected while data is being loaded into a target system.
Table 7. Detection Types

USE_PK_DATA

Indicates that only the primary key is used to detect a conflict. If a row exists with the same primary key, then no conflict is detected during an update or a delete. Updates and deletes rows are resolved using only the primary key columns. If a row already exists during an insert then a conflict has been detected.

USE_CHANGED_DATA

Indicates that the primary key plus any data that has changed on the source system will be used to detect a conflict. If a row exists with the same old values on the target system as they were on the source system for the columns that have changed on the source system, then no conflict is detected during an update or a delete. If a row already exists during an insert then a conflict has been detected.

USE_OLD_DATA

Indicates that all of the old data values are used to detect a conflict. Old data is the data values of the row on the source system prior to the change. If a row exists with the same old values on the target system as they were on the source system, then no conflict is detected during an update or a delete. If a row already exists during an insert then a conflict has been detected.

USE_TIMESTAMP

Indicates that the primary key plus a timestamp column (as configured in detect_expression ) will indicate whether a conflict has occurred. If the target timestamp column is not equal to the old source timestamp column, then a conflict has been detected. If a row already exists during an insert then a conflict has been detected. You must specify the name of the column containing a timestamp to use in the detect_expression.

USE_VERSION

Indicates that the primary key plus a version column (as configured in detect_expression ) will indicate whether a conflict has occurred. If the target version column is not equal to the old source version column, then a conflict has been detected. If a row already exists during an insert then a conflict has been detected. You must specify the name of the column containing a version number to use in the detect_expression.

Detection Expression

An expression that provides additional information about the detection mechanism. If the detection mechanism is use_timestamp or use_version then this expression will be the name of the timestamp or version column. The detect_expression is also used to exclude certain column names from being used. For example, to exclude column1 and column2, the expression is "excluded_column_names=column1,column2".

Resolution Type

The choice of how to resolve a detected conflict is configured via the resolve type.

Table 8. Resolution Types

NEWER_WINS

Indicates that when a conflict is detected that the either the source or the target will win based on which side has the newer timestamp or higher version number. With USE_TIMESTAMP detection, the column specified in detect_expression is used, otherwise the time of capture is used.

FALLBACK

Indicates that when a conflict is detected the system should automatically apply the changes anyway. If the source operation was an insert, then an update will be attempted. If the source operation was an update and the row does not exist, then an insert will be attempted. If the source operation was a delete and the row does not exist, then the delete will be ignored.

IGNORE

Indicates that when a conflict is detected the system should automatically ignore the incoming change. Use IGNORE between two node groups in one direction, and FALLBACK in the other direction to establish which group wins a conflict.

MANUAL

Indicates that when a conflict is detected, the batch will remain in error until manual intervention occurs. A row in error is inserted into the INCOMING_ERROR table, which includes the conflict ID, old data, new data, and current data at the target. The user can specify the resolve data to use on the next load attempt. The resolve_ignore flag can also be used to indicate that the row should be ignored.

To make a primary node group always win a conflict, use a "fallback" resolution on group links where primary is the source and an "ignore" resolution on group links where primary is the target.
Ping Back

For each configured conflict, you also have the ability to control if and how much "resolved" data is sent back to the node whose data change is in conflict.

Table 9. Ping Backs

SINGLE_ROW

The resolved data of the single row in the batch that caused the conflict is sent back to the originating node. Recommended use with MANUAL resolution, so the resolved data is sent back to the originating node.

REMAINING_ROWS

The resolved data of the single row in the batch in conflict, along with the entire remainder of the batch, is sent back to the originating node.

OFF

No data is sent back to the originating node, even if the resolved data doesn’t match the data the node sent. Recommended use with resolution types that choose a winning row, including NEWER_WINS and when IGNORE and FALLBACK are used on opposing group links.

Resolve Changes Only

Indicates that when applying changes during an update that only data that has changed should be applied. Otherwise, all the columns will be updated. This really only applies to updates.

Resolve Row Only

Ignore only the row in conflict when true, or ignore the entire batch when false. Used by IGNORE and NEWER_WINS resolvers. Recommended setting is true.

Channel

Optional channel that this setting will be applied to.

Target Catalog

Optional database catalog that the target table belongs to. Only use this if the target table is not in the default catalog.

Target Schema

Optional database schema that the target table belongs to. Only use this if the target table is not in the default schema.

Target Table

Optional database table that this setting will apply to. If left blank, the setting will be for any table in the channel (if set) and in the specified node group link.

Be aware that conflict detection will not detect changes to binary columns in the case where use_stream_lobs is true in the trigger for the table. In addition, some databases do not allow comparisons of binary columns whether use_stream_lobs is true or not.
Some platforms do not support comparisons of binary columns. Conflicts in binary column values will not be detected on the following platforms: DB2, DERBY, ORACLE, and SQLSERVER.

4.10. Transforms

Transforms allow you to manipulate data on a source node or target node, as the data is being loaded or extracted.

The source table must first be configured for synchronization (see Table Triggers) before it can be transformed.

The source trigger captures data changes that are passed through transformations during extraction from the source and during loading at the target. If any enhancement with additional data is needed, an extract transform can access the source database, while a load transform can access the target database. A single row change may be processed by multiple transforms on the same group link, which transforms it into multiple target rows. Rows for the same target table do not merge, which means multiple transforms with the same target table results in multiple rows for that target table.

SymmetricDS stores its transformation configuration in two configuration tables, TRANSFORM_TABLE and TRANSFORM_COLUMN. Defining a transformation involves configuration in both tables, with the first table defining which source and destination tables are involved, and the second defining the columns involved in the transformation and the behavior of the data for those columns. We will explain the various options available in both tables and the various pre-defined transformation types.

To define a transformation, you will first define the source table and target table that applies to a particular transformation. The source and target tables, along with a unique identifier (the transform_id column) are defined in TRANSFORM_TABLE . In addition, you will specify the source_node_group_id and target_node_group_id to which the transform will apply, along with whether the transform should occur on the Extract step or the Load step (transform_point).

Transform Id

Unique identifier of a specific transform.

Group Link

The group link defining which direction the transform will process.

Transform Point

Where this transform will occur. The options include:

Table 10. Transform Points

EXTRACT

The transform will execute while data is being extracted from the source. This means the transform will have access to the source’s database.

LOAD

The transform will execute while data is being loaded into the target. This means the transform will have access to the target’s database.

Column Policy

Indicates whether unspecified columns are passed thru or if all columns must be explicitly defined. The options include:

SPECIFIED

Indicates that only the transform columns that are defined will be the ones that end up as part of the transformation.

IMPLIED

Indicates that if not specified, then columns from the source are passed through to the target. This is useful if you just want to map a table from one name to anther or from one schema to another. It is also useful if you want to transform a table, but also want to pass it through. You would define an implied transform from the source to the target and would not have to configure each column.

Source Catalog

Name of the catalog of the configured source table. This should only be set if Use Source Catalog/Schema or Target Catalog are set on the Router. Parameter values can be substituted using $(name) syntax.

Source Schema

Name of the schema for the configured source table. This should only be set if Use Source Catalog/Schema or Target Schema are set on the Router. Parameter values can be substituted using $(name) syntax.

Source Table

The name of the source table that will be transformed. Parameter values can be substituted using $(name) syntax.

Target Catalog

Optional name for the catalog a target target table is in. Only use this if the target table is not in the default catalog. Parameter values can be substituted using $(name) syntax.

Target Schema

Optional name of the schema a target target table is in. Only use this if the target table is not in the default schema. Parameter values can be substituted using $(name) syntax.

Target Table

The name of the target table. Parameter values can be substituted using $(name) syntax.

Update First

This option overrides the default behavior for an Insert operation. Instead of attempting the Insert first, SymmetricDS will always perform an Update first and then fall back to an Insert if that fails. Note that, by default, fall back logic always applies for Insert and Updates. Here, all you a specifying is whether to always do an Update first, which can have performance benefits under certain situations you may run into.

Delete Action

An action to take upon delete of a row.

Table 11. Transform Points

DEL_ROW

The delete results in a delete of the row as specified by the pk columns defined in the transformation configuration.

UPDATE_COL

The delete results in an update operation on the target which updates the specific rows and columns based on the defined transformation.

NONE

The delete results in no target changes.

Update Action

An action to take upon update of a row.

UPD_ROW

The update performs normally.

INS_ROW

The update is transformed into an insert instead.

DEL_ROW

The update is transformed into a delete instead.

NONE

The update is ignored and no changes are made.

Transform Order

For a single source operation that is mapped to a transformation, there could be more than one target operation that takes place. You may control the order in which the target operations are applied through a configuration parameter defined for each source-target table combination. This might be important, for example, if the foreign key relationships on the target tables require you to execute the transformations in a particular order.

Example 12. Transform Example
insert into SYM_TRANSFORM_TABLE (
        transform_id, source_node_group_id, target_node_group_id, transform_point, source_table_name,
        target_table_name, update_action, delete_action, transform_order, column_policy, update_first,
        last_update_by, last_update_time, create_time
) values (
        'itemSellingPriceTransform', 'store', 'corp', 'EXTRACT', 'ITEM_SELLING_PRICE',
        'ITEM_SELLING_PRICE', 'UPDATE_COL', 'DEL_ROW', 1, 'IMPLIED', 1,
        'Documentation', current_timestamp, current_timestamp
);

4.10.1. Columns

Transforms are not complete until the columns involved in the transformation have been defined. Typically there will be several columns defined for each transform, each of which will define a source column and a target column.

PK

Indicates that this mapping is used to define the "primary key" for identifying the target row(s) (which may or may not be the true primary key of the target table). This is used to define the "where" clause when an Update or Delete on the target is occurring.

Unless the column policy is "IMPLIED" at least one row marked as a pk should be present for each transform_id.
Source

The source column name to be transformed.

Target

The target column name to be transformed.

Transform On

Defines whether this entry applies to source operations of Insert, Update, Delete, or All.

Table 12. Transform On Supported Values

I

Insert

U

Update

D

Delete

*

All

Type

The name of a specific type of transform, default type is "copy". See Transform Types for more information.

Expression

An expression that is specific to the type of transform that is configured in transform_type. See Transform Types for more information.

Order

In the event there are more than one columns to transform, this defines the relative order in which the transformations are applied.

4.10.2. Data Format

Transforms have access to the change data in character form using a standard set of data formats. Modification to change data should also be character data following the format for the target field.

Table 13. Data Formats
Type Format

binary

Hex or Base64 encoding, depending on the source database dialect. Use context.getBatch().encodeBinary() and context.getBatch().decodeBinary().

boolean

Either 1 or 0. (Some databases require a small integer to represent boolean.)

date

Formatted as yyyy-MM-dd.

float

Decimal digits with a decimal point expressed as one period or comma. A negative (-) sign and an exponent (e or E) are also allowed.

geometry

Well known text (WKT) format

integer

Decimal digits. A negative (-) sign is also allowed.

numeric

Decimal digits with a decimal point expressed as one period or comma. A negative (-) sign is also allowed.

time

Formatted as time HH:mm:ss.S or a timestamp yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.S.

timestamp

Formatted as yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.S.

4.10.3. Transform Types

There are several pre-defined transform types. Additional ones can be defined by creating and configuring an extension point which implements the IColumnTransform interface.

Table 14. Transform Types
Type Description

additive

For numeric fields, apply the difference of new minus old to the target. Calculate the difference between the old and new source number and apply the difference to the target.

bsh

Run a BeanShell script to return a value.

bleft

Copy the leftmost bytes of the value.

clarionDateTime

Convert a source column with a Clarion integer into a timestamp.

const

Use a provided constant value.

copy

Copy source column value to the target column.

copyIfChanged

Copy the source column value only if its old and new value are different.

columnsToRowsKey

Convert columns to rows, specifying which columns are the key for all rows.

columnsToRowsValue

Convert column to rows, specifying which columns are the changing values.

deletedColumns

Comma-separated list of column names that were changed to null.

identity

Set INSERT_IDENTITY to ON for generating the next identity value.

isBlank

If value is empty after trimming spaces, then replace its value.

isEmpty

If value is empty, then replace its value.

java

Run Java code to return a value.

isNull

If value is null, then replace its value.

left

Copy the leftmost characters of the value.

lookup

Run a SQL query to return a value.

math

Perform a math expression.

multiply

Run a SQL query with the primary key to create multiple rows.

remove

Remove the column from the row.

substring

Copy a substring of the value.

valueMap

Map from one literal value to another.

variable

Use a built-in variable value.

Copy Transform

This transformation type copies the source column value to the target column. This is the default behavior.

insert into SYM_TRANSFORM_COLUMN (
        transform_id, include_on, target_column_name, source_column_name, pk,
        transform_type, transform_expression, transform_order, last_update_time,
        last_update_by, create_time
) values (
        'itemSellingPriceTransform', '*', 'ITEM_ID', 'ITEM_ID', 1,
        'copy', '', 1, current_timestamp, 'Documentation',
        current_timestamp
);
insert into SYM_TRANSFORM_COLUMN (
        transform_id, include_on, target_column_name, source_column_name, pk,
        transform_type, transform_expression, transform_order, last_update_time,
        last_update_by, create_time
) values (
        'itemSellingPriceTransform', '*', 'STORE_ID', 'STORE_ID', 1,
        'copy', '', 1, current_timestamp, 'Documentation',
        current_timestamp
);
Remove Transform

This transformation type excludes the source column. This transform type is only valid for a table transformation type of 'IMPLIED' where all the columns from the source are automatically copied to the target.

insert into SYM_TRANSFORM_COLUMN (
        transform_id, include_on, target_column_name, source_column_name, pk,
        transform_type, transform_expression, transform_order, last_update_time,
        last_update_by, create_time
) values (
        'itemSellingPriceTransform', '*', '', 'COST', 1,
        'remove', '', 1, current_timestamp, 'Documentation',
        current_timestamp
);
Constant Transform

This transformation type allows you to map a constant value to the given target column. The constant itself is placed in transform expression.

insert into SYM_TRANSFORM_COLUMN (
        transform_id, include_on, target_column_name, source_column_name, pk,
        transform_type, transform_expression, transform_order, last_update_time,
        last_update_by, create_time
) values (
        'itemSellingPriceTransform', '*', 'PRICE', 'PRICE', 0,
        'const', '10', 1, current_timestamp, 'Documentation',
        current_timestamp
);
Variable Transform

This transformation type allows you to map a built-in dynamic variable to the given target column. The variable name is placed in transform expression. The following variables are available:

Table 15. Variables

batch_id

Batch number

batch_start_time

Timestamp of when the batch started to process

delete_indicator_flag

Whether or not this is a delete event, in format of Y or N.

null

null value

old_column_value

column’s old value prior to the DML operation.

source_catalog_name

Catalog name of source table

source_dml_type

Event type, usually one of INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE, but possibly one of RELOAD, SQL, CREATE, or BSH.

source_node_id

node id of the source (from the batch)

source_node_id_from_data

source_node_id value from sym_data (source of a captured synchronization data change)

source_schema_name

Schema name of the source table

source_table_name

Name of the source table

system_date

current system date

system_timestamp

current system date and time using default timezone

system_timestamp_utc

current system date and time using UTC timezone

target_node_id

node id of the target (from the batch)

insert into SYM_TRANSFORM_COLUMN (
        transform_id, include_on, target_column_name, source_column_name, pk,
        transform_type, transform_expression, transform_order, last_update_time,
        last_update_by, create_time
) values (
        'itemSellingPriceTransform', '*', 'STORE_ID', 'STORE_ID', 0,
        'variable', 'source_node_id', 1, current_timestamp, 'Documentation',
        current_timestamp
);
Additive Transform

This transformation type is used for numeric data. It computes the change between the old and new values on the source and then adds the change to the existing value in the target column. That is, target = target + multiplier (source_new - source_old), where multiplier is a constant found in the transform expression (default is 1 if not specified).

Example 13. Additive Transform Example

If the source column changed from a 2 to a 4, the target column is currently 10, and the multiplier is 3, the effect of the transform will be to change the target column to a value of 16 ( 10+3*(4-2) ⇒ 16 ).

In the case of deletes, the new column value is considered 0 for the purposes of the calculation.
insert into SYM_TRANSFORM_COLUMN (
        transform_id, include_on, target_column_name, source_column_name, pk,
        transform_type, transform_expression, transform_order, last_update_time,
        last_update_by, create_time
) values (
        'itemSellingPriceTransform', '*', 'PRICE', 'PRICE', 0,
        'additive', '3', 1, current_timestamp, 'Documentation',
        current_timestamp
);
Substring Transform

This transformation computes a substring of the source column data and uses the substring as the target column value. The transform expression can be a single integer ( n , the beginning index), or a pair of comma-separated integers ( n,m - the beginning and ending index). The transform behaves as the Java substring function would using the specified values in transform expression.

insert into SYM_TRANSFORM_COLUMN (
        transform_id, include_on, target_column_name, source_column_name, pk,
        transform_type, transform_expression, transform_order, last_update_time,
        last_update_by, create_time
) values (
        'itemSellingPriceTransform', '*', 'STORE_ID', 'STORE_ID', 0,
        'substring', '0,5', 1, current_timestamp, 'Documentation',
        current_timestamp
);
Left Transform

This transform copies the left most number of characters specified.

BLeft Transform

This transform copies the left most number of bytes specified.

Lookup Transform

This transformation determines the target column value by using a query, contained in transform expression to lookup the value in another table. The query must return a single row, and the first column of the query is used as the value. Your query references source column values by prefixing with a colon (e.g., :MY_COLUMN). Also, you can reference old values with :OLD_COLUMN and previously transformed columns (see transform order) with :TRM_COLUMN.

insert into SYM_TRANSFORM_COLUMN (
        transform_id, include_on, target_column_name, source_column_name, pk,
        transform_type, transform_expression, transform_order, last_update_time,
        last_update_by, create_time
) values (
        'itemSellingPriceTransform', '*', 'COST', 'COST', 0,
        'lookup', 'select max(price) from sale_return_line_item
        where item_id = :ITEM_ID', 1, current_timestamp, 'Documentation',
        current_timestamp
);
Multiply Transform

This transformation allows for the creation of multiple rows in the target table based on the transform expression. This transform type can only be used on a primary key column. The transform expression is a SQL statement, similar to the lookup transform, except it can return multiple rows that result in multiple rows for the target table. The first column of the query is used as the value for the target column. The query can reference source column values by prefixing them with a colon (e.g., :MY_COLUMN).

BeanShell Script Transform

This transformation allows you to provide a BeanShell script in the transform expression and executes the script at the time of transformation. Beanshell transforms can return either a String value or an instance of NewAndOldValue. Some variables are provided to the script:

Table 16. Variables

<COLUMN_NAME>

The variable name is the source column name in uppercase of the row being changed (replace <COLUMN_NAME> with your column)

currentValue

The value of the current source column

oldValue

The old value of the source column for an updated row

sqlTemplate

org.jumpmind.db.sql.ISqlTemplate object for querying or updating the database

channelId

name of the channel on which the transformation is happening

sourceNode

org.jumpmind.symmetric.model.Node object that represents the node from where the data came

sourceNodeId

same as sourceNode.getNodeId()

sourceNodeGroupId

same as sourceNode.getNodeGroupId()

sourceNodeExternalId

same as sourceNode.getNodeExternalId()

targetNode

org.jumpmind.symmetric.model.Node object that represents the node where the data is being loaded.

targetNodeId

same as targetNode.getNodeId()

targetNodeGroupId

same as targetNode.getNodeGroupId()

targetNodeExternalId

same as targetNode.getNodeExternalId()

transformColumn

org.jumpmind.symmetric.io.data.transform.TransformColumn that is the transform configuration

includeOn

org.jumpmind.symmetric.io.data.transform.TransformColumn.IncludeOnType, same as transformColumn.getIncludeOn(), tells whether column transform is configured for all, insert, update, or delete

sourceSchemaName

source schema name that the transform matched

sourceCatalogName

source catalog name that the transform matched

sourceTableName

source table name that the transform matched

transformedData

org.jumpmind.symmetric.io.data.transform.TransformedData, the model object representing the outputted transformed data

sourceDmlType

org.jumpmind.symmetric.io.data.DataEventType that is the source row change type, either insert, update, or delete

sourceDmlTypeString

same as sourceDmlType.toString(), returning insert, update, or delete

log

org.slf4j.Logger, write to the log file

context

org.jumpmind.symmetric.io.data.DataContext containing internal variables and also acts like a Map for sharing variables between transforms for the current sync session

bshContext

java.util.Map, static map of variables to share between transforms

engine

org.jumpmind.symmetric.ISymmetricEngine, access to engine functions and services

Example 14. Transform Expression Example Returning a String
if (currentValue > oldValue) {
	return currentValue * .9;
} else {
	return PRICE;
}
Example 15. Transform Expression Example Returning a NewAndOldValue object
if (currentValue != null && currentValue.length() == 0) {
	return new org.jumpmind.symmetric.io.data.transform.NewAndOldValue(null, oldValue);
} else {
	return currentValue;
}
Example 16. Transform Expression Example Accessing Old/New Values for the Additional Column 'path'
String newFilePath = PATH;
String oldFilePath = null;
if (transformedData.getOldSourceValues() != null) {
    oldFilePath = transformedData.getOldSourceValues().get("path");
}
if (oldFilePath == null) {
    return newFilePath;
} else {
    return oldFilePath;
}
insert into SYM_TRANSFORM_COLUMN (
        transform_id, include_on, target_column_name, source_column_name, pk,
        transform_type, transform_expression, transform_order, last_update_time,
        last_update_by, create_time
) values (
        'itemSellingPriceTransform', '*', 'COST', 'COST', 0,
        'bsh', 'if (currentValue > oldValue) { return currentValue * .9 } else { return PRICE }', 1, current_timestamp, 'Documentation',
        current_timestamp
);
Identity Transform

This transformation allows you to insert into an identity column by letting the database compute a new identity, instead of loading an explicit value from a source database. This transform is needed on databases like SQL-Server and Sybase, which have an INSERT_IDENTITY option that is normally ON for normal data sync. By using the identity transform, the INSERT_IDENTITY is set to OFF, so the next value is generated by the database.

insert into SYM_TRANSFORM_COLUMN (
        transform_id, include_on, target_column_name, source_column_name, pk,
        transform_type, transform_expression, transform_order, last_update_time,
        last_update_by, create_time
) values (
        'itemSellingPriceTransform', '*', 'ITEM_ID', 'ITEM_ID', 0,
        'identity', '', 1, current_timestamp, 'Documentation',
        current_timestamp
);
Mathematical Transform

This transformation allows you to perform mathematical equations in the transform expression. Some variables are provided to the script:

#{COLUMN_NAME}

A variable for a source column in the row, where the variable name is the column name in uppercase (replace COLUMN_NAME with your column name).

#{currentValue}

The value of the current source column

#{oldValue}

The old value of the source column for an updated row.

Transform Expression Example
insert into SYM_TRANSFORM_COLUMN (
        transform_id, include_on, target_column_name, source_column_name, pk,
        transform_type, transform_expression, transform_order, last_update_time,
        last_update_by, create_time
) values (
        'itemSellingPriceTransform', '*', 'COST', 'COST', 0,
        'math', '#{currentValue} - #{oldValue} * #{PRICE}', 1, current_timestamp, 'Documentation',
        current_timestamp
);
Copy If Changed

This transformation will copy the value to the target column if the source value has changed. More specifically, the copy will occur if the the old value of the source does not equal the new value.

Table 17. Target Expression Options

IgnoreColumn

If old and new values are equal, the COLUMN will be ignored

{empty string}

If old and new values are equal, the ROW will be ignored

Old and new values are equal, ignore just the column
insert into SYM_TRANSFORM_COLUMN (
        transform_id, include_on, target_column_name, source_column_name, pk,
        transform_type, transform_expression, transform_order, last_update_time,
        last_update_by, create_time
) values (
        'itemSellingPriceTransform', '*', 'COST', 'COST', 0,
        'copyIfChanged', 'IgnoreColumn', 1, current_timestamp, 'Documentation',
        current_timestamp
);
Old and new values are equal, ignore entire row
insert into SYM_TRANSFORM_COLUMN (
        transform_id, include_on, target_column_name, source_column_name, pk,
        transform_type, transform_expression, transform_order, last_update_time,
        last_update_by, create_time
) values (
        'itemSellingPriceTransform', '*', 'COST', 'COST', 0,
        'copyIfChanged', '', 2, current_timestamp, 'Documentation',
        current_timestamp
);
Value Map Transform

This transformation allows for simple value substitutions through use of the transform expression. The transform expression should consist of a space separated list of value pairs of the format sourceValue=TargetValue. The column value is used to locate the correct sourceValue, and the transform will change the value into the corresponding targetValue. A sourceValue of * can be used to represent a default target value in the event that the sourceValue is not found. Otherwise, if no default value is found, the result will be null.

Example 17. Value Map Examples
transform expression source value target value (result)

s1=t1 s2=t2 s3=t3 *=t4

s1

t1

s1=t1 s2=t2 s3=t3 *=t4

s2

t2

s1=t1 s2=t2 s3=t3 *=t4

s3

t3

s1=t1 s2=t2 s3=t3 *=t4

s4

t4

s1=t1 s2=t2 s3=t3 *=t4

s5

t4

s1=t1 s2=t2 s3=t3 *=t4

null

t4

insert into SYM_TRANSFORM_COLUMN (
        transform_id, include_on, target_column_name, source_column_name, pk,
        transform_type, transform_expression, transform_order, last_update_time,
        last_update_by, create_time
) values (
        'itemSellingPriceTransform', '*', 'COST', 'COST', 0,
        'valueMap', 's1=t1 s2=t2 s3=t3 *=t4', 1, current_timestamp, 'Documentation',
        current_timestamp
);
Clarion Date Time

Convert a Clarion date column with optional time column into a timestamp. Clarion dates are stored as the number of days since December 28, 1800, while Clarion times are stored as hundredths of a second since midnight, plus one. Use a source column of the Clarion date and a target column of the timestamp. If the Clarion time exists in a separate column it can optionally be provided through the transform expression to be included in the target timestamp column.

Columns To Rows

Convert column values from a single source row into a row per column value at the target. Two column mappings are needed to complete the work:

columnsToRowsKey

Maps which source column is used

column1=key1,column2=key2
columnsToRowsValue

Maps the value

changesOnly=true

Convert only rows when the old and new values have changed

ignoreNulls=true

Convert only rows that are not null

TODO Need SQL for this scenario
Example 18. Example

"fieldid" mapped as "columnsToRowsKey" with expression of "user1=1,user2=2" and column "color" mapped as "columnsToRowsValue" would convert a row with columns named "user1" and "user2" containing values "red" and "blue" into two rows with columns "fieldid" and "color" containing a row of "1" and "red" and a row of "2" and "blue".

isEmpty Transform

This transformation checks to see if a string is null or zero length. If it is empty the replacement value will be used. If no value is provided null will be used as a default replacement for empty values.

isBlank Transform

This transformation checks to see if a string is null or zero length after trimming white spaces. If it is blank the replacement value will be used. If no value is provided null will be used as a default replacement for blank values.

Null Value Transform

This transformation checks to see if the source value is null and if so replaces it with the provided value.

Deleted Columns Transform

For an update, this transform returns a comma-separated list of columns names that were set to null and previously not null.

Java Transform

Java Transform ('java'): Use Java code in the transform expression that is included in the transform method of a class that extends JavaColumnTransform. The class is compiled whenever the transform expression changes and kept in memory for runtime. The code must return a String for the new value of the column being mapped.

Some variables are provided to the code:

Table 18. Variables
Variable Name Java Type Description

platform

org.jumpmind.db.platform.IDatabasePlatform

The platform for the database that this node is connected to

context

org.jumpmind.symmetric.io.data.DataContext

The data cotext for the synchronization of the current batch

column

org.jumpmind.symmetric.io.data.transform.TransformColumn

The transform column

data

org.jumpmind.symmetric.io.data.transform.TransformedData

The transformed data

sourceValues

java.util.Map<java.lang.String, java.lang.String>

The map of source values

newValue

java.lang.String

The captured new value

oldValue

java.lang.String

The captured old value

Example 19. Transform Expression Example Returning a String
if (sourceValues.containsKey("OLDKEY")) {
    return sourceValues.get("OLDKEY");
} else {
    return sourceValues.get("NEWKEY");
}
INSERT INTO SYM_TRANSFORM_COLUMN (
        transform_id, include_on, target_column_name, source_column_name, pk,
        transform_type, transform_expression, transform_order, last_update_time,
        last_update_by, create_time
) VALUES (
        'testjava', '*', 'NEWKEY', null, 0,
        'java', 'if (sourceValues.containsKey("OLDKEY")) {
    return sourceValues.get("OLDKEY");
} else {
    return sourceValues.get("NEWKEY");
}', 0, current_timestamp, 'Documentation', current_timestamp);

4.10.4. Virtual Columns

Transforms provide the ability to create "virtual columns" which can pass data between nodes for use by other SymmetricDS processes.

Use cases for virtual columns
  1. Extract transform adds virtual column to be processed by a target load transform.

  2. Extract transform adds virtual column to be processed by a target load filter.

  3. Extract transform adds virtual column to be processed by a source router.

Example 20. Example of an extract transform passing a virtual column to a target load transform
Create two transforms, one for extract and one for target using different group links
insert into SYM_TRANSFORM_TABLE (
        transform_id, source_node_group_id, target_node_group_id, transform_point, source_table_name,
        target_table_name, delete_action, transform_order, column_policy)
values (
        'extractStoreItemSellingPriceTransform', 'store', 'corp', 'EXTRACT', 'ITEM_SELLING_PRICE',
        'ITEM_SELLING_PRICE', 'DEL_ROW', 1, 'IMPLIED');
insert into SYM_TRANSFORM_TABLE (
        transform_id, source_node_group_id, target_node_group_id, transform_point, source_table_name,
        target_table_name, delete_action, transform_order, column_policy)
values (
        'loadCorpItemSellingPriceTransform', 'corp', 'store', 'LOAD', 'ITEM_SELLING_PRICE',
        'ITEM_SELLING_PRICE', 'DEL_ROW', 1, 'IMPLIED');
Create lookup transform for the extract transform to create a new virtual column to be sent to target.
insert into SYM_TRANSFORM_COLUMN (
        transform_id, include_on, target_column_name, source_column_name, pk,
        transform_type, transform_expression, transform_order)
values (
        'extractStoreItemSellingPriceTransform', '*', 'VIRTUAL_COL', 'COST', 0,
        'lookup', 'select max(price) from sale_return_line_item
        where item_id = :ITEM_ID', 1);
Create copy transform for the load transform to populate the cost column from the virtual column that was sent over.
insert into SYM_TRANSFORM_COLUMN (
        transform_id, include_on, target_column_name, source_column_name, pk,
        transform_type, transform_expression, transform_order)
values (
        'loadCorpItemSellingPriceTransform', '*', 'COST', 'VIRTUAL_COL', 0,
        'copy', '', 1);

4.11. Load Filters

Load Filters are a way to take a specific action when a row of data is loaded by SymmetricDS at a destination database node.

Load filters run for each row of data being loaded.
Filter Id

The unique identifier for the load filter

Group Link

The group link for with the load filter will be applied.

Type

The type of load filter. Today only Bean Shell, Java, and SQL are supported ('BSH', 'Java', 'SQL').

Target Table

The table on the target which the load filter will execute when changes occur on it.

Use the wildcard * to specify all tables configured through the group link. Partial table names in conjunction with a wildcard are NOT supported. If the wildcard is used it should be the only value.
Filter Order

The order in which load filters should execute if there are multiple scripts pertaining to the same source and target data.

Filter On Update

Determines whether the load filter takes action (executes) on a database update statement.

Filter On Insert

Determines whether the load filter takes action (executes) on a database insert statement.

Filter On Delete

Determines whether the load filter takes action (executes) on a database delete statement.

Fail On Error

Whether we should fail the batch if the filter fails.

Target Catalog

The name of the target catalog for which you would like to watch for changes.

Target Schema

The name of the target schema for which you would like to watch for changes.

4.11.1. Load Filter Scripts

Load filters are based on the execution of a script. You have the ability to set the execution point of the script at 6 different points. A script can be provided for one or more of these execution points.

Return Values
  • Return true to load the row of data.

  • Return false to not load the row of data.

Available Load Filter Scripts
Before Write Script

The script to execute before the database write occurs.

After Write Script

The script to execute after the database write occurs.

Batch Complete Script

The script to execute after the entire batch completes.

Batch Commit Script

The script to execute after the entire batch is committed.

Batch Rollback Script

The script to execute if the batch rolls back.

Handle Error Script

A script to execute if data cannot be processed.

Table 19. Variables available within scripts
Variable BSH SQL JAVA Description

engine

X

The Symmetric engine object.

COLUMN_NAME

X

X

The source values for the row being inserted, updated or deleted.

OLD_COLUMN_NAME

X

X

The old values for the row being inserted, updated or deleted.

context

X

X

The data context object for the data being inserted, updated or deleted. .

table

X

X

The table object for the table being inserted, updated or deleted.

data

X

X

The CsvData object for the data change.

error

X

X

java.lang.Exception

Example 21. Example of simple load filter
insert into sym_load_filter
        (LOAD_FILTER_ID, LOAD_FILTER_TYPE, SOURCE_NODE_GROUP_ID,
        TARGET_NODE_GROUP_ID, TARGET_CATALOG_NAME, TARGET_SCHEMA_NAME,
        TARGET_TABLE_NAME, FILTER_ON_UPDATE, FILTER_ON_INSERT, FILTER_ON_DELETE,
        BEFORE_WRITE_SCRIPT, AFTER_WRITE_SCRIPT, BATCH_COMPLETE_SCRIPT,
        BATCH_COMMIT_SCRIPT, BATCH_ROLLBACK_SCRIPT, HANDLE_ERROR_SCRIPT,
        CREATE_TIME, LAST_UPDATE_BY, LAST_UPDATE_TIME, LOAD_FILTER_ORDER,
        FAIL_ON_ERROR) values
        ('SampleFilter','BSH','Client','Server',NULL,NULL,
        'ITEM_SELLING_PRICE',1,1,1,'
        if (OLD_COST > COST) {
                // row will not be loaded
                return false
        } else {
                // row will be loaded
                return true
        }
        ',
        null,null,null,null,null,
        sysdate,'Documentaion',sysdate,1,1);
Example 22. Example load filter to send email on error
insert into sym_load_filter
        (LOAD_FILTER_ID, LOAD_FILTER_TYPE, SOURCE_NODE_GROUP_ID,
        TARGET_NODE_GROUP_ID, TARGET_CATALOG_NAME, TARGET_SCHEMA_NAME,
        TARGET_TABLE_NAME, FILTER_ON_UPDATE, FILTER_ON_INSERT, FILTER_ON_DELETE,
        BEFORE_WRITE_SCRIPT, AFTER_WRITE_SCRIPT, BATCH_COMPLETE_SCRIPT,
        BATCH_COMMIT_SCRIPT, BATCH_ROLLBACK_SCRIPT, HANDLE_ERROR_SCRIPT,
        CREATE_TIME, LAST_UPDATE_BY, LAST_UPDATE_TIME, LOAD_FILTER_ORDER,
        FAIL_ON_ERROR) values
        ('EmailErrorFilter','BSH','Client','Server',NULL,NULL,
        '*',1,1,1,null,
        null,null,null,null,'
        authListener = new javax.mail.Authenticator() {
        protected javax.mail.PasswordAuthentication getPasswordAuthentication() {
            return new javax.mail.PasswordAuthentication(engine.getParameterService().getString("mail.smtp.username"),
               engine.getParameterService().getString("mail.smtp.password"));
          }
        };

        if (bsh.shared.mailMap == void) {
          bsh.shared.mailMap = new HashMap();
        }

        String batchId = context.getBatch().getNodeBatchId();
        String targetNodeId = context.getBatch().getTargetNodeId();
        if (!bsh.shared.mailMap.containsKey(batchId)) {
          bsh.shared.mailMap.put(batchId, Boolean.TRUE);
          javax.mail.Session session = javax.mail.Session.getInstance
            (engine.getParameterService().getAllParameters(), authListener);
          javax.mail.internet.MimeMessage msg = new
            javax.mail.internet.MimeMessage(session);
          msg.setFrom(new javax.mail.internet.InternetAddress
            (engine.getParameterService().getString("mail.smtp.from")));
          msg.setRecipients(javax.mail.Message.RecipientType.TO,
            engine.getParameterService().getString("mail.smtp.to"));
          msg.setSubject("SymmetricDS - batch " + batchId + " is in error at node " + targetNodeId);
          msg.setSentDate(new java.util.Date());
          msg.setText(org.apache.commons.lang.exception.ExceptionUtils.
            getFullStackTrace(error));
          javax.mail.Transport.send(msg);

        }',
        sysdate,'Documentation',sysdate,1,1);

4.11.2. Custom Load Filters

Custom load filters can be created by implementing the IDatabaseWriterFilter, see IDatabaseWriterFilter for more information.

4.12. Extensions

Extensions are custom code written to a plug-in interface, which allows them to run inside the engine and change its default behavior. Saving extension code in the configuration has the advantage of dynamically running without deployment or restarting. Configured extensions are available to other nodes and move between environments when configuration is exported and imported.

Extension Id

Identifier for a unique extension entry.

Extension Type

Type of extension, either written in Java or BeanShell. Java extensions are compiled to bytecode on first use and may be compiled to native code by the Just-In-Time (JIT) compiler, giving them the best performance. BeanShell extensions are parsed on first use and interpreted at runtime, but they are easier to write because of loose typing and short-cuts with syntax.

Table 20. Options for Extension Type

Java

Indicates that Java code is provided in the extension text.

BSH

Indicates that BeanShell code is provided in the extension text. Built-in variables are available for engine, sqlTemplate, and log.

Interface Name

The full class name for the interface implemented by the extension, including the package name. Only needed for extension type of BSH.

Node Group Id

The node group where this extension will be active and run.

Enabled

Whether or not the extension should be run.

Extension Order

The order to register extensions when multiple extensions for the same interface exist.

Extension Text

The code for the extension that will be compiled or interpreted at runtime.

Example 23. BSH extension that adds a new transform for masking characters

Add a new transform type called "mask" that replaces all characters in a string with an asterisk except the last number of characters specified by the user in the expression. This BeanShell extension uses the ISingleValueColumnTransform interface and applies only to the "corp" node group.

insert into sym_extension
   (extension_id, extension_type, interface_name, node_group_id, enabled,
    extension_order, extension_text)
values
   ('mask', 'bsh',
    'org.jumpmind.symmetric.io.data.transform.ISingleValueColumnTransform',
    'corp', 1, 1, '
    import org.apache.commons.lang.StringUtils;

    isExtractColumnTransform() {
        return true;
    }

    isLoadColumnTransform() {
        return true;
    }

    transform(platform, context, column, data, sourceValues, newValue, oldValue) {
        if (StringUtils.isNotBlank(newValue)) {
            String expression = column.getTransformExpression();
            if (StringUtils.isNotBlank(expression)) {
                count = newValue.length() - Integer.parseInt(expression.trim());
                return StringUtils.repeat("*", count) + newValue.substring(count);
            }
        }
        return newValue;
    }
   ');
Example 24. Java IReloadListener extension that disables foreign keys before a load and enables them after the load.
insert into SYM_EXTENSION (EXTENSION_ID, EXTENSION_TYPE, INTERFACE_NAME, NODE_GROUP_ID, ENABLED, EXTENSION_ORDER, EXTENSION_TEXT, CREATE_TIME, LAST_UPDATE_BY, LAST_UPDATE_TIME) values ('disable ref integrity','java','org.jumpmind.symmetric.load.IReloadListener','ALL',1,1,'import org.jumpmind.db.sql.ISqlTransaction;
import org.jumpmind.symmetric.ISymmetricEngine;
import org.jumpmind.symmetric.ext.ISymmetricEngineAware;
import org.jumpmind.symmetric.load.IReloadListener;
import org.jumpmind.symmetric.model.Node;

public class MyReloadListener implements IReloadListener, ISymmetricEngineAware {

    ISymmetricEngine engine;

    @Override
    public void setSymmetricEngine(ISymmetricEngine engine) {
        this.engine = engine;
    }

    @Override
    public void beforeReload(ISqlTransaction transaction, Node node, long loadId) {
        TriggerHistory history = engine.getTriggerRouterService().findTriggerHistoryForGenericSync();
        engine.getDataService().insertSqlEvent(transaction, history, "reload", node, "SET REFERENTIAL_INTEGRITY FALSE", true, loadId, "initial load");
    }

    @Override
    public void afterReload(ISqlTransaction transaction, Node node, long loadId) {
        TriggerHistory history = engine.getTriggerRouterService().findTriggerHistoryForGenericSync();
        engine.getDataService().insertSqlEvent(transaction, history, "reload", node, "SET REFERENTIAL_INTEGRITY TRUE", true, loadId, "initial load");
    }

}
',current_timestamp,'some user',current_timestamp);
Extensions Tips and Tricks
For BeanShell, implement only the methods needed from an interface, then write a special method of "invoke(method, args) {}" that will be called for any unimplemented methods.

4.13. Jobs

In SymmetricDS, jobs are tasks that are scheduled to run by a job manager. These jobs do the majority of synchronization work for SymmetricDS. In addition to the built in jobs, you can create custom jobs in Configuration to run for specified node groups.

Required Fields
Job Name

The Job Name is a unique identifier to refer to the job

Job Type

The type of job. Possible types are listed below.

Type Provided Description

BSH

x

A job that will compile and run a beanshell script.

JAVA

x

A job that will compile and run a java script.

SQL

x

A job that will compile and run a sql script.

Requires Registration

Boolean value that specifies whether the engine needs to be registered for this job to run.

Auto Start-Up

Boolean value that determines whether this job should auto start.

Node Group

Targets the job at a specific node group id. To target all groups, use the value of 'ALL'.

Advanced Topics
Job Expression

The payload of the job. For BSH jobs, this should be a beanshell script. For Java jobs, this should be Java code of a class which implements the IJob interface. For SQL jobs, this should be a sql script. BSH jobs are written in beanshell script (http://www.beanshell.org/). The beanshell has the following variables available:

  • engine - An instances of the current ISymmetricEngine

  • sqlTemplate - An instance of ISqlTemplate which can be used to run SQL statements.

  • log - An logger which can be used to write messages to the log.

This is an example BSH job:

    // Configuration for this extension...
    final String TABLE_NAME = "item";
    final String CHANNEL_ID = "item";
    final String ROUTER_ID = "corp_2_store";
    // End Configuration.
    String INSERT_RELOAD_DATA_TEMPLATE =
            "insert into sym_data ( table_name, event_type, row_data, trigger_hist_id, channel_id, transaction_id, create_time)" +
            "    select  t.source_table_name, 'R', 'item_id > ''1''', " +
            "            h.trigger_hist_id, t.channel_id, '1', current_timestamp" +
            "        from sym_trigger t inner join sym_trigger_router tr on" +
            "            t.trigger_id=tr.trigger_id inner join sym_trigger_hist h on" +
            "            h.trigger_hist_id=(select max(trigger_hist_id) from sym_trigger_hist" +
            "                where trigger_id=t.trigger_id)" +
            "    where channel_id=? and" +
            "        tr.router_id like ? and" +
            "        (t.source_table_name = ?)" +
            "    order by tr.initial_load_order asc;";

        int updatedCount = sqlTemplate.update(INSERT_RELOAD_DATA_TEMPLATE, new Object[]{CHANNEL_ID, ROUTER_ID, TABLE_NAME});
        if (updatedCount == 1) {
            log.info("Issued reload for table '" + TABLE_NAME + "'");
        } else {
            throw new SymmetricException("SyncOnHeartbeatExtension is designed to insert exactly 1 sym_data row.  Instead inserted " +
                    updatedCount + ". Check TABLE_NAME, CHANNEL_ID, ROUTER_ID parameters in the extension itself.",  null);
        }

This is the same job as a Java job. This might perform a little better, but you’ll need to have a JDK (not just JRE) available on your nodes for this to compile.

    // Configuration for this extension...
    final String TABLE_NAME = "item";
    final String CHANNEL_ID = "item";
    final String ROUTER_ID = "corp_2_store";
    // End Configuration.
    String INSERT_RELOAD_DATA_TEMPLATE =
            "insert into sym_data ( table_name, event_type, row_data, trigger_hist_id, channel_id, transaction_id, create_time)" +
            "    select  t.source_table_name, 'R', 'item_id > ''1''', " +
            "            h.trigger_hist_id, t.channel_id, '1', current_timestamp" +
            "        from sym_trigger t inner join sym_trigger_router tr on" +
            "            t.trigger_id=tr.trigger_id inner join sym_trigger_hist h on" +
            "            h.trigger_hist_id=(select max(trigger_hist_id) from sym_trigger_hist" +
            "                where trigger_id=t.trigger_id)" +
            "    where channel_id=? and" +
            "        tr.router_id like ? and" +
            "        (t.source_table_name = ?)" +
            "    order by tr.initial_load_order asc;";

        log.info("TESTING\n\n\n");
        int updatedCount = sqlTemplate.update(INSERT_RELOAD_DATA_TEMPLATE, CHANNEL_ID, ROUTER_ID, TABLE_NAME);
        if (updatedCount == 1) {
            log.info("Issued reload for table '" + TABLE_NAME + "'");
        } else {
            throw new org.jumpmind.symmetric.SymmetricException("SyncOnHeartbeatExtension is designed to insert exactly 1 sym_data row.  Instead inserted " +
                    updatedCount + ". Check TABLE_NAME, CHANNEL_ID, ROUTER_ID parameters in the extension itself.");
        }

This is an example of a SQL job that updates the heartbeat_time of the current node. Available tokens are: :NODE_ID and :NODE_GROUP_ID.

update sym_node_host set heartbeat_time = now() where node_id = :NODE_ID;
delete from item where item_id = 0;
insert into ITEM (ITEM_ID, NAME) values (0,'tesing');
Schedule

Specifies how often this job should run.

Custom Job Example
insert into SYM_JOB ("job_name", "job_type", "requires_registration",
        "job_expression", "default_schedule", "default_auto_start", "node_group_id")
    values ('Java Job', 'JAVA', 1, <YOUR JOB EXPRESSION HERE>,'1000', 0, 'server');

4.14. Parameters

Parameters can be used to help tune and configure your SymmetricDS configuration. Parameters can be set for an individual node or for all nodes in your network.

See Parameter List for a complete list of parameters.

5. Manage

This section will talk about how to manage and monitor SymmetricDS.

5.1. Nodes

5.1.1. Add Node

Multiple nodes can be hosted in a single SymmetricDS instance. SymmetricDS will start a node for each properties file it finds in the engines directory.

Additional nodes can be added to the same SymmetricDS instance that the master node is running in or they can be added to a different SymmetricDS instance. Either way, you create additional nodes by creating an Node Properties File with the registration.url set to the sync.url of the master node. When the SymmetricDS instance is restarted the new node will attempt to register with the master node.

For the new node to fully become a part of the synchronization network Registration must be opened.

5.1.2. Load Data

A load is the process of seeding tables at a target node with data from a source node. Instead of capturing data, data is selected from the source table using a SQL statement and then it is streamed to the client.

Initial loads, reverse initial loads, and table reloads can utilize the TABLE_RELOAD_REQUEST to request a load with a variety of options.

Initial Load (all tables)

Insert a row into TABLE_RELOAD_REQUEST containing the value 'ALL' for both the trigger_id and router_id.

insert into SYM_TABLE_RELOAD_REQUEST (target_node_id, source_node_id, trigger_id, router_id, create_time, last_update_time)
     values ('store-001', 'corp-000', 'ALL', 'ALL', current_timestamp, current_timestamp);
Partial Load

Insert a row into TABLE_RELOAD_REQUEST for each trigger router combination to load.

insert into SYM_TABLE_RELOAD_REQUEST (target_node_id, source_node_id, trigger_id, router_id, create_time, last_update_time)
     values ('store-001', 'corp-000', 'item_selling_price', 'corp_2_store', current_timestamp, current_timestamp);

insert into SYM_TABLE_RELOAD_REQUEST (target_node_id, source_node_id, trigger_id, router_id, create_time, last_update_time)
     values ('store-001', 'corp-000', 'item', 'corp_2_store', current_timestamp, current_timestamp);
Reverse Initial Load (all tables)

Insert a row into TABLE_RELOAD_REQUEST with the proper source and target nodes for the direction of the load.

insert into SYM_TABLE_RELOAD_REQUEST (target_node_id, source_node_id, trigger_id, router_id, create_time, last_update_time)
     values ('corp-000', 'store-001', 'ALL', 'ALL', current_timestamp, current_timestamp);
Load data and create target tables

Insert a row into TABLE_RELOAD_REQUEST and set the create_table to 1 to send a table creation prior to the load running.

insert into SYM_TABLE_RELOAD_REQUEST (target_node_id, source_node_id, trigger_id, router_id, create_time, create_table, last_update_time)
     values ('corp-000', 'store-001', 'ALL', 'ALL', current_timestamp, 1, current_timestamp);
Load data and delete from target tables

Insert a row into TABLE_RELOAD_REQUEST and set the delete_first to 1 to delete all data in the target table prior to the load running.

insert into SYM_TABLE_RELOAD_REQUEST (target_node_id, source_node_id, trigger_id, router_id, create_time, delete_first, last_update_time)
     values ('corp-000', 'store-001', 'ALL', 'ALL', current_timestamp, 1, current_timestamp);
Load data for a specific table with partial data

Insert a row into TABLE_RELOAD_REQUEST and set the reload_select to the where clause to run while extracting data. There are 3 variables available for replacement. See Variables.

  • $(groupId)

  • $(nodeId)

  • $(externalId)

insert into SYM_TABLE_RELOAD_REQUEST (target_node_id, source_node_id, trigger_id, router_id, create_time, reload_select, last_update_time)
     values ('store-001', 'corp-000', 'item_selling_price', 'corp_2_store', current_timestamp, 'store_id=$(externalId)', current_timestamp);
Load table with custom SQL run before the load executes.

Insert a row into TABLE_RELOAD_REQUEST and set the before_custom_sql to run before the load runs. The %s variable is available as replacement for the table name.

insert into SYM_TABLE_RELOAD_REQUEST (target_node_id, source_node_id, trigger_id, router_id, create_time, before_custom_sql, last_update_time)
     values ('store-001', 'corp-000', 'ALL', 'ALL', current_timestamp, 'truncate table %s', current_timestamp);

5.1.3. Control

Stopping a Node

Installed nodes are started automatically when the SymmetricDS server is started. An individual node instance can be stopped while other nodes continue to run.

From the command line, you can use JMX to stop a node. The following is an example. You would replace <engine name> with the name of the engine as found in the Node Properties File

bin/jmx --bean org.jumpmind.symmetric.<engine name>:name=Node --method stop

Uninstalling a Node

Uninstalling a node will remove all SymmetricDS database artifacts and delete the engine’s property file.

This can not be undone so be sure to uninstall with caution.

From the command line you can use the symadmin utility to uninstall a node.

bin/symadmin --engine <engine name> uninstall

Changing a Node’s Priority

Setting a node’s priority to high means that the node will always be able to reserve a connection with the current node regardless of how busy it is. The priority settings will last until SymmetricDS restarts.

Setting too many nodes to high priority can starve the node of database connections.

From the command line, you can use JMX to change a node’s priority. Below are examples of how to increase priority, decrease priority, and get the list of prioritized node IDs.

bin/jmx --engine <engine name> --bean org.jumpmind.symmetric.<engine name>:name=Node --method addNodeToWhiteList --args "<node ID to prioritize>"

bin/jmx --engine <engine name> --bean org.jumpmind.symmetric.<engine name>:name=Node --method removeNodeFromWhiteList --args "<node ID to deprioritize>"

bin/jmx --engine <engine name> --bean org.jumpmind.symmetric.<engine name>:name=Node --method getNodesInWhiteList

5.1.4. Registration

In order for a node to synchronize with other nodes it must be registered. When a node is registered, it downloads its configuration as well as references to the nodes that it should sync with.

A node is considered unregistered if it does not have an NODE_IDENTITY row. When a node is unregistered, it will use the registration.url defined in the Node Properties File to request registration. The registration.url of the new node is the sync.url of the node that is being registered with.

Before a node is allowed to register, it must have an open registration. If there is no open registration, then a REGISTRATION_REQUEST is recorded.

You can open registration from the command line with the following command:

bin/symadmin open-registration --engine <engine name> <node group> <external id>

The <node group> and <external id> should match the group.id and external.id in the registering node’s Node Properties File.

Node registration is stored in the NODE and NODE_SECURITY tables. Nodes are only allowed to register if rows exist for the registering node and the registration_enabled flag is set to 1.

If the auto.registration SymmetricDS parameter is set to true, then when a node attempts to register, the node will automatically be accepted.

SymmetricDS allows you to have multiple nodes with the same external_id. In order to enable this you must set external.id.is.unique.enabled to false.

5.1.5. Push Registration

If the client is unable to pull from the server, it can register by having the server push to it instead. The group link for server to client should be set to push.

You can open registration from the command line with the following command:

bin/symadmin open-registration --engine <engine name> <node group> <external id> <sync url>

The <node group>, <external id>, and <sync url> should match the group.id, external.id, and sync.url in the registering node’s Node Properties File.

5.1.6. Initial Loads

Loading data for 3.8 and above has been modified, see Load Data.

When a load is requested it will either set the initial_load_enabled or the reverse_initial_load_enabled flag on the appropriate NODE_SECURITY row.

When the Route Job runs next, it will create batches that represent the initial load. Batches will be created on the reload channel for each table that is defined by Table Triggers and linked by Table Routing in the direction that the load was requested. The default reload channel is the "reload" channel. At the same time reload batches are inserted, all previously pending batches for the node are marked as successfully sent.

Each table defined by Table Triggers and linked by Table Routing is represented by a reload OUTGOING_BATCH. The batches are inserted in the defined order. If the initial_load_order is the same then SymmetricDS tries to determine the order the tables need to be loaded in automatically based on foreign key dependencies. A negative value for initial_load_order in Table Routing will result no reload batch being inserted.

If there are cyclical constraints, then foreign keys might need to be turned off or the initial load will need to be manually configured based on knowledge of how the data is structured.

A SQL statement is run against each table to get the data load that will be streamed to the target node. The selected data is filtered through the configured router for the table being loaded. If the data set is going to be large, then SQL criteria can optionally be provided in initial_load_select to pare down the data that is selected out of the database.

Note that if the parent node that a node is registering with is not a registration server node (as can happen when using REGISTRATION_REDIRECT or when using multiple tiers) the parent node’s NODE_SECURITY entry must exist at the parent node and have a non-null value for column initial_load_time. Nodes can’t be registered to a non-registration-server node without this value being set one way or another (i.e., manually, or as a result of an initial load occurring at the parent node).
Partial Initial Loads

An efficient way to select a subset of data from a table for an initial load is to provide an initial_load_select clause in Table Routing . This clause, if present, is applied as a where clause to the SQL used to select the data to be loaded. The clause may use "t" as an alias for the table being loaded, if needed. The $(externalId) token can be used for subsetting the data in the where clause.

In cases where routing is done using a feature like Subselect Router , an initial_load_select clause matching the subselect’s criteria would be a more efficient approach. Some routers will check to see if the initial_load_select clause is provided, and they will not execute assuming that the more optimal path is using the initial_load_select statement.

One example of the use of an initial load select would be if you wished to only load data created more recently than the start of year 2011. Say, for example, the column created_time contains the creation date. Your initial_load_select would read created_time > ts {'2011-01-01 00:00:00.0000'} (using whatever timestamp format works for your database). This then gets applied as a where clause when selecting data from the table.

When providing an initial_load_select be sure to test out the criteria against production data in a query browser. Do an explain plan to make sure you are properly using indexes.
Initial Load Extract In Background

By default, initial loads for a table are broken into multiple batches, with the size of batches based on the max_batch_size of the Channels for the reload channel being used. Batches are pre-extracted to staging in the background, instead of waiting for a push or pull to extract them. An estimated count of rows for the table are queried from the database statistics, or it will execute a count(*) query from the table if statistics are not available. The extract process creates batches based on the number of rows in the table divided by the max_batch_size.

If the background job is disabled by setting initial.load.use.extract.job.enabled to false, then all data for a given table will be extracted into a single batch during a push or pull, regardless of channel settings. For large tables, this can result in a batch that can take a long time to extract and load.

Reverse Initial Loads

Normal initial loads load data from the parent node to a client node. Occasionally, there may be need to do a one-time initial load of data in the "reverse" direction. A reverse initial load is started by setting the reverse_initial_load_enabled flag on NODE_SECURITY.

Other Initial Load Settings
Initial Load Parameters

There are several parameters that can be used to modify the behavior of an initial load.

auto.reload

A load is queued up to a node automatically when it registers.

auto.reload.reverse

A reverse initial load is queued up for a node automatically when it registers.

initial.load.delete.first / initial.load.delete.first.sql

By default, an initial load will not delete existing rows from a target table before loading the data. If a delete is desired, the parameter initial.load.delete.first can be set to true. If true, the command found in initial.load.delete.first.sql will be run on each table prior to loading the data. The default value for initial.load.delete.first.sql is

delete from %s

Note that individual reload batches are created that represent the deletes in the reverse order that load batches are created. All delete batches are inserted first. The initial.load.delete.first.sql can be overwritten at the TRIGGER_ROUTER level by entering a initial_load_delete_stmt.

initial.load.create.first

By default, an initial load will not create the table on the target if it doesn’t already exist. If the desired behavior is to create the table on the target if it is not present, set the parameter intial.load.create.first to true. SymmetricDS will attempt to create the table and indexes on the target database before doing the initial load. Note that individual create batches are created to represent each of the table creates.

Sometimes when creating tables across different database platforms default values do not translate. You can turn off the use of default values during the table create by setting create.table.without.defaults.

5.1.7. Send

Events other than data changes can be sent to nodes, which include the following:

SQL Scripts

Sql can be sent to be executed on a target node

BSH Scripts

Beanshell scripts can be sent to be executed on a target node

Table Schema

The schema the source node can be replicated to the target node individually

To create an event, you insert into DATA at the source database. Any column not specified is not required.

Column

Value

table_name

Name of your table to be sent.

event_type

Use 'R' for reload, 'S' for SQL, 'C' for create table.

row_data

For reload event, specify the "where" clause to limit rows or use null for all rows. For SQL event, specify the SQL to run.

old_data

For Table Schema event, specify a comma separated list of options to modify what gets sent with the table schema request.

trigger_hist_id

Reference to the active entry in TRIGGER_HIST for your table.

channel_id

The channel to create batches on.

create_time

Timestamp when this event was created.

node_list

A comma separated list of node_ids to route batches to.

Reload Event

A "reload" event will send rows for a table, either all rows or the rows you specify. You may need to re-send data when the change itself was not captured. For example, if changes occurred prior to installing triggers, or if the data at the destination was accidentally deleted, or if a batch was manually ignored

Be careful to send data for tables in an order that will satisfy foreign keys.
insert into sym_data (node_list, table_name, event_type, row_data, trigger_hist_id, channel_id, create_time)
select '00001', source_table_name, 'R', '"tran_id=900"', trigger_hist_id, 'reload', current_timestamp
from sym_trigger_hist where source_table_name = 'sale_transaction' and inactive_time is null;
SQL Event

A "SQL" event runs SQL you specify at the target nodes.

insert into sym_data (node_list, table_name, event_type, row_data, trigger_hist_id, channel_id, create_time)
select '00001', source_table_name, 'S', '"delete from sale_transaction where day = ''2012-12-01''"', trigger_hist_id, 'reload', current_timestamp
from sym_trigger_hist where source_table_name = 'sale_transaction' and inactive_time is null;
BSH Event

A BSH event runs a BeanShell script you specify at the target nodes.

Table 21. Variables available to the script

sourceNodeId

Source node ID

sourceNodeExternalId

Source node external ID

sourceNodeGroupId

Source node group ID

sourceNode

Source node object of type org.jumpmind.symmetric.model.Node

targetNodeId

Target node ID

targetNodeExternalId

Target node external ID

targetNodeGroupId

Target node group ID

targetNode

Target node object of type org.jumpmind.symmetric.model.Node

engine

Current engine of type org.jumpmind.symmetric.ISymmetricEngine

log

Logger of type org.slf4j.Logger for writing messages to log

insert into sym_data (node_list, table_name, event_type, row_data, trigger_hist_id, channel_id, create_time)
select '00001', source_table_name, 'B', 'log.info("Hello, world");', trigger_hist_id, 'config', current_timestamp
from sym_trigger_hist where source_table_name = 'sym_node' and inactive_time is null;
Table Schema

A "create" event will send the table definition as XML to the target nodes, where it is converted to database specific SQL that will either create the table if it’s missing or alter it to match the definition.

insert into sym_data (node_list, table_name, event_type, trigger_hist_id, channel_id, create_time)
select '00001', source_table_name, 'C', trigger_hist_id, 'reload', current_timestamp
from sym_trigger_hist where source_table_name = 'sale_transaction' and inactive_time is null;

There are three options that can be specified in the old_data column. These options should be comma separated. The options are excludeIndices, excludeForeignKeys, and excludeDefaults. The option excludeIndices will send the create table request without associated indices. The excludeForeignKeys option will send the create table request without the associated foreign key references. The excludeDefaults option will send the create table request without column defaults.

insert into sym_data (node_list, table_name, event_type, trigger_hist_id, channel_id, create_time, old_data)
select '00001', source_table_name, 'C', trigger_hist_id, 'reload', current_timestamp, 'deferIndices,deferForeignKeys'
from sym_trigger_hist where source_table_name = 'sale_transaction' and inactive_time is null;

5.2. Jobs

Most work done by SymmetricDS is initiated by jobs. Jobs are tasks that are started and scheduled by a job manager. Jobs are enabled by the start.<name>.job parameter.

Most jobs are enabled by default. The frequency at which a job runs is controlled by one of two parameters:

  • job.<name>.period.time.ms

  • job.<name>.cron

If a valid cron property exists in the configuration, then it will be used to schedule the job. Otherwise, the job manager will attempt to use the period.time.ms property.

The frequency of jobs can be configured in either the Node Properties File or in the PARAMETER table. When managed in PARAMETER table the frequency properties can be changed in the master node and when the updated settings sync to the other nodes in the system the job manager will restart the jobs at the new frequency settings.

SymmetricDS utilizes Spring’s CRON support, which includes seconds as the first parameter. This differs from the typical Unix-based implementation, where the first parameter is usually minutes. For example, */15 * * * * * means every 15 seconds, not every 15 minutes. See Spring’s documentation for more details.

5.2.1. Route Job

The Route Job is responsible for creating outgoing batches of captured data that are targeted at specific nodes.

The job processes Channels, one at a time, reading up to Max Data To Route data rows which have not been routed.

The data is assigned to outgoing batches based on the Batch Algorithm defined for the channel. Note that, for the default and transactional algorithm Max Data To Route rows may be exceeded depending on the transaction boundaries.

An outgoing batch is initially created with a status of "RT". Data is assigned to the batch by inserting into data event. When a batch is complete, the batch is committed and the status is changed to "NE".

The route job will respect the Max Batch Size as configured in Channels. If the max batch size is reached before the end of a captured database transaction and the batch algorithm is set to something other than nontransactional the batch may exceed the specified max size.

The route job delegates to a router to decide which nodes need to receive the data. The correct router is looked up by referencing the captured trigger_hist_id in the DATA table and using Table Routing configuration.

After outgoing batches have been created by the Route Job, they need to be transported to the target node.

Data Gaps

The DATA to route is selected based on the values in the DATA_GAP table. For efficiency, DATA_GAP tracks gaps in the data ids in DATA table that have not yet been processed.

A gap while routing in DATA can occur because concurrently running transactions have not yet committed. They can also be caused by rolled back transactions.

Most of gaps are only temporarily and fill in at some point after routing and need to be picked up with the next routing run.

This table completely defines the entire range of data that can be routed at any point in time. For a brand new instance of SymmetricDS, this table is empty and SymmetricDS creates a gap starting from data id of zero and ending with a very large number (defined by routing.largest.gap.size ).

At the start of a route job, the list of valid gaps (gaps with status of 'GP') is collected, and each gap is evaluated in turn. If a gap is sufficiently old (as defined by routing.stale.dataid.gap.time.ms, SymmetricDS assumes that a transaction has been rolled back and deletes the gap.

If the gap is not stale, then DATA_EVENT is searched for data ids present in the gap. If one or more data ids is found in DATA_EVENT, then the current gap is deleted, and new gap(s) are created to represent the data ids still missing in the gap’s range. This process is done for all gaps. If the very last gap contained data, a new gap starting from the highest data id and ending at (highest data id + routing.largest.gap.size) is then created.

This results in an updated gap list that can be used to select DATA for routing.

5.2.2. Push Job

The Push Job is responsible for assigning nodes that need to be pushed to individual threads. See Push Threads for more details.

The job sends Outgoing Batches to the target node using an HTTP PUT. By default an HTTP PUT buffers data at the client. If large batches are going to be sent using the push job, then consider turning on http.push.stream.output.enabled.

The push job is considered to be slightly more efficient than the Pull Job because it only needs to make a network connection if there are batches available to send.

In order to be more efficient, the push job sends an HTTP HEAD to request a reservation at the target node. If the target nodes responds and accepts the request, then the job issues the HTTP PUT with the data pay load in Data Format

5.2.3. Pull Job

The Pull Job is responsible for assigning nodes that need to be pulled to individual threads. See Pull Threads for more details.

The job expects to receive Incoming Batches from a source node using an HTTP GET.

5.2.4. Purge Outgoing Job

The Purge Outgoing Job is responsible to purging outgoing data that has successfully been loaded at the target and is older than purge.retention.minutes.

This job purges the following tables:

5.2.5. Purge Incoming Job

The Purge Incoming Job is responsible for purging the INCOMING_BATCH table.

5.2.6. Statistics Job

The Statistics Job flushes captured statistics to following tables:

It also purges the same tables based on the purge.stats.retention.minutes parameter.

5.2.7. Sync Triggers Job

The Sync Triggers Job runs when a node is started and on the prescribed job schedule. The job checks for missing SymmetricDS database triggers and creates them. It also updates the SymmetricDS database triggers that have had a change to its configuration or the database table has had a change to its structure.

5.2.8. Heartbeat Job

The Heartbeat Job updates its own NODE_HOST row with a new heartbeat_time so that it is synchronized to it’s created_at_node_id node to indicate that the node is online and healthy.

5.2.9. Watchdog Job

The Watchdog Job looks for nodes that have been offline for offline.node.detection.period.minutes and disables them.

5.2.10. Stage Management Job

The Stage Management Job purges the staging area according to the stream.to.file.ttl.ms parameter.

5.2.11. Refresh Cache Job

The Refresh Cache Job checks the last_update_time on each cached configuration resource and determines if it needs to refresh the cached items. This job is mostly relevant when using Clustering.

5.2.12. File Sync Tracker Job

The File System Tracker job is responsible for monitoring and recording the events of files being created, modified, or deleted. It records the current state of files to the FILE_SNAPSHOT table.

See File Synchronization for more details.

5.2.13. File Sync Pull Job

The File Sync Pull Job is responsible for assigning nodes that need to be pulled to individual threads.

See File Synchronization and Pull Threads for more details.

5.2.14. File Sync Push Job

The File Sync Push Job is responsible for assigning nodes that need to be pushed to individual threads.

See File Synchronization and Pull Threads for more details.

5.2.15. Initial Load Extract Job

The Initial Load Extract Job processes EXTRACT_REQUESTs. See Initial Load Extract In Background for more details.

5.3. Installed Triggers

SymmetricDS installs database triggers to capture changes in the DATA table. A record of the triggers that were installed and what columns are being captured is stored in the TRIGGER_HIST table. When data is captured in DATA it references the TRIGGER_HIST record that represented the trigger at the time data was captured.

This is necessary because if a trigger is rebuilt after columns are added or removed and data that was captured by the old trigger has not yet been delivered, we need a record of what columns were in play at the time the data had been captured.

The TRIGGER_HIST table records the reason a trigger was rebuilt. The following reasons are possible:

N

New trigger that has not been created before

S

Schema changes in the table were detected

C

Configuration changes in Trigger

T

Trigger was missing

A configuration entry in Trigger without any history in Trigger Hist results in a new trigger being created (N). The Trigger Hist stores a hash of the underlying table, so any alteration to the table causes the trigger to be rebuilt (S). When the last_update_time is changed on the Trigger entry, the configuration change causes the trigger to be rebuilt ©. If an entry in Trigger Hist is missing the corresponding database trigger, the trigger is created (T).

5.4. Outgoing Batches

Outgoing batches are delivered to the target node when the source node pushes or when the target node pulls.

A single push or pull connection is called a synchronization.

For one synchronization, each enabled channel will be processed. Channels are processed in the order defined by the Processing Order setting on the channel with two exceptions:

  • If there are reload channels available to be sent and the reload channels are not in error, then only reload channels will be sent

  • If a channel is in error it will be moved to the bottom of the list

When outgoing batches are selected for a node and a channel, the maximum number of batches that are extracted per synchronization is controlled by the Max Batch To Send setting on the channel.

There is also a setting that controls the max number of bytes to send in one synchronization. If SymmetricDS has extracted more than the number of bytes configured by the transport.max.bytes.to.sync parameter, then it will finish extracting the current batch and then finish synchronization so the client has a chance to process and acknowledge the "big" batch. This may happen before the configured Max Batch To Send has been reached.

When extracting a batch, data is first extracted to the Staging Area and then sent across the network from the Staging Area. The staging area is used to minimize the amount of time a database connection is being used when streaming over slower networks. The use of the staging area can be turned off by setting the stream.to.file.enabled parameter.

5.4.1. Extract Frequency By Channel

The pull and push frequency cannot be adjusted by channel. If you want to adjust the frequency that outgoing batches for a specific channel are sent, you have two options:

  1. Batches are extracted by channel at an interval controlled by the extract_period_millis in the Channels settings. The last_extract_time is always recorded, by channel, on the NODE_CHANNEL_CTL table for the host node’s id. When the Pull and Push Job run, if the extract period has not passed according to the last extract time, then the channel will be skipped for this run. If the extract_period_millis is set to zero, data extraction will happen every time the jobs run.

  2. SymmetricDS provides the ability to configure windows of time when synchronization is allowed. This is done using the NODE_GROUP_CHANNEL_WND table. A list of allowed time windows can be specified for a node group and a channel. If one or more windows exist, then data will only be extracted and transported if the time of day falls within the window of time specified. The configured times are always for the target node’s local time. If the start_time is greater than the end_time, then the window crosses over to the next day.

5.4.2. Outgoing Sync Status

The status of outgoing synchronization can be queried at the source database.

The following query will show outgoing synchronization failures by node:

select count(*), node_id from sym_outgoing_batch
  where error_flag=1 group by node_id;

The following query will show the number of data rows that have not been delivered to target nodes:

select sum(data_row_count), node_id from sym_outgoing_batch
  where status != 'OK' group by node_id;

The following queries summed together give an approximation of the number of rows that have not been routed:

select sum(end_id-start_id) from sym_data_gap
  where start_id < (select max(start_id) from sym_data_gap);

select count(*) from sym_data
  where data_id >= (select max(start_id) from sym_data_gap);

5.4.3. Outgoing Batch Errors

By design, whenever SymmetricDS encounters an issue with synchronization, the batch containing the error is marked as being in an error state, and all subsequent batches on the same channel to the same node are not synchronized until the batch error is resolved.

SymmetricDS will retry the batch in error until the situation creating the error is resolved (or the data for the batch itself is changed). If the error is caused by network or database failures, then the error might eventually resolve itself when the network or database failures are resolved.

Analyzing and resolving issues can take place on the outgoing or incoming side. The techniques for analysis are slightly different in the two cases, however, due to the fact that the node with outgoing batch data also has the data and data events associated with the batch in the database. On the incoming node, however, all that is available is the incoming batch header and data present in an incoming error table.

Analyzing the Issue

The first step in analyzing the cause of a failed batch is to locate information about the data in the batch.

To locate batches in error, run the following SQL query:

select * from sym_outgoing_batch where error_flag=1;

Several useful pieces of information are available from this query:

  • The batch number of the failed batch, available in column BATCH_ID.

  • The node to which the batch is being sent, available in column NODE_ID.

  • The channel to which the batch belongs, available in column CHANNEL_ID. All subsequent batches on this channel to this node will be held until the error condition is resolved.

  • The specific data id in the batch which is causing the failure, available in column FAILED_DATA_ID.

  • Any SQL message, SQL State, and SQL Codes being returned during the synchronization attempt, available in columns SQL_MESSAGE, SQL_STATE, and SQL_CODE, respectively.

Using the error_flag on the batch table, as shown above, is more reliable than using the status column. The status column can change from 'ER' to a different status temporarily as the batch is retried.
The query above will also show you any recent batches that were originally in error and were changed to be manually skipped. See the end of Outgoing Batches for more details.

To get a full picture of the batch, you can query for information representing the complete list of all data changes associated with the failed batch by joining DATA and DATA_EVENT, such as:

select * from sym_data where data_id in
   (select data_id from sym_data_event where batch_id='XXXXXX');

where XXXXXX is the batch id of the failing batch.

This query returns a wealth of information about each data change in a batch, including:

  • The table involved in each data change, available in column TABLE_NAME,

  • The event type (Update [U], Insert [I], or Delete [D]), available in column EVENT_TYPE,

  • A comma separated list of the new data and (optionally) the old data, available in columns ROW_DATA and OLD_DATA, respectively.

  • The primary key data, available in column PK_DATA

  • The channel id, trigger history information, transaction id if available, and other information.

More importantly, if you narrow your query to just the failed data id you can determine the exact data change that is causing the failure:

select * from sym_data where data_id in
    (select failed_data_id from sym_outgoing_batch where batch_id='XXXXX'
    and node_id='YYYYY');

where XXXXXX is the batch id and YYYYY is the node id of the batch that is failing.

The queries above usually yield enough information to be able to determine why a particular batch is failing.

Common reasons a batch might fail include:

  • The schema at the destination has a column that is not nullable yet the source has the column defined as nullable and a data change was sent with the column as null.

  • A foreign key constraint at the destination is preventing an insertion or update, which could be caused from data being deleted at the destination or the foreign key constraint is not in place at the source.

  • The data size of a column on the destination is smaller than the data size in the source, and data that is too large for the destination has been synced.

Resolving the Issue

Once you have decided upon the cause of the issue, you’ll have to decide the best course of action to fix the issue. If, for example, the problem is due to a database schema mismatch, one possible solution would be to alter the destination database in such a way that the SQL error no longer occurs. Whatever approach you take to remedy the issue, once you have made the change, on the next push or pull SymmetricDS will retry the batch and the channel’s data will start flowing again.

If you have instead decided that the batch itself is wrong, or does not need synchronized, or you wish to remove a particular data change from a batch, you do have the option of changing the data associated with the batch directly.

Be cautious when using the following two approaches to resolve synchronization issues. By far, the best approach to solving a synchronization error is to resolve what is truly causing the error at the destination database. Skipping a batch or removing a data id as discussed below should be your solution of last resort, since doing so results in differences between the source and destination databases.

Now that you’ve read the warning, if you still want to change the batch data itself, you do have several options, including:

  • Causing SymmetricDS to skip the batch completely. This is accomplished by setting the batch’s status to 'IG' (ignore), as in:

    update sym_outgoing_batch set status='IG' where batch_id='XXXXXX'

    where XXXXXX is the failing batch. On the next pull or push, SymmetricDS will skip this batch since it now thinks the batch has already been synchronized. Note that you can still distinguish between successful batches and ones that you’ve artificially marked as 'OK', since the error_flag column on the failed batch will still be set to '1' (in error).

  • Removing the failing data id from the batch by deleting the corresponding row in DATA_EVENT. Eliminating the data id from the list of data ids in the batch will cause future synchronization attempts of the batch to no longer include that particular data change as part of the batch. For example:

    delete from sym_data_event where batch_id='XXXXXX' and data_id='YYYYYY'
    where XXXXXX is the failing batch and YYYYYY is the data id to longer be included in the batch.

    After modifying the batch you will have to clear the Staging Area manually or wait for the staged version of the batch to timeout and clear itself.

5.5. Incoming Batches

Incoming batches are delivered to the target node when the source node pushes or when the target node pulls.

Incoming batches are written to the Staging Area first and then loaded. The use of the staging area can be turned off by setting the stream.to.file.enabled parameter.

5.5.1. Incoming Sync Status

The status of incoming synchronization can be queried at the target database.

The following query will show incoming synchronization failures by node:

select count(*), node_id from sym_incoming_batch
  where error_flag=1 group by node_id;

Client nodes update their heartbeat_time in the NODE_HOST table. If a client node is online and actively syncing you can monitor the NODE_HOST table at the server to find client nodes that are offline. Note that at times there could be more than one NODE_HOST row per node_id. This could be the case if the nodes are clustered or the host_name changes.

The following query will give you nodes that have not synchronized in the last 24 hours. Note that the SQL might vary slightly for some databases as some of the supported databases do not support current_timestamp.

select node_id, host_name from sym_node_host
  where heartbeat_time < current_timestamp-1;

5.5.2. Incoming Batch Errors

When a batch fails to load it is marked with an Error status.

Analyzing the Issue

Analysis using an incoming batch is different than that of outgoing batches.

For incoming batches, you will rely on two tables, INCOMING_BATCH and INCOMING_ERROR.

The first step in analyzing the cause of an incoming failed batch is to locate information about the batch, starting with INCOMING_BATCH . To locate batches in error, use:

select * from sym_incoming_batch where error_flag=1;

Several useful pieces of information are available from this query:

  • The batch number of the failed batch, available in column BATCH_ID. Note that this is the batch number of the outgoing batch on the outgoing node.

  • The node the batch is being sent from, available in column NODE_ID.

  • The channel to which the batch belongs, available in column CHANNEL_ID. All subsequent batches on this channel from this node will be held until the error condition is resolved.

  • The data_id that was being processed when the batch failed, available in column FAILED_DATA_ID.

  • Any SQL message, SQL State, and SQL Codes being returned during the synchronization attempt, available in columns SQL_MESSAGE, SQL_STATE, and SQL_CODE, respectively.

For incoming batches, we do not have data and data event entries in the database we can query. We do, however, have a table, INCOMING_ERROR, which provides some information about the batch.

select * from sym_incoming_error
where batch_id='XXXXXX' and node_id='YYYYY';

where XXXXXX is the batch id and YYYYY is the node id of the failing batch.

This query returns a wealth of information about each data change in a batch, including:

  • The table involved in each data change, available in column TARGET_TABLE_NAME,

  • The event type (Update [U], Insert [I], or Delete [D]), available in column EVENT_TYPE,

  • A comma separated list of the new data and (optionally) the old data, available in columns ROW_DATA and OLD_DATA, respectively,

  • The column names of the table, available in column COLUMN_NAMES,

  • The primary key column names of the table, available in column PK_COLUMN_NAMES,

Resolving the Issue

For batches in error, from the incoming side you’ll also have to decide the best course of action to fix the issue.

Incoming batch errors that are in conflict can by fixed by taking advantage of two columns in INCOMING_ERROR which are examined each time batches are processed. The first column, resolve_data if filled in will be used in place of row_data. The second column, resolve_ignore if set will cause this particular data item to be ignored and batch processing to continue. This is the same two columns used when a manual conflict resolution strategy is chosen, as discussed in Conflicts.

5.6. Staging Area

SymmetricDS creates temporary extraction and data load files with the CSV payload of a synchronization when the value of the stream.to.file.threshold.bytes SymmetricDS property has been reached. Before reaching the threshold, files are streamed to/from memory. The default threshold value is 0 bytes. This feature may be turned off by setting the stream.to.file.enabled property to false.

SymmetricDS creates these temporary files in the directory specified by the java.io.tmpdir Java System property.

The location of the temporary directory may be changed by setting the Java System property passed into the Java program at startup. For example,

-Djava.io.tmpdir=/home/.symmetricds/tmp

5.7. Pull Threads

Both the Pull Job and the File Sync Pull Job can be configured to pull multiple nodes in parallel. In order to take advantage of this the pull.thread.per.server.count or file.pull.thread.per.server.count should be adjusted (from the default value of 1) to the number to the number of concurrent pulls you want to occur per period on each SymmetricDS instance.

Pull activity is recorded in the NODE_COMMUNICATION table. This table is also used as a semaphore to lock pull activity across multiple servers in a cluster.

5.8. Push Threads

Both the Push Job and the File Sync Push Job can be configured to push multiple nodes in parallel. In order to take advantage of this the push.thread.per.server.count or file.push.thread.per.server.count should be adjusted (from the default value of 1) to the number to the number of concurrent pushes you want to occur per period on each SymmetricDS instance.

Push activity is recorded in the NODE_COMMUNICATION table. This table is also used as a semaphore to lock push activity across multiple servers in a cluster.

5.9. Logging

The standalone SymmetricDS installation uses Log4J for logging. The configuration file is conf/log4j.xml. The log4j.xml file has hints as to what logging can be enabled for useful, finer-grained logging.

There is a command line option to turn on preconfigured debugging levels. When the --debug option is used the conf/debug-log4j.xml is used instead of log4j.xml.

SymmetricDS proxies all of its logging through SLF4J. When deploying to an application server or if Log4J is not being leveraged, then the general rules for SLF4J logging apply.

6. Advanced Topics

This chapter focuses on a variety of topics, including deployment options, jobs, clustering, encryptions, synchronization control, and configuration of SymmetricDS.

6.1. Advanced Synchronization

6.1.1. Disabling Synchronization

All data loading may be disabled by setting the dataloader.enable property to false. This has the effect of not allowing incoming synchronizations, while allowing outgoing synchronizations. All data extractions may be disabled by setting the dataextractor.enable property to false. These properties can be controlled by inserting into the master node’s PARAMETER table. These properties affect every channel with the exception of the 'config' channel.

6.1.2. Bi-Directional Synchronization

SymmetricDS allows tables to be synchronized bi-directionally. Note that an outgoing synchronization does not process changes during an incoming synchronization on the same node unless the trigger was created with the sync_on_incoming_batch flag set. If the sync_on_incoming_batch flag is set, then update loops are prevented by a feature that is available in most database dialects. More specifically, during an incoming synchronization the source node_id is put into a database session variable that is available to the database trigger. Data events are not generated if the target node_id on an outgoing synchronization is equal to the source node_id.

By default, only the columns that changed will be updated in the target system.

Conflict resolution strategies can be configured for specific links and/or sets of tables.

6.1.3. Multi-Tiered Synchronization

There may be scenarios where data needs to flow through multiple tiers of nodes that are organized in a tree-like network with each tier requiring a different subset of data. For example, you may have a system where the lowest tier may be a computer or device located in a store. Those devices may connect to a server located physically at that store. Then the store server may communicate with a corporate server for example. In this case, the three tiers would be device, store, and corporate. Each tier is typically represented by a node group. Each node in the tier would belong to the node group representing that tier.

A node can only pull and push data to other nodes that are represented in the node’s NODE table and in cases where that node’s sync_enabled column is set to 1. Because of this, a tree-like hierarchy of nodes can be created by having only a subset of nodes belonging to the same node group represented at the different branches of the tree.

If auto registration is turned off, then this setup must occur manually by opening registration for the desired nodes at the desired parent node and by configuring each node’s registration.url to be the parent node’s URL. The parent node is always tracked by the setting of the parent’s node_id in the created_at_node_id column of the new node. When a node registers and downloads its configuration it is always provided the configuration for nodes that might register with the node itself based on the Node Group Links defined in the parent node.

Registration Redirect

When deploying a multi-tiered system it may be advantageous to have only one registration server, even though the parent node of a registering node could be any of a number of nodes in the system. In SymmetricDS the parent node is always the node that a child registers with. The REGISTRATION_REDIRECT table allows a single node, usually the root server in the network, to redirect registering nodes to their true parents. It does so based on a mapping found in the table of the external id (registrant_external_id) to the parent’s node id (registration_node_id).

For example, if it is desired to have a series of regional servers that workstations at retail stores get assigned to based on their external_id, the store number, then you might insert into REGISTRATION_REDIRECT the store number as the registrant_external_id and the node_id of the assigned region as the registration_node_id. When a workstation at the store registers, the root server sends an HTTP redirect to the sync_url of the node that matches the registration_node_id.

Please see Initial Loads for important details around initial loads and registration when using registration redirect.

6.2. Offline Synchronization

6.2.1. Setup an Offline Node

Configuring a node as offline will still allow changes to be captured and batched for replication. However the push and/or pull jobs that are used to interact with this node will not use the standard http or https protocols to communicate with other nodes for changes. Instead the local file system will be used for replication. It is up to the user transport batch (*.csv) files to and from the node based on incoming or outgoing changes.

  • Turn on the offline push and pull jobs.

INSERT INTO sym_parameter
(external_id, node_group_id, param_key, param_value, create_time, last_update_by, last_update_time) VALUES
('ALL', 'ALL', 'start.offline.pull.job', 'true', current_timestamp, 'userid', current_timestamp);

INSERT INTO sym_parameter
(external_id, node_group_id, param_key, param_value, create_time, last_update_by, last_update_time) VALUES
('ALL', 'ALL', 'start.offline.push.job', 'true', current_timestamp, 'userid', current_timestamp);
  • Turn on the offline.node parameter for the node that should be offline.

INSERT INTO sym_parameter
(external_id, node_group_id, param_key, param_value, create_time, last_update_by, last_update_time) VALUES
('001', 'STORE', 'node.offline', 'true', current_timestamp, 'userid', current_timestamp);
  • Setting these parameters immediately affects the behavior of the push and pull jobs, so outgoing batches intended for the offline node are now written as files. Other nodes are unaffected and will continue to synchronize normally. All outstanding batches for this node are immediately written to files. As new changes occur going forward, any batches for this will also be written as files. In this example, two batches of data were waiting to sync, so they are written to files.

  • At the offline store node, the parameter immediately affects the behavior of the push and pull jobs, so outgoing batches intended for CORP are now written as files. Other nodes are unaffected. All outstanding batches for CORP are immediately written to files. As new changes occur going forward, any batches for CORP will also be written as files. In this example, two batches of data are written.

offline sync node1 before
  • Finally, move the batch files to their respective incoming folder. After moving the files, the folders will contain the files depicted below.

offline sync

6.2.2. Turn offline node online again

To configure the node online again simply remove the parameter entries from step 2 above. As an additional step to save resources the offline jobs can be stopped as well from step 1 above if there are not any nodes operating in an offline mode.

6.3. Encrypted Passwords

The db.user and db.password properties can be protected by encrypting them. This encryption can be done two different ways.

The first option is to pass the text as an argument:

symadmin encrypt-text "text-to-encrypt"
The text-to-encrypt on the command line should be surrounded with double quotes if spaces or symbols are used.

The second option is without an argument, and it will prompt you to enter text:

symadmin encrypt-text
Enter Text:

Encrypted text starts with "enc:" to differentiate it from plain text. See the Keystores section for an explanation of the encryption key.

6.4. Secure Transport

By specifying the "https" protocol for a URL, SymmetricDS will communicate over Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) for an encrypted transport. The following properties need to be set with "https" in the URL:

sync.url

This is the URL of the current node, so if you want to force other nodes to communicate over SSL with this node, you specify "https" in the URL.

registration.url

This is the URL where the node will connect for registration when it first starts up. To protect the registration with SSL, you specify "https" in the URL.

6.4.1. Standalone

The SymmetricDS service and the "sym" launch command use Jetty as an embedded web server. Edit the conf/symmetric-server.properties file to change port numbers to listen on and whether or not to use HTTP and/or HTTPS.

http.enable=true
http.port=31415
https.enable=true
https.port=31417

6.4.2. Tomcat

If you deploy SymmetricDS to Apache Tomcat, it can be secured by editing the TOMCAT_HOME/conf/server.xml configuration file. There is already a line that can be uncommented and changed to the following:

<Connector port="8443" protocol="HTTP/1.1" SSLEnabled="true"
  maxThreads="150" scheme="https" secure="true"
  clientAuth="false" sslProtocol="TLS"
  keystoreFile="/symmetric-ds-1.x.x/security/keystore" />

6.4.3. Keystores

The security subdirectory contains a private keystore and a trusted keystore. System properties are used to specify the location of each keystore file and a password to protect it. The system properties are set in the bin/setenv (or bin\setenv.bat on Windows) and conf/sym_service.conf files.

Filename Store Type System Property for File System Property for Password Description

keystore

PKCS12

sym.keystore.file

javax.net.ssl.keyStorePassword

Contains private encryption key and TLS certificate.

cacerts

JKS

javax.net.ssl.trustStore

javax.net.ssl.trustStorePassword

Contains public certificates for trusted authorities who sign keys.

The following entries in the keystore file are used.

Table 22. Alias entries in keystore file

sym

The TLS certificate used for handling incoming HTTPS communication.

sym.secret

The encryption key used for protecting secrets like database password.

If an entry is missing when encryption is requested, SymmetricDS will automatically generate a random key for use. It tries to use the strongest encryption algorithm and the largest key size available on the system. If the keystore file is missing, it will be created. Starting in SymmetricDS 3.14, it uses PKCS12 as the store type for new keystores, but it is backwards compatible with the older JCEKS store type.

6.4.4. Finding Keystore Password

The keystores and each key entry is protected with a password. The default password is changeit.

To obtain the current password, use the following steps:

  • Look in the bin/setenv (or bin\setenv.bat on Windows) or the conf/sym_service.conf files. (The password should be the same in both files.)

  • For the password to keystore, look for the javax.net.ssl.keyStorePassword system property.

  • For the password to cacerts, look for the javax.net.ssl.trustStorePassword system property.

  • If the password starts with "obf:" then it is obfuscated. To obtain the cleartext password, use the following command from the bin subdirectory:

symadmin unobfuscate-text obf:cHVuYXRydmc=
  • If the password does not start with "obf:" then it is the cleartext password.

6.4.5. Changing Keystore Password

To change the keystore password, use the following steps:

  • Open a command prompt and navigate to the SymmetricDS installation.

  • In the security subdirectory, use the following commands to enter the old and new password for the keystore and each key entry.

keytool -keystore keystore -storepasswd
keytool -keystore keystore -alias sym -keypasswd
keytool -keystore keystore -alias sym.secret -keypasswd
  • Edit bin/setenv (or bin\setenv.bat on Windows) and conf/sym_service.conf files to update the new password.

-Djavax.net.ssl.keyStorePassword=changeit
  • Optionally, obfuscate the new password in the previous step to prevent casual observation.

syadmin obfuscate-text changeit

6.4.6. Generating Certificates

To generate new keys and install a server certificate, use the following steps:

  • Open a command prompt and navigate to the security subdirectory of SymmetricDS.

  • Delete the old key pair and certificate.

keytool -keystore keystore -delete -alias sym
keytool -keystore cacerts -delete -alias sym
If you receive a message like, "Alias <sym> does not exist" - then the key entry does not exist and you can skip this step.
  • Generate a new key pair. Note that the first name/last name (the "CN") must match the fully qualified hostname the client will be using to communcate to the server.

keytool -keystore keystore -alias sym -genkey -keyalg RSA -validity 10950
  • Export the certificate from the private keystore.

keytool -keystore keystore -export -alias sym -rfc -file sym.cer
  • Install the certificate into the trusted keystore.

keytool -keystore cacerts -import -alias sym -file sym.cer
  • Copy the cacerts file that is generated by this process to the security directory of each client’s SymmetricDS installation.

6.5. Java Management Extensions

Monitoring and administrative operations can be performed using Java Management Extensions (JMX). SymmetricDS exposes JMX attributes and operations that can be accessed from the jmx command, Java’s jconsole, or a third party tool.

In order to use jconsole, you must enable JMX remote management in the JVM. You can edit the startup scripts to set the following system parameters.

-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.port=31417
-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.authenticate=false
-Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.ssl=false

More details about enabling JMX for JConsole can be found here.

Using the Java jconsole command, SymmetricDS is listed as a local process named SymmetricLauncher. In jconsole, SymmetricDS appears under the MBeans tab under the name defined by the engine.name property. The default value is SymmetricDS.

The management interfaces under SymmetricDS are organized as follows:

Node

administrative operations

Parameters

access to properties set through the parameter service

6.6. JMS Publishing

With the proper configuration SymmetricDS can publish XML messages of captured data changes to JMS during routing or transactionally while data loading synchronized data into a target database. The following explains how to publish to JMS during synchronization to the target database.

The XmlPublisherDatabaseWriterFilter is a IDatabaseWriterFilter that may be configured to publish specific tables as an XML message to a JMS provider. See Extensions for information on how to configure an extension point. If the publish to JMS fails, the batch will be marked in error, the loaded data for the batch will be rolled back and the batch will be retried during the next synchronization run.

The following is an example extension point configuration that will publish four tables in XML with a root tag of 'sale'. Each XML message will be grouped by the batch and the column names identified by the groupByColumnNames property which have the same values.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xmlns:context="http://www.springframework.org/schema/context"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans
           http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
           http://www.springframework.org/schema/context
           http://www.springframework.org/schema/context/spring-context-3.0.xsd">

    <bean id="configuration-publishingFilter"
      class="org.jumpmind.symmetric.integrate.XmlPublisherDatabaseWriterFilter">
        <property name="xmlTagNameToUseForGroup" value="sale"/>
        <property name="tableNamesToPublishAsGroup">
            <list>
               <value>SALE_TX</value>
               <value>SALE_LINE_ITEM</value>
               <value>SALE_TAX</value>
               <value>SALE_TOTAL</value>
            </list>
        </property>
        <property name="groupByColumnNames">
            <list>
               <value>STORE_ID</value>
               <value>BUSINESS_DAY</value>
               <value>WORKSTATION_ID</value>
               <value>TRANSACTION_ID</value>
            </list>
        </property>
        <property name="publisher">
           <bean class="org.jumpmind.symmetric.integrate.SimpleJmsPublisher">
               <property name="jmsTemplate" ref="definedSpringJmsTemplate"/>
           </bean>
        </property>
    </bean>
</beans>

The publisher property on the XmlPublisherDatabaseWriterFilter takes an interface of type IPublisher. The implementation demonstrated here is an implementation that publishes to JMS using Spring’s JMS template. Other implementations of IPublisher could easily publish the XML to other targets like an HTTP server, the file system or secure copy it to another server.

The above configuration will publish XML similar to the following:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<sale xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
  id="0012010-01-220031234" nodeid="00001" time="1264187704155">
  <row entity="SALE_TX" dml="I">
    <data key="STORE_ID">001</data>
    <data key="BUSINESS_DAY">2010-01-22</data>
    <data key="WORKSTATION_ID">003</data>
    <data key="TRANSACTION_ID">1234</data>
    <data key="CASHIER_ID">010110</data>
  </row>
  <row entity="SALE_LINE_ITEM" dml="I">
    <data key="STORE_ID">001</data>
    <data key="BUSINESS_DAY">2010-01-22</data>
    <data key="WORKSTATION_ID">003</data>
    <data key="TRANSACTION_ID">1234</data>
    <data key="SKU">9999999</data>
    <data key="PRICE">10.00</data>
    <data key="DESC" xsi:nil="true"/>
  </row>
  <row entity="SALE_LINE_ITEM" dml="I">
    <data key="STORE_ID">001</data>
    <data key="BUSINESS_DAY">2010-01-22</data>
    <data key="WORKSTATION_ID">003</data>
    <data key="TRANSACTION_ID">1234</data>
    <data key="SKU">9999999</data>
    <data key="PRICE">10.00</data>
    <data key="DESC" xsi:nil="true"/>
  </row>
  <row entity="SALE_TAX" dml="I">
    <data key="STORE_ID">001</data>
    <data key="BUSINESS_DAY">2010-01-22</data>
    <data key="WORKSTATION_ID">003</data>
    <data key="TRANSACTION_ID">1234</data>
    <data key="AMOUNT">1.33</data>
  </row>
  <row entity="SALE_TOTAL" dml="I">
    <data key="STORE_ID">001</data>
    <data key="BUSINESS_DAY">2010-01-22</data>
    <data key="WORKSTATION_ID">003</data>
    <data key="TRANSACTION_ID">1234</data>
    <data key="AMOUNT">21.33</data>
  </row>
</sale>

To publish JMS messages during routing the same pattern is valid, with the exception that the extension point would be the XmlPublisherDataRouter and the router would be configured by setting the router_type of a ROUTER to the Spring bean name of the registered extension point. Of course, the router would need to be linked through TRIGGER_ROUTERs to each TRIGGER table that needs published.

6.7. File Synchronization

SymmetricDS not only supports the synchronization of database tables, but it also supports the synchronization of files and folders from one node to another.

6.7.1. File Synchronization Overview

File synchronization features include:
  • Monitoring one or more file system directory locations for file and folder changes

  • Support synchronizing a different target directory than the source directory

  • Use of wild card expressions to “include” or “exclude” files

  • Choice of whether to recurse into subfolders of monitored directories

  • Use of existing SymmetricDS routers to subset target nodes based on file and directory metadata

  • Ability to specify if files will be synchronized on creation, or deletion, and/or modification

  • Ability to specify the frequency with which file systems are monitored for changes

  • Ability to extend file synchronization through scripts that run before or after a file is copied to its source location

  • Support for bidirectional file synchronization

  • Like database synchronization, file synchronization is configured in a series of database tables. The configuration was designed to be similar to database synchronization in order to maintain consistency and to give database synchronization users a sense of familiarity.

For database synchronization, SymmetricDS uses Table Triggers to configure which tables will capture data for synchronization and Routers to designate which nodes will be the source of data changes and which nodes will receive the data changes. Table Routing links triggers to routers.

Likewise, for file synchronization, SymmetricDS uses File Triggers to designate which base directories will be monitored. Each entry in File Triggers designates one base directory to monitor for changes on the source system. The columns on File Triggers provide additional settings for choosing specific files in the base directory that will be monitored, and whether to recurse into subdirectories, etc. File triggers are linked to routers using File Routing. The file trigger router not only links the source and the target node groups, but it also optionally provides the ability to override the base directory name at the target. File Routing also provides a flag that indicates if the target node should be seeded with the files from the source node during SymmetricDS’s initial load process.

File synchronization does require a database for runtime information about the synchronization scenario. File Triggers will also need to be linked to an appropriate router like table triggers in order to complete the setup.
H2 database works great as a small lightweight database to support file synchronization runtime information if you do not have a relational database readily available to support file sync.

6.7.2. How File Synchronization Works

Not only is file synchronization configured similar to database synchronization, but it also operates in a very similar way. The file system is monitored for changes via a background job that tracks the file system changes (this parallels the use of triggers to monitor for changes when synchronizing database changes). When a change is detected it is written to the FILE_SNAPSHOT table. The file snapshot table represents the most recent known state of the monitored files. The file snapshot table has a SymmetricDS database trigger automatically installed on it so that when it is updated the changes are captured by SymmetricDS on an internal channel named filesync.

The changes to FILE_SNAPSHOT are then routed and batched by a file-synchronization-specific router that delegates to the configured router based on the File Routing configuration. The file sync router can make routing decisions based on the column data of the snapshot table, columns which contain attributes of the file like the name, path, size, and last modified time. Both old and new file snapshot data are also available. The router can, for example, parse the path or name of the file and use it as the node id to route to.

Batches of file snapshot changes are stored on the filesync channel in OUTGOING_BATCH. The existing SymmetricDS pull and push jobs ignore the filesync channel. Instead, they are processed by file-synchronization-specific push and pull jobs. These jobs, file sync tracker, file sync pull, and file sync push are turned off by default. They need to be started before any changes are processed.

When transferring data, the file sync push and pull jobs build a zip file dynamically based on the batched snapshot data. The zip file contains a directory per batch. The directory name is the batch_id. A sync.bsh Bean Shell script is generated and placed in the root of each batch directory. The Bean Shell script contains the commands to copy or delete files at their file destination from an extracted zip in the staging directory on the target node. The zip file is downloaded in the case of a pull, or, in the case of a push, is uploaded as an HTTP multi-part attachment. Outgoing zip files are written and transferred from the outgoing staging directory. Incoming zip files are staged in the filesync_incoming staging directory by source node id. The filesync_incoming/{node_id} staging directory is cleared out before each subsequent delivery of files.

The acknowledgement of a batch happens the same way it is acknowledged in database synchronization. The client responds with an acknowledgement as part of the response during a file push or pull.

6.8. Variables

Variables can be used throughout configuration with the $(variableName) syntax. Check the documentation for each configuration item to see which variables it supports. A substring of the variable value can be specified with a starting index and an optional ending index. The first character is at index 0, and the end index is not included in the substring. Therefore, the length of the substring will be end index minus start index.

$(variableName:start)
$(variableName:start:end)

Examples when $(externalId) is set to 00001-002:

$(externalId:0:5) - returns 00001
$(externalId:6) - returns 002

The variable value can be formatted using a format string supported by java.lang.String.format().

$(variableName|format_string)

Examples when $(externalId) is set to 1:

$(variableName|%05d) - returns 00001

6.9. Preventing SymmetricDS from Running DDL Statements

It is possible to prevent SymmetricDS from running DDL statements and instead use the symadmin command to export the DDL statements and run them separately. To create a new node that does not run its own DDL statements, set up its properties file and add the following parameters:

auto.config.database=false
auto.sync.triggers=false

To export the DDL statements used to create the database objects that SymmetricDS requires (not including triggers), run the symadmin export-sym-objects subcommand and optionally specify an output file:

symadmin export-sym-objects <output file> --engine <engine name>

Run the exported DDL statements and then insert or import your configuration. If your configuration is saved to a .csv or .sql file, then you can import it using the symadmin import-config subcommand:

symadmin import-config <configuration file> --engine <engine name>

To export the trigger creation statements, run the symadmin sync-triggers subcommand with the -o option and specify an output file:

symadmin sync-triggers -o <output file> --engine <engine name>

Run the exported trigger creation statements and then start SymmetricDS. When making future configuration changes, it will be necessary to export any trigger changes using the above method and run them yourself.

7. Developer

This chapter focuses on a variety of ways for developers to build upon and extend some of the existing features found within SymmetricDS.

7.1. Extension Points

SymmetricDS has a pluggable architecture that can be extended. A Java class that implements the appropriate extension point interface, can implement custom logic and change the behavior of SymmetricDS to suit special needs. All supported extension points extend the IExtensionPoint interface. The available extension points are documented in the following sections.

When SymmetricDS starts up, the ExtensionPointManager searches a Spring Framework context for classes that implement the IExtensionPoint interface, then creates and registers the class with the appropriate SymmetricDS component.

Extensions should be configured in the conf/symmetric-extensions.xml file as Spring beans. The jar file that contains the extension should be placed in the web/WEB-INF/lib directory.

If an extension point needs access to SymmetricDS services or needs to connect to the database it may implement the ISymmetricEngineAware interface in order to get a handle to the ISymmetricEngine.

The INodeGroupExtensionPoint interface may be optionally implemented to indicate that a registered extension point should only be registered with specific node groups.

/**
 * Only apply this extension point to the 'root' node group.
 */
 public String[] getNodeGroupIdsToApplyTo() {
     return new String[] { "root" };
 }

7.1.1. IParameterFilter

Parameter values can be specified in code using a parameter filter. Note that there can be only one parameter filter per engine instance. The IParameterFilter replaces the deprecated IRuntimeConfig from prior releases.

public class MyParameterFilter
    implements IParameterFilter, INodeGroupExtensionPoint {

    /**
     * Only apply this filter to stores
     */
    public String[] getNodeGroupIdsToApplyTo() {
        return new String[] { "store" };
    }

    public String filterParameter(String key, String value) {
        // look up a store number from an already existing properties file.
        if (key.equals(ParameterConstants.EXTERNAL_ID)) {
            return StoreProperties.getStoreProperties().
              getProperty(StoreProperties.STORE_NUMBER);
        }
        return value;
    }

    public boolean isAutoRegister() {
        return true;
    }

}

7.1.2. IDatabaseWriterFilter

Data can be filtered or manipulated before it is loaded into the target database. A filter can change the data in a column, save it somewhere else or do something else with the data entirely. It can also specify by the return value of the function call that the data loader should continue on and load the data (by returning true) or ignore it (by returning false). One possible use of the filter, for example, might be to route credit card data to a secure database and blank it out as it loads into a less-restricted reporting database.

A DataContext is passed to each of the callback methods. A new context is created for each synchronization. The context provides a mechanism to share data during the load of a batch between different rows of data that are committed in a single database transaction.

The filter also provides callback methods for the batch lifecycle. The DatabaseWriterFilterAdapter may be used if not all methods are required.

A class implementing the IDatabaseWriterFilter interface is injected onto the DataLoaderService in order to receive callbacks when data is inserted, updated, or deleted.

public class MyFilter extends DatabaseWriterFilterAdapter {

    @Override
    public boolean beforeWrite(DataContext context, Table table, CsvData data) {
        if (table.getName().equalsIgnoreCase("CREDIT_CARD_TENDER")
                && data.getDataEventType().equals(DataEventType.INSERT)) {
            String[] parsedData = data.getParsedData(CsvData.ROW_DATA);
            // blank out credit card number
            parsedData[table.getColumnIndex("CREDIT_CARD_NUMBER")] = null;
        }
        return true;
    }
}

The filter class should be specified in conf/symmetric-extensions.xml as follows.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xmlns:context="http://www.springframework.org/schema/context"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans
           http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
           http://www.springframework.org/schema/context
           http://www.springframework.org/schema/context/spring-context-3.0.xsd">

    <bean id="myFilter" class="com.mydomain.MyFilter"/>

</beans>

7.1.3. IDatabaseWriterErrorHandler

Implement this extension point to override how errors are handled. You can use this extension point to ignore rows that produce foreign key errors.

7.1.4. IDataLoaderFactory

Implement this extension point to provide a different implementation of the org.jumpmind.symmetric.io.data.IDataWriter that is used by the SymmetricDS data loader. Data loaders are configured for a channel. After this extension point is registered it can be activated for a CHANNEL by indicating the data loader name in the data_loader_type column.

SymmetricDS has two out of the box extensions of IDataLoaderFactory already implemented in its PostgresBulkDataLoaderFactory and OracleBulkDataLoaderFactory classes. These extension points implement bulk data loading capabilities for Oracle, Postgres and Greenplum dialects. See Appendix C. Database Notes for details.

Another possible use of this extension point is to route data to a NOSQL data sink.

7.1.5. IAcknowledgeEventListener

Implement this extension point to receive callback events when a batch is acknowledged. The callback for this listener happens at the point of extraction.

7.1.6. IReloadListener

Implement this extension point to listen in and take action before or after a reload is requested for a Node. The callback for this listener happens at the point of extraction.

7.1.7. IReloadVariableFilter

Implement this extension point to filter the SQL used by the initial load to query source tables and purge target tables. The extension receives the SQL and can replace variable names with values, which allows for adding new variables. The org.jumpmind.util.FormatUtils.replace() method can be used to find and replace variables.

7.1.8. ISyncUrlExtension

This extension point is used to select an appropriate URL based on the URI provided in the sync_url column of sym_node.

To use this extension point configure the sync_url for a node with the protocol of ext://beanName. The beanName is the name you give the extension point in the extension xml file.

7.1.9. IColumnTransform

This extension point allows custom column transformations to be created. There are a handful of out-of-the-box implementations. If any of these do not meet the column transformation needs of the application, then a custom transform can be created and registered. It can be activated by referencing the column transform’s name transform_type column of TRANSFORM_COLUMN

7.1.10. INodeIdCreator

This extension point allows SymmetricDS users to implement their own algorithms for how node ids and passwords are generated or selected during the registration process. There may be only one node creator per SymmetricDS instance (Please note that the node creator extension has replaced the node generator extension).

7.1.11. ITriggerCreationListener

Implement this extension point to get status callbacks during trigger creation.

7.1.12. IBatchAlgorithm

Implement this extension point and set the name of the Spring bean on the batch_algorithm column of the Channel table to use. This extension point gives fine grained control over how a channel is batched.

7.1.13. IDataRouter

Implement this extension point and set the name of the Spring bean on the router_type column of the Router table to use. This extension point gives the ability to programmatically decide which nodes data should be routed to.

7.1.14. IHeartbeatListener

Implement this extension point to get callbacks during the heartbeat job.

7.1.15. IOfflineClientListener

Implement this extension point to get callbacks for offline events on client nodes.

7.1.16. IOfflineServerListener

Implement this extension point to get callbacks for offline events detected on a server node during monitoring of client nodes.

7.1.17. INodePasswordFilter

Implement this extension point to intercept the saving and rendering of the node password.

7.1.18. ISmtpPasswordFilter

Implement this extension point to intercept the saving and rendering of the SMTP password.

7.1.19. IPurgeListener

Implement this extension point to execute some functionality before and after the execution of the Outgoing Purge or the Incoming Purge.

7.2. Embedding in C/C++

A minimal implementation of the SymmetricDS client is written in C, which includes a shared library named "libsymclient" and a command line executable named "sym" for synchronizing a database. It currently only supports the SQLite database. The SymmetricDS C library and client are built from the following projects:

symmetric-client-clib

This project contains most of the code and builds the libsymclient C library. It depends on libcurl, libsqlite3, and libcsv.

symmetric-client-clib-test

This project links against the C library to runs unit tests. It also depends on the CUnit library.

symmetric-client-native

This project links against the C library to build the sym executable.

The binaries are built using Eclipse CDT (C/C++ Development Tooling), which is an Integrated Developer Environment based on the Eclipse platform. A distribution of Eclipse CDT can be downloaded or an existing Eclipse installation can be updated to include the CDT. (See https://eclipse.org/cdt/ for information and downloads.) In the future, the projects above will switch to a general build system like Autotools for automating builds, but for now Eclipse is required.

The "sym" executable can be run from the command line and expects the "libsymclient.so" library to be installed on the system. If running from the project directories during development, the path to the library can be specified with the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable on Linux, the DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH on Mac OS X, or PATH on Windows. The executable will look for a "symmetric.properties" file containing startup parameters in the user’s home directory or in the current directory:

LD_LIBRARY_PATH=../../symmetric-client-clib/Debug ./sym

It will also accept an argument of the path and filename of the properties file to use:

LD_LIBRARY_PATH=../../symmetric-client-clib/Debug ./sym /path/to/client.properties

The client uses Startup Parameters to connect to a database, identify itself, and register with a server to request synchronization. Here is an example client.properties file:

db.url=sqlite:file:test.db
group.id=store
external.id=003
registration.url=http://localhost:31415/sync/corp-000

The symmetric-client-native project is an example of how to use the SymEngine API provided by the C library. The C library uses an object-oriented pattern and follows the same naming conventions as the Java project. All symbol names in the C library are prefixed with "Sym". Each Java class is represented in C with a struct that contains member data and pointers to member functions. Here is an example C program that runs the SymmetricDS engine:

#include "libsymclient.h"

int main(int argCount, char **argValues) {

    // Startup and runtime parameters
    SymProperties *prop = SymProperties_new(NULL);
    prop->put(prop, SYM_PARAMETER_DB_URL, "sqlite:file:data.db");
    prop->put(prop, SYM_PARAMETER_GROUP_ID, "store");
    prop->put(prop, SYM_PARAMETER_EXTERNAL_ID, "003");
    prop->put(prop, SYM_PARAMETER_REGISTRATION_URL, "http://localhost:31415/sync/corp-000");

    // Uncomment to read parameters from a file instead
    //SymProperties *prop = SymProperties_newWithFile(NULL, fileName);

    SymEngine *engine = SymEngine_new(NULL, prop);
    // Connects to database, creates config/runtime tables and triggers
    engine->start(engine);

    // Pull changes from remote nodes
    engine->pull(engine);

    // Create batches of captured changes
    engine->route(engine);

    // Push changes to remote nodes
    engine->push(engine);

    // Create a heartbeat batch with current host information
    engine->heartbeat(engine, 0);

    // Purge old batch data that has successfully synced
    engine->purge(engine);

    // Clean up
    engine->stop(engine);
    engine->destroy(engine);
    prop->destroy(prop);

    return 0;
}

8. By Example

This chapter focuses on using examples for a variety of use cases with SymmetricDS.

8.1. Replicating CSV File Into a Database

8.1.1. SymmetricDS Setup

  • Create or choose a target table for your target node group. For this example, we will create a table, person, for the "corp" node group.

The following SQL statement defines a person table.
create table person(
    id integer not null,
    first_name varchar(50) not null,
    last_name varchar(50) not null,
    primary key(id)
);
  • Next, a file trigger should be created to watch for csv files at the specified base directory. You can also specify files that should be included to set off the trigger.

FileSync needs to be enabled for each node group to create file triggers.
The following SQL statement defines a file trigger that will identify CSV files.
insert into SYM_FILE_TRIGGER (trigger_id, channel_id,
        reload_channel_id, base_dir, recurse, includes_files,
        create_time, last_update_time) values
        ('person_csv_trigger','filesync','filesync_reload',
        <<BASE_DIR>>, 0, 'person*.csv',
        current_timestamp, current_timestamp);
'BASE_DIR' should be changed to the directory you are looking in.
  • After the file trigger is created, a router should be created so that the changes can be routed to the correct location. The communication link needs to be specified as well as the router type and target table. In this example, "store" is the source node group which communicates to the target node group,"corp". The router type is csv and person is the target table.

The following SQL statement defines a router that will send data from a CSV file to table person in the 'corp' node group.
insert into SYM_ROUTER (router_id, target_table_name,
        source_node_group_id, target_node_group_id, router_type,
        create_time, last_update_time) values
        ('person_csv_router','person','store', 'corp', 'csv',
        current_timestamp, current_timestamp);
  • Finally, a file routing link should be created between the file trigger and router.

The following SQL statement defines a file routing link.
insert into SYM_FILE_TRIGGER_ROUTER (trigger_id, router_id,
    target_base_dir, create_time, last_update_time) values (
    'person_csv_trigger', 'person_csv_router',
    <<TARGET_BASE_DIR>>, current_timestamp, current_timestamp);
'TARGET_BASE_DIR' should be changed to your target base directory.
  • Testing. You are now ready to test your csv to database routing. Add a csv file that matches your table specifications to your base directory or make a change to a pre-existing csv file in the directory. File sync tracker checks for changes in already sync’d files and runs every 5 minutes. File sync pull checks for new files to pull down and runs every 1 minute. Depending on the change you choose (changing a file or adding a file), wait the appropriate amount of time and then verify that the changes are shown in the target table.

The following SQL statement will verify changes to the person table.
select * from person;

Appendix A: Data Model

What follows is the complete SymmetricDS data model. Note that all tables are prepended with a configurable prefix so that multiple instances of SymmetricDS may coexist in the same database. The default prefix is sym_.

SymmetricDS configuration is entered by the user into the data model to control the behavior of what data is synchronized to which nodes.

data model config
Figure 2. Configuration Data Model

At runtime, the configuration is used to capture data changes and route them to nodes. The data changes are placed together in a single unit called a batch that can be loaded by another node. Outgoing batches are delivered to nodes and acknowledged. Incoming batches are received and loaded. History is recorded for batch status changes and statistics.

data model runtime
Figure 3. Runtime Data Model

A.1. CHANNEL

This table represents a category of data that can be synchronized independently of other channels. Channels allow control over the type of data flowing and prevents one type of synchronization from contending with another.

Table 23. CHANNEL

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

CHANNEL_ID

VARCHAR

128

PK

X

A unique identifer, usually named something meaningful, like 'sales' or 'inventory'.

PROCESSING_ORDER

INTEGER

1

X

Order of sequence to process channel data.

MAX_BATCH_SIZE

INTEGER

1000

X

The maximum number of Data Events to process within a batch for this channel.

MAX_BATCH_TO_SEND

INTEGER

60

X

The maximum number of batches to send during a 'synchronization' between two nodes. A 'synchronization' is equivalent to a push or a pull. If there are 12 batches ready to be sent for a channel and max_batch_to_send is equal to 10, then only the first 10 batches will be sent.

MAX_DATA_TO_ROUTE

INTEGER

100000

X

The maximum number of data rows to route for a channel at a time.

EXTRACT_PERIOD_MILLIS

INTEGER

0

X

The minimum number of milliseconds allowed between attempts to extract data for targeted at a node_id.

ENABLED

TINYINT

1

1

X

Indicates whether channel is enabled or not.

USE_OLD_DATA_TO_ROUTE

TINYINT

1

1

X

Indicates whether to read the old data during routing.

USE_ROW_DATA_TO_ROUTE

TINYINT

1

1

X

Indicates whether to read the row data during routing.

USE_PK_DATA_TO_ROUTE

TINYINT

1

1

X

Indicates whether to read the pk data during routing.

RELOAD_FLAG

TINYINT

1

0

X

Indicates that this channel is used for reloads.

FILE_SYNC_FLAG

TINYINT

1

0

X

Indicates that this channel is used for file sync.

CONTAINS_BIG_LOB

TINYINT

1

0

X

Provides SymmetricDS a hint on how to treat captured data. Currently only supported by Oracle, Interbase and Firebird. If set to '0', then selects for routing and data extraction will be more efficient and lobs will be truncated at 4k in the trigger text. When it is set to '0' there is a 4k limit on the total size of a row and on the size of a LOB column.

BATCH_ALGORITHM

VARCHAR

50

default

X

The algorithm to use when batching data on this channel. Possible values are: 'default', 'transactional', and 'nontransactional'

DATA_LOADER_TYPE

VARCHAR

50

default

X

Identify the type of data loader this channel should use. Allows for the default dataloader to be swapped out via configuration for more efficient platform specific data loaders.

DESCRIPTION

VARCHAR

255

Description on the type of data carried in this channel.

QUEUE

VARCHAR

25

default

X

User provided queue name for channel to operate on. Creates multi-threaded channels. Defaults to 'default' thread

MAX_NETWORK_KBPS

DECIMAL

10,3

0.000

X

The maximum network transfer rate in kilobytes per second. Zero or negative means unlimited. Channels running in serial or parallel can have an effect on how much bandwidth can be used and when a channel will be processed. This is currently only implemented when staging is enabled.

DATA_EVENT_ACTION

CHAR

1

For a node group link with a data event action of B (both), select how to send changes to the target node group. (P = Push, W = Wait for Pull)

CREATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

Timestamp when this entry was created.

LAST_UPDATE_BY

VARCHAR

50

The user who last updated this entry.

LAST_UPDATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

Timestamp when a user last updated this entry.

A.2. CONFLICT

Defines how conflicts in row data should be handled during the load process.

Table 24. CONFLICT

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

CONFLICT_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK

X

Unique identifier for a specific conflict detection setting.

SOURCE_NODE_GROUP_ID

VARCHAR

50

FK

X

The source node group for which this setting will be applied to. References a node group link.

TARGET_NODE_GROUP_ID

VARCHAR

50

FK

X

The target node group for which this setting will be applied to. References a node group link.

TARGET_CHANNEL_ID

VARCHAR

128

Optional channel that this setting will be applied to.

TARGET_CATALOG_NAME

VARCHAR

255

Optional database catalog that the target table belongs to. Only use this if the target table is not in the default catalog.

TARGET_SCHEMA_NAME

VARCHAR

255

Optional database schema that the target table belongs to. Only use this if the target table is not in the default schema.

TARGET_TABLE_NAME

VARCHAR

255

Optional database table that this setting will apply to. If left blank, the setting will be for any table in the channel (if set) and in the specified node group link.

DETECT_TYPE

VARCHAR

128

X

Indicates the strategy to use for detecting conflicts during a dml action. The possible values are: use_pk_data (manual, fallback, ignore), use_changed_data (manual, fallback, ignore), use_old_data (manual, fallback, ignore), use_timestamp (newer_wins), use_version (newer_wins)

DETECT_EXPRESSION

LONGVARCHAR

An expression that provides additional information about the detection mechanism. If the detection mechanism is use_timestamp or use_version then this expression will be the name of the timestamp or version column.

RESOLVE_TYPE

VARCHAR

128

X

Indicates the strategy for resolving update conflicts. The possible values differ based on the detect_type that is specified.

PING_BACK

VARCHAR

128

X

Indicates the strategy for sending resolved conflicts back to the source system. Possible values are: OFF, SINGLE_ROW, and REMAINING_ROWS.

RESOLVE_CHANGES_ONLY

TINYINT

1

0

Indicates that when applying changes during an update that only data that has changed should be applied. Otherwise, all the columns will be updated. This really only applies to updates.

RESOLVE_ROW_ONLY

TINYINT

1

0

Indicates that an action should take place for the entire batch if possible. This applies to a resolve type of 'ignore'. If a row is in conflict and the resolve type is 'ignore', then the entire batch will be ignored.

CREATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

X

The date and time when this entry was created.

LAST_UPDATE_BY

VARCHAR

50

The user who last updated this entry.

LAST_UPDATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

X

The date and time when a user last updated this entry.

A.3. CONTEXT

Context variables used by runtime services on a single node

Table 25. CONTEXT

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

NAME

VARCHAR

80

PK

X

The name of the context variable.

CONTEXT_VALUE

LONGVARCHAR

The value of the context variable.

CREATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

Timestamp when this entry was created.

LAST_UPDATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

Timestamp when emtry was last updated.

A.4. DATA

The captured data change that occurred to a row in the database. Entries in data are created by database triggers.

Table 26. DATA

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

DATA_ID

BIGINT

PK

X

Unique identifier for a data.

TABLE_NAME

VARCHAR

255

X

The name of the table in which a change occurred that this entry records.

EVENT_TYPE

CHAR

1

X

The type of event captured by this entry. For triggers, this is the change that occurred, which is 'I' for insert, 'U' for update, or 'D' for delete. Other events include: 'R' for reloading the entire table (or subset of the table) to the node; 'S' for running dynamic SQL at the node, which is used for adhoc administration.

ROW_DATA

LONGVARCHAR

The captured data change from the synchronized table. The column values are stored in comma-separated values (CSV) format.

PK_DATA

LONGVARCHAR

The primary key values of the captured data change from the synchronized table. This data is captured for updates and deletes. The primary key values are stored in comma-separated values (CSV) format.

OLD_DATA

LONGVARCHAR

The captured data values prior to the update. The column values are stored in CSV format.

TRIGGER_HIST_ID

INTEGER

X

The foreign key to the trigger_hist entry that contains the primary key and column names for the table being synchronized.

CHANNEL_ID

VARCHAR

128

The channel that this data belongs to, such as 'prices'

TRANSACTION_ID

VARCHAR

255

An optional transaction identifier that links multiple data changes together as the same transaction.

SOURCE_NODE_ID

VARCHAR

50

If the data was inserted by a SymmetricDS data loader, then the id of the source node is record so that data is not re-routed back to it.

EXTERNAL_DATA

VARCHAR

50

A field that can be populated by a trigger that uses the EXTERNAL_SELECT

NODE_LIST

VARCHAR

255

A field that can be populated with a comma separated subset of node ids which will be the only nodes available to the router

IS_PREROUTED

TINYINT

1

0

X

Set to true when routing should ignore this row because data_event and outgoing_batch rows are manually entered.

CREATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

Timestamp when this entry was created.

A.5. DATA_EVENT

Each row represents the mapping between a data change that was captured and the batch that contains it. Entries in data_event are created as part of the routing process.

Table 27. DATA_EVENT

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

DATA_ID

BIGINT

PK

X

Id of the data to be routed.

BATCH_ID

BIGINT

PK

X

Id of the batch containing the data.

CREATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

Timestamp when this entry was created.

A.6. DATA_GAP

Used only when routing.data.reader.type is set to 'gap.' Table that tracks gaps in the data table so that they may be processed efficiently, if data shows up. Gaps can show up in the data table if a database transaction is rolled back.

Table 28. DATA_GAP

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

START_ID

BIGINT

PK

X

The first missing data_id from the data table where a gap is detected. This could be the last data_id inserted plus one.

END_ID

BIGINT

PK

X

The last missing data_id from the data table where a gap is detected. If the start_id is the last data_id inserted plus one, then this field is filled in with a -1.

IS_EXPIRED

TINYINT

0

X

Routing will watch a gap for data to commit up until the time of routing.stale.dataid.gap.time.ms parameter is reached, then this flag is set to expire it. The purge job will see any data that commits after expiration as stranded data.

CREATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

X

Timestamp when this entry was created.

LAST_UPDATE_HOSTNAME

VARCHAR

255

The host who last updated this entry.

A.7. EXTENSION

Dynamic extensions stored in the database that plug-in to the running engine and receive callbacks according to their interface.

Table 29. EXTENSION

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

EXTENSION_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK

X

The unique id of the extension.

EXTENSION_TYPE

VARCHAR

10

X

The type of the extension. Types are 'java' and 'bsh'

INTERFACE_NAME

VARCHAR

255

Name of interface, required for 'bsh' only.

NODE_GROUP_ID

VARCHAR

50

X

Target the extension at a specific node group id. To target all groups, use the value of 'ALL'.

ENABLED

TINYINT

1

1

X

Whether or not the extension is enabled.

EXTENSION_ORDER

INTEGER

1

X

Specifies the order in which to install extensions when multiple extensions implement the same interface.

EXTENSION_TEXT

LONGVARCHAR

The script or code of the extension.

CREATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

Timestamp when this entry was created.

LAST_UPDATE_BY

VARCHAR

50

The user who last updated this entry.

LAST_UPDATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

Timestamp when a user last updated this entry.

A.8. EXTRACT_REQUEST

This table is used internally to request the extract of initial loads asynchronously when the initial load extract job is enabled.

Table 30. EXTRACT_REQUEST

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

REQUEST_ID

BIGINT

PK

X

Unique identifier for a request.

SOURCE_NODE_ID

VARCHAR

50

default

PK

X

Unique identifier for the node that will be the source of the extract.

NODE_ID

VARCHAR

50

X

The node_id of the batch being loaded.

QUEUE

VARCHAR

128

The channel queue name of the batch being loaded.

STATUS

CHAR

2

NE, OK

START_BATCH_ID

BIGINT

X

A load can be split across multiple batches. This is the first of N batches the load will be split across.

END_BATCH_ID

BIGINT

X

This is the last of N batches the load will be split across.

TRIGGER_ID

VARCHAR

128

X

Unique identifier for a trigger associated with the extract request.

ROUTER_ID

VARCHAR

50

X

Unique description of the router associated with the extract request.

LOAD_ID

BIGINT

The load id associated with the extract request.

TABLE_NAME

VARCHAR

255

The table name for this extract request

EXTRACTED_ROWS

BIGINT

0

X

The rows in this table that have been extracted to target

EXTRACTED_MILLIS

BIGINT

0

X

The time spent extracting this table

TRANSFERRED_ROWS

BIGINT

0

X

The rows in this table that have been transferred to target

TRANSFERRED_MILLIS

BIGINT

0

X

The time spent transfering this table

LAST_TRANSFERRED_BATCH_ID

BIGINT

The last batch id that was successfully transferred to the target

LOADED_ROWS

BIGINT

0

X

The rows in this table that have been loaded to the target

LOADED_MILLIS

BIGINT

0

X

The time spent loading this table

LAST_LOADED_BATCH_ID

BIGINT

The last batch id that was successfully loaded on the target

TOTAL_ROWS

BIGINT

The rows in this table to be extracted

LOADED_TIME

TIMESTAMP

Timestamp when this table was loaded.

PARENT_REQUEST_ID

BIGINT

0

X

Parent request_id that will actually handle the extract for this request.

LAST_UPDATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

Timestamp when a process last updated this entry.

CREATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

Timestamp when this entry was created.

A.9. FILE_INCOMING

As files are loaded from another node the file and source node are captured here for file sync to use to prevent file ping backs in bidirectional file synchronization.

Table 31. FILE_INCOMING

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

RELATIVE_DIR

VARCHAR

255

PK

X

The path to the file starting at the base_dir and excluding the file name itself.

FILE_NAME

VARCHAR

260

PK

X

The name of the file that has been loaded.

LAST_EVENT_TYPE

CHAR

1

X

The type of event that caused the file to be loaded from another node. 'C' is for create, 'M' is for modified, and 'D' is for deleted.

NODE_ID

VARCHAR

50

X

The node_id of the source of the batch being loaded.

FILE_MODIFIED_TIME

BIGINT

The last modified time of the file at the time the file was loaded.

A.10. FILE_SNAPSHOT

Table used to capture file changes. Updates to the table are captured and routed according to the configured file trigger routers.

Table 32. FILE_SNAPSHOT

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

TRIGGER_ID

VARCHAR

128

PK

X

The id of the trigger that caused this snapshot to be taken.

ROUTER_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK

X

The id of the router that caused this snapshot to be taken.

RELATIVE_DIR

VARCHAR

255

PK

X

The path to the file starting at the base_dir

FILE_NAME

VARCHAR

260

PK

X

The name of the file that changed.

CHANNEL_ID

VARCHAR

128

filesync

X

The channel_id of the channel that data changes will flow through.

RELOAD_CHANNEL_ID

VARCHAR

128

filesync_reload

X

The channel_id of the channel that data changes will flow through.

LAST_EVENT_TYPE

CHAR

1

X

The type of event captured by this entry. 'C' is for create, 'M' is for modified, and 'D' is for deleted.

CRC32_CHECKSUM

BIGINT

File checksum. Can be used to determine if file content has changed.

FILE_SIZE

BIGINT

The size in bytes of the file at the time this change was detected.

FILE_MODIFIED_TIME

BIGINT

The last modified time of the file at the time this change was detected.

LAST_UPDATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

X

Timestamp when a user last updated this entry.

LAST_UPDATE_BY

VARCHAR

50

The user who last updated this entry.

CREATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

X

Timestamp when this entry was created.

A.11. FILE_TRIGGER

This table defines files or sets of files for which changes will be captured for file synchronization

Table 33. FILE_TRIGGER

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

TRIGGER_ID

VARCHAR

128

PK

X

Unique identifier for a trigger.

CHANNEL_ID

VARCHAR

128

filesync

X

The channel_id of the channel that data changes will flow through.

RELOAD_CHANNEL_ID

VARCHAR

128

filesync_reload

X

The channel_id of the channel that will be used for reloads.

BASE_DIR

VARCHAR

255

X

The base directory on the client that will be synchronized.

RECURSE

TINYINT

1

1

X

Whether to synchronize child directories.

INCLUDES_FILES

VARCHAR

255

Wildcard-enabled, comma-separated list of file to include in synchronization.

EXCLUDES_FILES

VARCHAR

255

Wildcard-enabled, comma-separated list of file to exclude from synchronization.

SYNC_ON_CREATE

TINYINT

1

1

X

Whether to capture and send files when they are created.

SYNC_ON_MODIFIED

TINYINT

1

1

X

Whether to capture and send files when they are modified.

SYNC_ON_DELETE

TINYINT

1

1

X

Whether to capture and remove files when they are deleted.

SYNC_ON_CTL_FILE

TINYINT

1

0

X

Combined with sync_on_create, determines whether to capture and send files when a matching control file exists. The control file is a file of the same name with a '.ctl' extension appended to the end.

DELETE_AFTER_SYNC

TINYINT

1

0

X

Determines whether to delete the file after it has synced successfully.

BEFORE_COPY_SCRIPT

LONGVARCHAR

A bsh script that is run right before the file copy.

AFTER_COPY_SCRIPT

LONGVARCHAR

A bsh script that is run right after the file copy.

CREATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

X

Timestamp of when this entry was created.

LAST_UPDATE_BY

VARCHAR

50

The user who last updated this entry.

LAST_UPDATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

X

Timestamp of when a user last updated this entry.

DESCRIPTION

LONGVARCHAR

Optional notes and comments for file_trigger

A.12. FILE_TRIGGER_ROUTER

Maps a file trigger to a router.

Table 34. FILE_TRIGGER_ROUTER

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

TRIGGER_ID

VARCHAR

128

PK FK

X

The id of a file trigger.

ROUTER_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK FK

X

The id of a router.

ENABLED

TINYINT

1

1

X

Indicates whether this file trigger router is enabled or not.

INITIAL_LOAD_ENABLED

TINYINT

1

1

X

Indicates whether this file trigger should be initial loaded.

TARGET_BASE_DIR

VARCHAR

255

The base directory on the destination that files will be synchronized to.

CONFLICT_STRATEGY

VARCHAR

128

source_wins

X

The strategy to employ when a file has been modified at both the client and the server. Possible values are: source_wins, target_wins, manual

CREATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

X

Timestamp when this entry was created.

LAST_UPDATE_BY

VARCHAR

50

The user who last updated this entry.

LAST_UPDATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

X

Timestamp when a user last updated this entry.

DESCRIPTION

LONGVARCHAR

Optional notes and comments for file_trigger_router

A.13. GROUPLET

Deprecated in 3.9. This tables defines named groups to which nodes can belong to based on their external id. Grouplets are used to designate that synchronization should only affect an explicit subset of nodes in a node group.

Table 35. GROUPLET

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

GROUPLET_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK

X

Unique identifier for the grouplet.

GROUPLET_LINK_POLICY

CHAR

1

I

X

Specified whether the external ids in the grouplet_link are included in the group or excluded from the grouplet. In the case of excluded, the grouplet starts with all external ids and removes the excluded ones listed. Use 'I' for inclusive and 'E' for exclusive.

DESCRIPTION

VARCHAR

255

A description of this grouplet.

CREATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

X

Timestamp when this entry was created.

LAST_UPDATE_BY

VARCHAR

50

The user who last updated this entry.

LAST_UPDATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

X

Timestamp when a user last updated this entry.

Deprecated in 3.9. This tables defines nodes belong to a grouplet based on their external.id

Table 36. GROUPLET_LINK

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

GROUPLET_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK FK

X

Unique identifier for the grouplet.

EXTERNAL_ID

VARCHAR

255

PK

X

Provides a means to select the nodes that belong to a grouplet.

CREATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

X

Timestamp when this entry was created.

LAST_UPDATE_BY

VARCHAR

50

The user who last updated this entry.

LAST_UPDATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

X

Timestamp when a user last updated this entry.

A.15. INCOMING_BATCH

The incoming_batch is used for tracking the status of loading an outgoing_batch from another node. Data is loaded and commited at the batch level. The status of the incoming_batch is either successful (OK) or error (ER).

Table 37. INCOMING_BATCH

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

BATCH_ID

BIGINT

50

PK

X

The id of the outgoing_batch that is being loaded.

NODE_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK

X

The node_id of the source of the batch being loaded.

CHANNEL_ID

VARCHAR

128

The channel_id of the batch being loaded.

STATUS

CHAR

2

The current status of the batch can be loading (LD), successfully loaded (OK), in error (ER) or skipped (SK)

ERROR_FLAG

TINYINT

1

0

A flag that indicates that this batch was in error during the last synchornization attempt.

SQL_STATE

VARCHAR

10

For a status of error (ER), this is the XOPEN or SQL 99 SQL State.

SQL_CODE

INTEGER

0

X

For a status of error (ER), this is the error code from the database that is specific to the vendor.

SQL_MESSAGE

LONGVARCHAR

For a status of error (ER), this is the error message that describes the error.

LAST_UPDATE_HOSTNAME

VARCHAR

255

The host name of the process that last did work on this batch.

LAST_UPDATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

Timestamp when a process last updated this entry.

CREATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

Timestamp when this entry was created.

SUMMARY

VARCHAR

255

A high level summary of what is included in a batch, often a list of table names.

IGNORE_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of times a batch was ignored.

BYTE_COUNT

BIGINT

0

X

The number of bytes that were sent as part of this batch.

LOAD_FLAG

TINYINT

1

0

A flag that indicates that this batch is part of an initial load.

EXTRACT_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of times this an attempt to extract this batch occurred.

SENT_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of times this batch was sent. A batch can be sent multiple times if an ACK is not received.

LOAD_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of times an attempt to load this batch occurred.

RELOAD_ROW_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of reloads in the batch, which include rows from any extract transforms.

OTHER_ROW_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of SQL, BSH, and DDL events in the batch, which include rows from any extract transforms.

DATA_ROW_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The total number of rows in the batch, which include rows from any extract transforms.

EXTRACT_ROW_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The total number of rows extracted from the capture log.

LOAD_ROW_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The total number of rows loaded into the database, which includes rows from any load transforms or filters.

DATA_INSERT_ROW_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of inserts in the batch, which include rows from any extract transforms.

DATA_UPDATE_ROW_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of updates in the batch, which include rows from any extract transforms.

DATA_DELETE_ROW_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of deletes in the batch, which include rows from any extract transforms.

EXTRACT_INSERT_ROW_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of inserts extracted from the capture log.

EXTRACT_UPDATE_ROW_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of updates extracted from the capture log.

EXTRACT_DELETE_ROW_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of deletes extracted from the capture log.

LOAD_INSERT_ROW_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of inserts loaded into the database, which includes rows from any load transforms or filters.

LOAD_UPDATE_ROW_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of updates loaded into the database, which includes rows from any load transforms or filters.

LOAD_DELETE_ROW_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of deletes loaded into the database, which includes rows from any load transforms or filters.

NETWORK_MILLIS

INTEGER

0

X

The number of milliseconds spent transfering this batch across the network.

FILTER_MILLIS

INTEGER

0

X

The number of milliseconds spent in filters processing data.

LOAD_MILLIS

INTEGER

0

X

The number of milliseconds spent loading the data into the target database.

ROUTER_MILLIS

INTEGER

0

X

The number of milliseconds spent creating this batch.

EXTRACT_MILLIS

INTEGER

0

X

The number of milliseconds spent extracting the data out of the source database.

TRANSFORM_EXTRACT_MILLIS

INTEGER

0

X

The number of milliseconds spent transforming the data on the extract side.

TRANSFORM_LOAD_MILLIS

INTEGER

0

X

The number of milliseconds spent transforming the data on the load side.

LOAD_ID

BIGINT

An id that ties multiple batches together to identify them as being part of an initial load.

COMMON_FLAG

TINYINT

1

0

A flag that indicates that the data in this batch is shared by other nodes (they will have the same batch_id). Shared batches will be extracted to a common location.

FALLBACK_INSERT_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of times an update was turned into an insert because the data was not already in the target database.

FALLBACK_UPDATE_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of times an insert was turned into an update because a data row already existed in the target database.

CONFLICT_WIN_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

Not implemented. The number of times a conflict was detected for a row and it was resolved as the winning row.

CONFLICT_LOSE_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

Not implemented. The number of times a conflict was detected for a row and it was resolved as the losing row.

IGNORE_ROW_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of times a row was ignored.

MISSING_DELETE_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of times a delete did not affect the database because the row was already deleted.

SKIP_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of times a batch was sent and skipped because it had already been loaded according to incoming_batch.

FAILED_ROW_NUMBER

INTEGER

0

X

This numbered data event that failed as read from the CSV.

FAILED_LINE_NUMBER

INTEGER

0

X

The current line number in the CSV for this batch that failed.

FAILED_DATA_ID

BIGINT

0

X

For a status of error (ER), this is the data_id that was being processed when the batch failed.

BULK_LOADER_FLAG

TINYINT

1

0

A flag that indicates that this batch did or did not use the bulk loader.

A.16. INCOMING_ERROR

The captured data change that is in error for a batch. The user can tell the system what to do by updating the resolve columns. Entries in data_error are created when an incoming batch encounters an error.

Table 38. INCOMING_ERROR

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

BATCH_ID

BIGINT

50

PK

X

The id of the outgoing_batch that is being loaded.

NODE_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK

X

The node_id of the source of the batch being loaded. A node_id of -1 means that the batch was 'unrouted'.

FAILED_ROW_NUMBER

BIGINT

PK

X

The row number in the batch that encountered an error when loading.

FAILED_LINE_NUMBER

BIGINT

0

X

The current line number in the CSV for this batch that failed.

TARGET_CATALOG_NAME

VARCHAR

255

The catalog name for the table being loaded.

TARGET_SCHEMA_NAME

VARCHAR

255

The schema name for the table being loaded.

TARGET_TABLE_NAME

VARCHAR

255

X

The table name for the table being loaded.

EVENT_TYPE

CHAR

1

X

The type of event captured by this entry. For triggers, this is the change that occurred, which is 'I' for insert, 'U' for update, or 'D' for delete. Other events include: 'R' for reloading the entire table (or subset of the table) to the node; 'S' for running dynamic SQL at the node, which is used for adhoc administration.

BINARY_ENCODING

VARCHAR

10

HEX

X

The type of encoding the source system used for encoding binary data.

COLUMN_NAMES

LONGVARCHAR

X

The column names defined on the table. The column names are stored in comma-separated values (CSV) format.

PK_COLUMN_NAMES

LONGVARCHAR

X

The primary key column names defined on the table. The column names are stored in comma-separated values (CSV) format.

ROW_DATA

LONGVARCHAR

The row data from the batch as captured from the source. The column values are stored in comma-separated values (CSV) format.

OLD_DATA

LONGVARCHAR

The old row data prior to update from the batch as captured from the source. The column values are stored in CSV format.

CUR_DATA

LONGVARCHAR

The current row data that caused the error to occur. The column values are stored in CSV format.

RESOLVE_DATA

LONGVARCHAR

The capture data change from the user that is used instead of row_data. This is useful when resolving a conflict manually by specifying the data that should load.

RESOLVE_IGNORE

TINYINT

1

0

Indication from the user that the row_data should be ignored and the batch can continue loading with the next row.

CONFLICT_ID

VARCHAR

50

Unique identifier for the conflict detection setting that caused the error

CREATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

Timestamp when this entry was created.

LAST_UPDATE_BY

VARCHAR

50

The user who last updated this entry.

LAST_UPDATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

X

Timestamp when a user last updated this entry.

A.17. JOB

Defines custom jobs that can be executed in the SymmetricDS instance.

Table 39. JOB

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

JOB_NAME

VARCHAR

50

PK

X

The unique name of the job

JOB_TYPE

VARCHAR

10

X

The type of the job. Valid values are 'sql', 'java' and 'bsh'. The system exclusively uses the 'built_in' job type.

REQUIRES_REGISTRATION

TINYINT

1

1

X

Does the engine need to be registered for this job to run?

JOB_EXPRESSION

LONGVARCHAR

The payload of the job. For bsh (beanshell) jobs, this should be bsh script. For Java jobs, this should be Java code of a class which implements the IJob interface. For SQL jobs, this should be a sql script.

DESCRIPTION

VARCHAR

255

An optional description of the job for users of the system.

DEFAULT_SCHEDULE

VARCHAR

50

The schedule to use if no schedule parameter is found. Overridden by job.jobname.period.time.ms or job.jobname.cron.

DEFAULT_AUTO_START

TINYINT

1

1

X

Determine if this job should auto start. Overridden by start.jobname.job.

NODE_GROUP_ID

VARCHAR

50

X

Target the job at a specific node group id. To target all groups, use the value of 'ALL'.

IS_CLUSTERED

TINYINT

1

0

X

Whether to acquire a cluster lock or not.

CREATE_BY

VARCHAR

50

The user who created this entry.

CREATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

Timestamp when this entry was created.

LAST_UPDATE_BY

VARCHAR

50

The user who last updated this entry.

LAST_UPDATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

Timestamp when a user last updated this entry.

A.18. LOAD_FILTER

A table that allows you to dynamically define filters using bsh.

Table 40. LOAD_FILTER

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

LOAD_FILTER_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK

X

The id of the load filter.

LOAD_FILTER_TYPE

VARCHAR

10

X

The type of load filter. Possible values include: BSH, JAVA, SQL

SOURCE_NODE_GROUP_ID

VARCHAR

50

X

The source node group for the filter.

TARGET_NODE_GROUP_ID

VARCHAR

50

X

The destination node group for the filter.

TARGET_CATALOG_NAME

VARCHAR

255

Optional name for the catalog the configured table is in.

TARGET_SCHEMA_NAME

VARCHAR

255

Optional name for the schema a configured table is in.

TARGET_TABLE_NAME

VARCHAR

255

The name of the target table that will trigger the bsh filter.

FILTER_ON_UPDATE

TINYINT

1

1

X

Whether or not the filter should apply on an update.

FILTER_ON_INSERT

TINYINT

1

1

X

Whether or not the filter should apply on an insert.

FILTER_ON_DELETE

TINYINT

1

1

X

Whether or not the filter should apply on a delete.

BEFORE_WRITE_SCRIPT

LONGVARCHAR

The script to apply before the write is completed.

AFTER_WRITE_SCRIPT

LONGVARCHAR

The script to apply after the write is completed.

BATCH_COMPLETE_SCRIPT

LONGVARCHAR

The script to apply on batch complete.

BATCH_COMMIT_SCRIPT

LONGVARCHAR

The script to apply on batch commit.

BATCH_ROLLBACK_SCRIPT

LONGVARCHAR

The script to apply on batch rollback.

HANDLE_ERROR_SCRIPT

LONGVARCHAR

The script to apply when data cannot be processed.

CREATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

X

Timestamp when this entry was created.

LAST_UPDATE_BY

VARCHAR

50

The user who last updated this entry.

LAST_UPDATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

X

Timestamp when a user last updated this entry.

LOAD_FILTER_ORDER

INTEGER

1

X

Specifies the order in which to apply load filters if more than one target operation occurs.

FAIL_ON_ERROR

TINYINT

1

0

X

Whether we should fail the batch if the filter fails.

A.19. LOCK

Contains semaphores that are set when processes run, so that only one server can run a process at a time. Enable this feature by using the cluster.lock.enabled parameter.

Table 41. LOCK

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

LOCK_ACTION

VARCHAR

50

PK

X

The process that needs a lock.

LOCK_TYPE

VARCHAR

50

X

Type of lock that indicates differently locking behavior. Types include cluster, exclusive, and shared. Cluster lock is used to allow one server to run at a time, but any process from the same server can overtake the lock, which avoids stalled processing. Exclusive lock is owned by one process, regardless of which server it is on, but another process can acquire the lock after lock_time is older than exclusive.lock.timeout.ms. Shared lock allows multiple processes to use the same lock, incrementing the shared_count, but requires no exclusive lock exists and prevents an exclusive lock.

LOCKING_SERVER_ID

VARCHAR

255

The name of the server that currently has a lock. This is typically a host name, but it can be overridden using the -Druntime.symmetric.cluster.server.id=name System property.

LOCK_TIME

TIMESTAMP

The time a lock is aquired. Use the cluster.lock.timeout.ms to specify a lock timeout period.

SHARED_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

For a lock_type of SHARED, this is the number of processes sharing the same lock. After the shared_count drops to zero, a shared lock is removed.

SHARED_ENABLE

INTEGER

0

X

For a lock_type of SHARED, this flag set to 1 indicates that more processes can share the lock. If an exclusive lock is needed, the flag is set to 0 to prevent further shared locks from accumulating.

LAST_LOCK_TIME

TIMESTAMP

Timestamp when a process last updated this entry.

LAST_LOCKING_SERVER_ID

VARCHAR

255

The server id of the process that last did work on this batch.

A.20. NODE

Representation of an instance of SymmetricDS that synchronizes data with one or more additional nodes. Each node has a unique identifier (nodeId) that is used when communicating, as well as a domain-specific identifier (externalId) that provides context within the local system.

Table 42. NODE

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

NODE_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK

X

A unique identifier for a node.

NODE_GROUP_ID

VARCHAR

50

X

The node group that this node belongs to, such as 'store'.

EXTERNAL_ID

VARCHAR

255

X

A domain-specific identifier for context within the local system. For example, the retail store number.

SYNC_ENABLED

TINYINT

1

0

Indicates whether this node should be sent synchronization. Disabled nodes are ignored by the triggers, so no entries are made in data_event for the node.

SYNC_URL

VARCHAR

255

The URL to contact the node for synchronization.

SCHEMA_VERSION

VARCHAR

50

The version of the database schema this node manages. Useful for specifying synchronization by version.

SYMMETRIC_VERSION

VARCHAR

50

The version of SymmetricDS running at this node.

CONFIG_VERSION

VARCHAR

50

The version of configuration running at this node.

DATABASE_TYPE

VARCHAR

50

The database product name at this node as reported by JDBC.

DATABASE_VERSION

VARCHAR

50

The database product version at this node as reported by JDBC.

DATABASE_NAME

VARCHAR

50

The database product name identified by SymmetricDS.

BATCH_TO_SEND_COUNT

INTEGER

0

The number of outgoing batches that have not yet been sent. This field is updated as part of the heartbeat job if the heartbeat.update.node.with.batch.status property is set to true.

BATCH_IN_ERROR_COUNT

INTEGER

0

The number of outgoing batches that are in error at this node. This field is updated as part of the heartbeat job if the heartbeat.update.node.with.batch.status property is set to true.

BATCH_LAST_SUCCESSFUL

TIMESTAMP

The last incoming or outgoing batch that was marked OK that is not on the config, heartbeat, or monitor channels.

DATA_ROWS_TO_SEND_COUNT

INTEGER

0

The number of of rows to replicated in batches. This field is updated as part of the heartbeat job if the heartbeat.update.node.with.batch.status property is set to true.

DATA_ROWS_LOADED_COUNT

INTEGER

0

The number of rows that has been successfully replicated since last purge. This field is updated as part of the heartbeat job if the heartbeat.update.node.with.batch.status property is set to true.

OLDEST_LOAD_TIME

TIMESTAMP

The oldest recorded sync time since the last purge.

MOST_RECENT_ACTIVE_TABLE

VARCHAR

255

The most active table to sync recently (time based on last 5 minutes and doubles until a match is found or until 80 min.))

PURGE_OUTGOING_LAST_RUN_MS

BIGINT

0

The number of milliseconds that the purge job took on the last run. This field is updated as part of the heartbeat job if the heartbeat.update.node.with.batch.status property is set to true.

PURGE_OUTGOING_LAST_FINISH

TIMESTAMP

The time the purge outgoing last finished succesfully. This field is updated as part of the heartbeat job if the heartbeat.update.node.with.batch.status property is set to true.

PURGE_OUTGOING_AVERAGE_MS

BIGINT

The average time the purge outgoing has been run. This field is updated as part of the heartbeat job if the heartbeat.update.node.with.batch.status property is set to true.

ROUTING_LAST_RUN_MS

BIGINT

The time it took for the the last routing job to finish succesfully. This field is updated as part of the heartbeat job if the heartbeat.update.node.with.batch.status property is set to true.

ROUTING_LAST_FINISH

TIMESTAMP

The time the routing job last finished succesfully. This field is updated as part of the heartbeat job if the heartbeat.update.node.with.batch.status property is set to true.

ROUTING_AVERAGE_RUN_MS

BIGINT

0

The number of milliseconds that the routing job averages. This field is updated as part of the heartbeat job if the heartbeat.update.node.with.batch.status property is set to true.

SYM_DATA_SIZE

BIGINT

The current size of the sym_data table. This field is updated as part of the heartbeat job if the heartbeat.update.node.with.batch.status property is set to true.

CREATED_AT_NODE_ID

VARCHAR

50

The node_id of the node where this node was created. This is typically filled automatically with the node_id found in node_identity where registration was opened for the node.

DEPLOYMENT_TYPE

VARCHAR

50

An indicator as to the type of SymmetricDS software that is running. Possible values are, but not limited to: engine, standalone, war, professional, mobile

DEPLOYMENT_SUB_TYPE

VARCHAR

50

An indicator as to the deployment sub type of the node. Possible values are, but not limited to: load-only

A.21. NODE_CHANNEL_CTL

Used to ignore or suspend a channel. A channel that is ignored will have its data_events batched and they will immediately be marked as 'OK' without sending them. A channel that is suspended is skipped when batching data_events.

Table 43. NODE_CHANNEL_CTL

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

NODE_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK

X

Unique identifier for a node.

CHANNEL_ID

VARCHAR

128

PK

X

The name of the channel_id that is being controlled.

SUSPEND_ENABLED

TINYINT

1

0

Indicates if this channel is suspended, which prevents batches from being sent, although new batches can still be created.

IGNORE_ENABLED

TINYINT

1

0

Indicates if this channel is ignored, which marks batches with a status of OK like they were actually processed.

LAST_EXTRACT_TIME

TIMESTAMP

Record the last time data was extract for a node and a channel.

A.22. NODE_COMMUNICATION

This table is used to coordinate communication with other nodes.

Table 44. NODE_COMMUNICATION

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

NODE_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK

X

Unique identifier for a node.

QUEUE

VARCHAR

25

default

PK

X

The queue name to use in relation to the channel.

COMMUNICATION_TYPE

VARCHAR

10

PK

X

The type of communication that is taking place with this node. Valid values are: PULL, PUSH

LOCK_TIME

TIMESTAMP

The timestamp when this node was locked

LOCKING_SERVER_ID

VARCHAR

255

The name of the server that currently has a pull lock for the node. This is typically a host name, but it can be overridden using the -Druntime.symmetric.cluster.server.id=name System property.

LAST_LOCK_TIME

TIMESTAMP

The timestamp when this node was last locked

LAST_LOCK_MILLIS

BIGINT

0

The amount of time the last communication took.

SUCCESS_COUNT

BIGINT

0

The number of successive successful communication attempts.

FAIL_COUNT

BIGINT

0

The number of successive failed communication attempts.

SKIP_COUNT

BIGINT

0

The number of skipped communication attempts.

TOTAL_SUCCESS_COUNT

BIGINT

0

The total number of successful communication attempts with the node.

TOTAL_FAIL_COUNT

BIGINT

0

The total number of failed communication attempts with the node.

TOTAL_SUCCESS_MILLIS

BIGINT

0

The total amount of time spent during successful communication attempts with the node.

TOTAL_FAIL_MILLIS

BIGINT

0

The total amount of time spent during failed communication attempts with the node.

BATCH_TO_SEND_COUNT

BIGINT

0

The number of batches this node has queued for pull.

NODE_PRIORITY

INTEGER

0

Used to order nodes when initiating a pull operation. Can be used to move a node to the top of the list to pull from it as quickly as possible.

A.23. NODE_GROUP

A category of Nodes that synchronizes data with one or more NodeGroups. A common use of NodeGroup is to describe a level in a hierarchy of data synchronization.

Table 45. NODE_GROUP

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

NODE_GROUP_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK

X

Unique identifier for a node group, usually named something meaningful, like 'store' or 'warehouse'.

DESCRIPTION

VARCHAR

255

A description of this node group.

CREATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

Timestamp when this entry was created.

LAST_UPDATE_BY

VARCHAR

50

The user who last updated this entry.

LAST_UPDATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

Timestamp when a user last updated this entry.

A.24. NODE_GROUP_CHANNEL_WND

An optional window of time for which a node group and channel will extract and send data.

Table 46. NODE_GROUP_CHANNEL_WND

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

NODE_GROUP_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK

X

The node_group_id that this window applies to.

CHANNEL_ID

VARCHAR

128

PK

X

The channel_id that this window applies to.

START_TIME

TIMESTAMP

2

PK

X

The start time for the active window.

END_TIME

TIMESTAMP

2

PK

X

The end time for the active window. Note that if the end_time is less than the start_time then the window crosses a day boundary.

ENABLED

TINYINT

1

0

X

Enable this window. If this is set to '0' then this window is ignored.

A source node_group sends its data updates to a target NodeGroup using a pull, push, or custom technique.

Table 47. NODE_GROUP_LINK

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

SOURCE_NODE_GROUP_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK FK

X

The node group where data changes should be captured.

TARGET_NODE_GROUP_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK FK

X

The node group where data changes will be sent.

DATA_EVENT_ACTION

CHAR

1

W

X

The notification scheme used to send data changes to the target node group. (P = Push, W = Wait for Pull, B = Both Push and Wait for Pull (control from channel), R = Route-Only)

SYNC_CONFIG_ENABLED

TINYINT

1

1

X

Indicates whether configuration that has changed should be synchronized to target nodes on this link. Affects all SymmetricDS configuration tables except for sym_extract_request, sym_file_snapshot, sym_monitor_event, sym_node, sym_node_host, sym_node_security, sym_table_reload_request, and sym_table_reload_status.

SYNC_SQL_ENABLED

TINYINT

1

1

X

Whether SQL/DDL events are routed and synced on this link.

IS_REVERSIBLE

TINYINT

1

0

X

Indicates if communication can work in reverse as specified on the channel. A reversible push link can be overridden to pull, and a reversible pull link can be overridden to push on the channel.

CREATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

Timestamp when this entry was created.

LAST_UPDATE_BY

VARCHAR

50

The user who last updated this entry.

LAST_UPDATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

Timestamp when a user last updated this entry.

A.26. NODE_HOST

Representation of an physical workstation or server that is hosting the SymmetricDS software. In a clustered environment there may be more than one entry per node in this table.

Table 48. NODE_HOST

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

NODE_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK

X

A unique identifier for a node.

HOST_NAME

VARCHAR

60

PK

X

The host name of a workstation or server. If more than one instance of SymmetricDS runs on the same server, then this value can be a 'server id' specified by -Druntime.symmetric.cluster.server.id

INSTANCE_ID

VARCHAR

60

A unique identifer generated by each installation of SymmetricDS. Used to to safe-guard against multi-access to the sym tables.

IP_ADDRESS

VARCHAR

50

The ip address for the host.

OS_USER

VARCHAR

50

The user SymmetricDS is running under

OS_NAME

VARCHAR

50

The name of the OS

OS_ARCH

VARCHAR

50

The hardware architecture of the OS

OS_VERSION

VARCHAR

50

The version of the OS

AVAILABLE_PROCESSORS

INTEGER

0

The number of processors available to use.

FREE_MEMORY_BYTES

BIGINT

0

The amount of free memory available to the JVM.

TOTAL_MEMORY_BYTES

BIGINT

0

The amount of total memory available to the JVM.

MAX_MEMORY_BYTES

BIGINT

0

The max amount of memory available to the JVM.

JAVA_VERSION

VARCHAR

50

The version of java that SymmetricDS is running as.

JAVA_VENDOR

VARCHAR

255

The vendor of java that SymmetricDS is running as.

JDBC_VERSION

VARCHAR

255

The verision of the JDBC driver that is being used.

SYMMETRIC_VERSION

VARCHAR

50

The version of SymmetricDS running at this node.

TIMEZONE_OFFSET

VARCHAR

6

The time zone offset in RFC822 format at the time of the last heartbeat.

HEARTBEAT_TIME

TIMESTAMP

The last timestamp when the node sent a heartbeat, which is attempted every ten minutes by default.

LAST_RESTART_TIME

TIMESTAMP

X

Timestamp when this instance was last restarted.

CREATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

X

Timestamp when this entry was created.

A.27. NODE_HOST_CHANNEL_STATS

Table 49. NODE_HOST_CHANNEL_STATS

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

NODE_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK

X

A unique identifier for a node.

HOST_NAME

VARCHAR

60

PK

X

The host name of a workstation or server. If more than one instance of SymmetricDS runs on the same server, then this value can be a 'server id' specified by -Druntime.symmetric.cluster.server.id

CHANNEL_ID

VARCHAR

128

PK

X

The channel_id of the channel that data changes will flow through.

START_TIME

TIMESTAMP

2

PK

X

The start time for the period which this row represents.

END_TIME

TIMESTAMP

2

PK

X

The end time for the period which this row represents.

DATA_ROUTED

BIGINT

0

Indicate the number of data rows that have been routed during this period.

DATA_UNROUTED

BIGINT

0

The amount of data that has not yet been routed at the time this stats row was recorded.

DATA_EVENT_INSERTED

BIGINT

0

Indicate the number of data rows that have been routed during this period.

DATA_EXTRACTED

BIGINT

0

The number of data rows that were extracted during this time period.

DATA_BYTES_EXTRACTED

BIGINT

0

The number of bytes that were extracted during this time period.

DATA_EXTRACTED_ERRORS

BIGINT

0

The number of errors that occurred during extraction during this time period.

DATA_BYTES_SENT

BIGINT

0

The number of bytes that were sent during this time period.

DATA_SENT

BIGINT

0

The number of rows that were sent during this time period.

DATA_SENT_ERRORS

BIGINT

0

The number of errors that occurred while sending during this time period.

DATA_LOADED

BIGINT

0

The number of rows that were loaded during this time period.

DATA_BYTES_LOADED

BIGINT

0

The number of bytes that were loaded during this time period.

DATA_LOADED_ERRORS

BIGINT

0

The number of errors that occurred while loading during this time period.

DATA_LOADED_OUTGOING

BIGINT

0

The number of rows that were acknowledged as loaded by another node during this time period.

DATA_BYTES_LOADED_OUTGOING

BIGINT

0

The number of bytes that were acknowledged as loaded by another node during this time period.

DATA_LOADED_OUTGOING_ERRORS

BIGINT

0

The number of errors that occurred while loading to another node during this time period.

A.28. NODE_HOST_JOB_STATS

Table 50. NODE_HOST_JOB_STATS

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

NODE_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK

X

A unique identifier for a node.

HOST_NAME

VARCHAR

60

PK

X

The host name of a workstation or server. If more than one instance of SymmetricDS runs on the same server, then this value can be a 'server id' specified by -Druntime.symmetric.cluster.server.id

JOB_NAME

VARCHAR

50

PK

X

The name of the job.

START_TIME

TIMESTAMP

2

PK

X

The start time for the period which this row represents.

END_TIME

TIMESTAMP

2

PK

X

The end time for the period which this row represents.

PROCESSED_COUNT

BIGINT

0

The number of items that were processed during the job run.

ERROR_FLAG

TINYINT

1

0

A flag that indicates that this job was in error.

ERROR_MESSAGE

LONGVARCHAR

The error message that occurred.

TARGET_NODE_ID

VARCHAR

50

The target node the job is working on.

TARGET_NODE_COUNT

INTEGER

0

The number of target nodes the job is working on.

A.29. NODE_HOST_STATS

Table 51. NODE_HOST_STATS

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

NODE_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK

X

A unique identifier for a node.

HOST_NAME

VARCHAR

60

PK

X

The host name of a workstation or server. If more than one instance of SymmetricDS runs on the same server, then this value can be a 'server id' specified by -Druntime.symmetric.cluster.server.id

START_TIME

TIMESTAMP

2

PK

X

The end time for the period which this row represents.

END_TIME

TIMESTAMP

2

PK

X

RESTARTED

BIGINT

0

X

Indicate that a restart occurred during this period.

NODES_PULLED

BIGINT

0

Number of nodes that pulled from this host after passing checks for authentication and concurrency.

TOTAL_NODES_PULL_TIME

BIGINT

0

Total time spent handling pull requests on this host in milliseconds.

NODES_PUSHED

BIGINT

0

Number of nodes that pushed to this host after passing checks for authentication and concurrency.

TOTAL_NODES_PUSH_TIME

BIGINT

0

Total time spent handling push requests on this host in milliseconds.

NODES_REJECTED

BIGINT

0

Number of attempts by nodes to push or pull with this host that were rejected because no concurrent workers were available or the push reservation was not found.

NODES_REGISTERED

BIGINT

0

Number of nodes that registered with this host, either a first-time registration or a subsequent re-registration.

NODES_LOADED

BIGINT

0

Number of full or partial load requests that were created on this host to send loads to target nodes.

NODES_DISABLED

BIGINT

0

Number of offline nodes that had their sync enabled flag set to false on this host by the watch dog job.

PURGED_DATA_ROWS

BIGINT

0

PURGED_DATA_EVENT_ROWS

BIGINT

0

PURGED_STRANDED_DATA_ROWS

BIGINT

0

PURGED_STRANDED_EVENT_ROWS

BIGINT

0

PURGED_EXPIRED_DATA_ROWS

BIGINT

0

PURGED_BATCH_OUTGOING_ROWS

BIGINT

0

PURGED_BATCH_INCOMING_ROWS

BIGINT

0

TRIGGERS_CREATED_COUNT

BIGINT

TRIGGERS_REBUILT_COUNT

BIGINT

TRIGGERS_REMOVED_COUNT

BIGINT

A.30. NODE_IDENTITY

After registration, this table will have one row representing the identity of the node. For a root node, the row is entered by the user.

Table 52. NODE_IDENTITY

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

NODE_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK FK

X

Unique identifier for a node.

A.31. NODE_SECURITY

Security features like node passwords and open registration flag are stored in the node_security table.

Table 53. NODE_SECURITY

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

NODE_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK FK

X

Unique identifier for a node.

NODE_PASSWORD

VARCHAR

50

X

The password used by the node to prove its identity during synchronization.

REGISTRATION_ENABLED

TINYINT

1

0

Indicates whether registration is open for this node. Re-registration may be forced for a node if this is set back to '1' in a parent database for the node_id that should be re-registred.

REGISTRATION_TIME

TIMESTAMP

The timestamp when this node was last registered.

REGISTRATION_NOT_BEFORE

TIMESTAMP

Allow registration beginning at this timestamp.

REGISTRATION_NOT_AFTER

TIMESTAMP

Allow registration until this timestamp.

INITIAL_LOAD_ENABLED

TINYINT

1

0

Indicates whether an initial load will be sent to this node.

INITIAL_LOAD_TIME

TIMESTAMP

The timestamp when an initial load was started for this node.

INITIAL_LOAD_END_TIME

TIMESTAMP

The timestamp when an initial load was completed for this node.

INITIAL_LOAD_ID

BIGINT

A reference to the load_id in outgoing_batch for the last load that occurred.

INITIAL_LOAD_CREATE_BY

VARCHAR

255

The user that created the initial load. A null value means that the system created the batch.

REV_INITIAL_LOAD_ENABLED

TINYINT

1

0

Indicates that this node should send a reverse initial load.

REV_INITIAL_LOAD_TIME

TIMESTAMP

The timestamp when this node last sent an initial load.

REV_INITIAL_LOAD_ID

BIGINT

A reference to the load_id in outgoing_batch for the last reverse load that occurred.

REV_INITIAL_LOAD_CREATE_BY

VARCHAR

255

The user that created the reverse initial load. A null value means that the system created the batch.

FAILED_LOGINS

TINYINT

0

Number of failed login attempts

CREATED_AT_NODE_ID

VARCHAR

50

The node_id of the node where this node was created. This is typically filled automatically with the node_id found in node_identity where registration was opened for the node.

A.32. OUTGOING_BATCH

Used for tracking the sending a collection of data to a node in the system. A new outgoing_batch is created and given a status of 'NE'. After sending the outgoing_batch to its target node, the status becomes 'SE'. The node responds with either a success status of 'OK' or an error status of 'ER'. An error while sending to the node also results in an error status of 'ER' regardless of whether the node sends that acknowledgement.

Table 54. OUTGOING_BATCH

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

BATCH_ID

BIGINT

PK

X

A unique id for the batch.

NODE_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK

X

The node that this batch is targeted at.

CHANNEL_ID

VARCHAR

128

The channel that this batch is part of.

STATUS

CHAR

2

The current status of a batch can be routing (RT), requested to be extracted in the background (RQ), newly created and ready for replication (NE), being queried from the database (QY), sent to a node (SE), ready to be loaded (LD), resend requested because missing in staging (RS), acknowledged as successful (OK), ignored (IG), or in error (ER).

ERROR_FLAG

TINYINT

1

0

A flag that indicates that this batch was in error during the last synchornization attempt.

SQL_STATE

VARCHAR

10

For a status of error (ER), this is the XOPEN or SQL 99 SQL State.

SQL_CODE

INTEGER

0

X

For a status of error (ER), this is the error code from the database that is specific to the vendor.

SQL_MESSAGE

LONGVARCHAR

For a status of error (ER), this is the error message that describes the error.

LAST_UPDATE_HOSTNAME

VARCHAR

255

The host name of the process that last did work on this batch.

LAST_UPDATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

Timestamp when a process last updated this entry.

CREATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

Timestamp when this entry was created.

SUMMARY

VARCHAR

255

A high level summary of what is included in a batch, often a list of table names.

IGNORE_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of times a batch was ignored.

BYTE_COUNT

BIGINT

0

X

The number of bytes that were sent as part of this batch.

LOAD_FLAG

TINYINT

1

0

A flag that indicates that this batch is part of an initial load.

EXTRACT_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of times this an attempt to extract this batch occurred.

SENT_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of times this batch was sent. A batch can be sent multiple times if an ACK is not received.

LOAD_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of times an attempt to load this batch occurred.

RELOAD_ROW_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of reloads in the batch, which include rows from any extract transforms.

OTHER_ROW_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of SQL, BSH, and DDL events in the batch, which include rows from any extract transforms.

DATA_ROW_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The total number of rows in the batch, which include rows from any extract transforms.

EXTRACT_ROW_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The total number of rows extracted from the capture log.

LOAD_ROW_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The total number of rows loaded into the database, which includes rows from any load transforms or filters.

DATA_INSERT_ROW_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of inserts in the batch, which include rows from any extract transforms.

DATA_UPDATE_ROW_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of updates in the batch, which include rows from any extract transforms.

DATA_DELETE_ROW_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of deletes in the batch, which include rows from any extract transforms.

EXTRACT_INSERT_ROW_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of inserts extracted from the capture log.

EXTRACT_UPDATE_ROW_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of updates extracted from the capture log.

EXTRACT_DELETE_ROW_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of deletes extracted from the capture log.

LOAD_INSERT_ROW_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of inserts loaded into the database, which includes rows from any load transforms or filters.

LOAD_UPDATE_ROW_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of updates loaded into the database, which includes rows from any load transforms or filters.

LOAD_DELETE_ROW_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of deletes loaded into the database, which includes rows from any load transforms or filters.

NETWORK_MILLIS

INTEGER

0

X

The number of milliseconds spent transfering this batch across the network.

FILTER_MILLIS

INTEGER

0

X

The number of milliseconds spent in filters processing data.

LOAD_MILLIS

INTEGER

0

X

The number of milliseconds spent loading the data into the target database.

ROUTER_MILLIS

INTEGER

0

X

The number of milliseconds spent creating this batch.

EXTRACT_MILLIS

INTEGER

0

X

The number of milliseconds spent extracting the data out of the source database.

TRANSFORM_EXTRACT_MILLIS

INTEGER

0

X

Not implemented. The number of milliseconds spent transforming the data on the extract side.

TRANSFORM_LOAD_MILLIS

INTEGER

0

X

Not implemented. The number of milliseconds spent transforming the data on the load side.

LOAD_ID

BIGINT

An id that ties multiple batches together to identify them as being part of an initial load.

COMMON_FLAG

TINYINT

1

0

A flag that indicates that the data in this batch is shared by other nodes (they will have the same batch_id). Shared batches will be extracted to a common location.

FALLBACK_INSERT_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of times an update was turned into an insert because the data was not already in the target database.

FALLBACK_UPDATE_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of times an insert was turned into an update because a data row already existed in the target database.

CONFLICT_WIN_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of times a conflict was detected for a row and it was resolved as the winning row.

CONFLICT_LOSE_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of times a conflict was detected for a row and it was resolved as the losing row.

IGNORE_ROW_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of times a row was ignored.

MISSING_DELETE_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of times a delete did not affect the database because the row was already deleted.

SKIP_COUNT

INTEGER

0

X

The number of times a batch was sent and skipped because it had already been loaded according to incoming_batch.

TOTAL_EXTRACT_MILLIS

INTEGER

0

X

Not implemented. The total number of milliseconds spent processing a batch on the extract side.

TOTAL_LOAD_MILLIS

INTEGER

0

X

Not implemented. The total number of milliseconds spent processing a batch on the load side.

EXTRACT_JOB_FLAG

TINYINT

1

0

A flag that indicates that this batch is going to be extracted by another job.

EXTRACT_START_TIME

TIMESTAMP

The time the batch started extracting from the source.

TRANSFER_START_TIME

TIMESTAMP

The time the batch started transfering across the network.

LOAD_START_TIME

TIMESTAMP

The time the batch started loading into the target.

FAILED_DATA_ID

BIGINT

0

X

For a status of error (ER), this is the data_id that was being processed when the batch failed.

FAILED_LINE_NUMBER

BIGINT

0

X

The current line number in the CSV for this batch that failed.

CREATE_BY

VARCHAR

255

The user that created the batch. A null value means that the system created the batch.

BULK_LOADER_FLAG

TINYINT

1

0

A flag that indicates that this batch did or did not use the bulk loader.

A.33. OUTGOING_ERROR

The captured data change that is in error for a batch. The user can tell the system what to do by updating the resolve columns. Entries in data_error are created when an outgoing batch encounters an error.

Table 55. OUTGOING_ERROR

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

BATCH_ID

BIGINT

50

PK

X

The id of the outgoing_batch that is being loaded.

NODE_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK

X

The node_id of the source of the batch being loaded. A node_id of -1 means that the batch was 'unrouted'.

FAILED_ROW_NUMBER

BIGINT

PK

X

The row number in the batch that encountered an error when loading.

FAILED_LINE_NUMBER

BIGINT

0

X

The current line number in the CSV for this batch that failed.

TARGET_CATALOG_NAME

VARCHAR

255

The catalog name for the table being loaded.

TARGET_SCHEMA_NAME

VARCHAR

255

The schema name for the table being loaded.

TARGET_TABLE_NAME

VARCHAR

255

X

The table name for the table being loaded.

EVENT_TYPE

CHAR

1

X

The type of event captured by this entry. For triggers, this is the change that occurred, which is 'I' for insert, 'U' for update, or 'D' for delete. Other events include: 'R' for reloading the entire table (or subset of the table) to the node; 'S' for running dynamic SQL at the node, which is used for adhoc administration.

BINARY_ENCODING

VARCHAR

10

HEX

X

The type of encoding the source system used for encoding binary data.

COLUMN_NAMES

LONGVARCHAR

X

The column names defined on the table. The column names are stored in comma-separated values (CSV) format.

PK_COLUMN_NAMES

LONGVARCHAR

X

The primary key column names defined on the table. The column names are stored in comma-separated values (CSV) format.

ROW_DATA

LONGVARCHAR

The row data from the batch as captured from the source. The column values are stored in comma-separated values (CSV) format.

OLD_DATA

LONGVARCHAR

The old row data prior to update from the batch as captured from the source. The column values are stored in CSV format.

CUR_DATA

LONGVARCHAR

The current row data that caused the error to occur. The column values are stored in CSV format.

RESOLVE_DATA

LONGVARCHAR

The capture data change from the user that is used instead of row_data. This is useful when resolving a conflict manually by specifying the data that should load.

RESOLVE_IGNORE

TINYINT

1

0

Indication from the user that the row_data should be ignored and the batch can continue loading with the next row.

CONFLICT_ID

VARCHAR

50

Unique identifier for the conflict detection setting that caused the error

CREATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

Timestamp when this entry was created.

LAST_UPDATE_BY

VARCHAR

50

The user who last updated this entry.

LAST_UPDATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

X

Timestamp when a user last updated this entry.

A.34. PARAMETER

Provides a way to manage most SymmetricDS settings in the database.

Table 56. PARAMETER

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

EXTERNAL_ID

VARCHAR

255

PK

X

Target the parameter at a specific external id. To target all nodes, use the value of 'ALL.'

NODE_GROUP_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK

X

Target the parameter at a specific node group id. To target all groups, use the value of 'ALL.'

PARAM_KEY

VARCHAR

80

PK

X

The name of the parameter.

PARAM_VALUE

LONGVARCHAR

The value of the parameter.

CREATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

Timestamp when this entry was created.

LAST_UPDATE_BY

VARCHAR

50

The user who last updated this entry.

LAST_UPDATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

Timestamp when a user last updated this entry.

A.35. REGISTRATION_REDIRECT

Provides a way for a centralized registration server to redirect registering nodes to their prospective parent node in a multi-tiered deployment.

Table 57. REGISTRATION_REDIRECT

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

REGISTRANT_EXTERNAL_ID

VARCHAR

255

PK

X

Maps the external id of a registration request to a different parent node.

REGISTRATION_NODE_ID

VARCHAR

50

X

The node_id of the node that a registration request should be redirected to.

A.36. REGISTRATION_REQUEST

Audits when a node registers or attempts to register.

Table 58. REGISTRATION_REQUEST

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

NODE_GROUP_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK

X

The node group that this node belongs to, such as 'store'.

EXTERNAL_ID

VARCHAR

255

PK

X

A domain-specific identifier for context within the local system. For example, the retail store number.

STATUS

CHAR

2

X

The current status of the registration attempt. Valid statuses are RQ (requested), RR (redirected), RJ (rejected), ER (error), OK (successful).

HOST_NAME

VARCHAR

60

X

The host name of a workstation or server. If more than one instance of SymmetricDS runs on the same server, then this value can be a 'server id' specified by -Druntime.symmetric.cluster.server.id

IP_ADDRESS

VARCHAR

50

X

The ip address for the host.

ATTEMPT_COUNT

INTEGER

0

The number of registration attempts.

REGISTERED_NODE_ID

VARCHAR

50

A unique identifier for a node.

ERROR_MESSAGE

LONGVARCHAR

Record any errors or warnings that occurred when attempting to register.

CREATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

2

PK

X

Timestamp when this entry was created.

LAST_UPDATE_BY

VARCHAR

50

The user who last updated this entry.

LAST_UPDATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

X

Timestamp when a user last updated this entry.

A.37. ROUTER

Configure a type of router from one node group to another. Note that routers are mapped to triggers through trigger_routers.

Table 59. ROUTER

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

ROUTER_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK

X

Unique description of a specific router

TARGET_CATALOG_NAME

VARCHAR

255

Optional name of catalog where a target table is located. If this field is unspecified, the catalog will be either the default catalog at the target node or the source_catalog_name from the trigger, depending on how use_source_catalog_schema is set on the router. Variables are substituted for $(sourceNodeId), $(sourceExternalId), $(sourceNodeGroupId), $(targetNodeId), $(targetExternalId), $(targetNodeGroupId), and $(none).

TARGET_SCHEMA_NAME

VARCHAR

255

Optional name of schema where a target table is located. If this field is unspecified, the schema will be either the default schema at the target node or the source_schema_name from the trigger, depending on how use_source_catalog_schema is set on the router. Variables are substituted for $(sourceNodeId), $(sourceExternalId), $(sourceNodeGroupId), $(targetNodeId), $(targetExternalId), $(targetNodeGroupId), and $(none).

TARGET_TABLE_NAME

VARCHAR

255

Optional name for a target table. Only use this if the target table name is different than the source.

SOURCE_NODE_GROUP_ID

VARCHAR

50

FK

X

Routers with this node_group_id will install triggers that are mapped to this router.

TARGET_NODE_GROUP_ID

VARCHAR

50

FK

X

The node_group_id for nodes to route data to. Note that routing can be further narrowed down by the configured router_type and router_expression.

ROUTER_TYPE

VARCHAR

50

default

X

The name of a specific type of router. Out of the box routers are 'default','column','bsh', 'subselect' and 'audit.' Custom routers can be configured as extension points.

ROUTER_EXPRESSION

LONGVARCHAR

An expression that is specific to the type of router that is configured in router_type. See the documentation for each router for more details.

SYNC_ON_UPDATE

TINYINT

1

1

X

Flag that indicates that this router should route updates.

SYNC_ON_INSERT

TINYINT

1

1

X

Flag that indicates that this router should route inserts.

SYNC_ON_DELETE

TINYINT

1

1

X

Flag that indicates that this router should route deletes.

USE_SOURCE_CATALOG_SCHEMA

TINYINT

1

1

X

Whether or not to assume that the target catalog/schema name should be the same as the source catalog/schema name. The target catalog or schema name will still override if not blank.

CREATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

X

Timestamp when this entry was created.

LAST_UPDATE_BY

VARCHAR

50

The user who last updated this entry.

LAST_UPDATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

X

Timestamp when a user last updated this entry.

DESCRIPTION

LONGVARCHAR

Optional notes and comments for router

A.38. SEQUENCE

A table that supports application level sequence numbering.

Table 60. SEQUENCE

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

SEQUENCE_NAME

VARCHAR

50

PK

X

Unique identifier of a specific sequence.

CURRENT_VALUE

BIGINT

0

X

The current value of the sequence.

INCREMENT_BY

INTEGER

1

X

Specify the interval between sequence numbers. This integer value can be any positive or negative integer, but it cannot be 0.

MIN_VALUE

BIGINT

1

X

Specify the minimum value of the sequence.

MAX_VALUE

BIGINT

9999999999

X

Specify the maximum value the sequence can generate.

CYCLE_FLAG

TINYINT

1

0

Indicate whether the sequence should automatically cycle once a boundary is hit.

CACHE_SIZE

INTEGER

0

X

Specify the number of sequence numbers to acquire and cache when one is requested.

CREATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

Timestamp when this entry was created.

LAST_UPDATE_BY

VARCHAR

50

The user who last updated this entry.

LAST_UPDATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

X

Timestamp when a user last updated this entry.

A.39. TABLE_RELOAD_REQUEST

This table acts as a means to queue up a reload of a specific table. Either the target or the source node may insert into this table to queue up a load. If the target node inserts into the table, then the row will be synchronized to the source node and the reload events will be queued up during routing.

Table 61. TABLE_RELOAD_REQUEST

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

TARGET_NODE_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK

X

Unique identifier for the node to receive the table reload.

SOURCE_NODE_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK

X

Unique identifier for the node that will be the source of the table reload.

TRIGGER_ID

VARCHAR

128

PK

X

Unique identifier for a trigger associated with the table reload. Note the trigger must be linked to the router.

ROUTER_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK

X

Unique description of the router associated with the table reload. Note the router must be linked to the trigger.

CREATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

2

PK

X

Timestamp when this entry was created.

CREATE_TABLE

TINYINT

1

0

X

Flag that indicates that a table create script will be sent as part of the reload

DELETE_FIRST

TINYINT

1

0

X

Flag that indicates that the table will be deleted before loading.

RELOAD_SELECT

LONGVARCHAR

Overrides the initial load select.

BEFORE_CUSTOM_SQL

LONGVARCHAR

SQL Statement to run prior to loading the table

RELOAD_TIME

TIMESTAMP

The timestamp when the reload was started for this node.

LOAD_ID

BIGINT

An id that ties multiple batches together to identify them as being part of a load. The load id is generated by the system.

PROCESSED

TINYINT

1

0

X

Flag that indicates that this load was processed into batches.

CHANNEL_ID

VARCHAR

128

The channel that was specified as a source of the load.

LAST_UPDATE_BY

VARCHAR

50

The user who last updated this entry.

LAST_UPDATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

X

Timestamp when a user or the system last updated this entry.

A.40. TABLE_RELOAD_STATUS

This table holds the stats for a specific load id associated in table reload request.

Table 62. TABLE_RELOAD_STATUS

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

LOAD_ID

BIGINT

PK

X

An id that ties multiple batches together to identify them as being part of a load. The load id is generated by the system.

SOURCE_NODE_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK

X

Unique identifier for the node that will be the source of the table reload.

TARGET_NODE_ID

VARCHAR

50

X

Unique identifier for the node to receive the table reload.

START_TIME

TIMESTAMP

Timestamp when this entry was created.

END_TIME

TIMESTAMP

Timestamp when this entry was created.

COMPLETED

TINYINT

1

0

X

Flag that indicates that this load was completed.

CANCELLED

TINYINT

1

0

X

Flag that indicates that this load was cancelled. When cancelled it will also be marked completed

FULL_LOAD

TINYINT

1

0

X

Flag that indicates that this load is a full load for all tables, otherwise it is a partial load.

START_DATA_BATCH_ID

BIGINT

A load can be split across multiple batches. This is the first of N batches the load will be split across.

END_DATA_BATCH_ID

BIGINT

This is the last of N batches the load will be split across.

SETUP_BATCH_COUNT

BIGINT

0

X

The number of batches that have been loaded for this load id. The same count will exists for all rows with a matching load id.

DATA_BATCH_COUNT

BIGINT

0

X

The number of batches that have been loaded for this load id. The same count will exists for all rows with a matching load id.

FINALIZE_BATCH_COUNT

BIGINT

0

X

The number of batches that have been loaded for this load id. The same count will exists for all rows with a matching load id.

SETUP_BATCH_LOADED

BIGINT

0

X

The number of batches that have been loaded for this load id. The same count will exists for all rows with a matching load id.

DATA_BATCH_LOADED

BIGINT

0

X

The number of batches that have been loaded for this load id. The same count will exists for all rows with a matching load id.

FINALIZE_BATCH_LOADED

BIGINT

0

X

The number of batches that have been loaded for this load id. The same count will exists for all rows with a matching load id.

TABLE_COUNT

BIGINT

0

X

The number of tables associated with this load, which is generated by the system.

ROWS_LOADED

BIGINT

0

X

The number of rows associated with this load, which is generated by the system.

ROWS_COUNT

BIGINT

0

X

The number of rows associated with this load, which is generated by the system.

ERROR_FLAG

TINYINT

1

0

X

A flag that indicates that this request is in error during the last attempt to process.

ERROR_BATCH_ID

BIGINT

The batch ID that is in error when the error_flag is 1.

SQL_STATE

VARCHAR

10

For a request in error, this is the XOPEN or SQL 99 SQL State.

SQL_CODE

INTEGER

0

X

For a request in error, this is the error code from the database that is specific to the vendor.

SQL_MESSAGE

LONGVARCHAR

For a request in error, this is the error message that describes the error.

LAST_UPDATE_BY

VARCHAR

50

The user who last updated this entry.

LAST_UPDATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

X

Timestamp when a user or the system last updated this entry.

BATCH_BULK_LOAD_COUNT

BIGINT

0

X

The number of batches that were loaded with the bulk loader.

A.41. TRANSFORM_COLUMN

Defines the column mappings and optional data transformation for a data loader transformation.

Table 63. TRANSFORM_COLUMN

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

TRANSFORM_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK

X

Unique identifier of a specific transform.

INCLUDE_ON

CHAR

1

*

PK

X

Indicates whether this mapping is included during an insert (I), update (U), delete (D) operation at the target based on the dml type at the source. A value of * represents the fact that you want to map the column for all operations.

TARGET_COLUMN_NAME

VARCHAR

128

PK

X

Name of the target column.

SOURCE_COLUMN_NAME

VARCHAR

128

Name of the source column.

PK

TINYINT

1

0

Indicates whether this mapping defines a primary key to be used to identify the target row. At least one row must be defined as a pk for each transform_id.

TRANSFORM_TYPE

VARCHAR

50

copy

The name of a specific type of transform. Custom transformers can be configured as extension points.

TRANSFORM_EXPRESSION

LONGVARCHAR

An expression that is specific to the type of transform that is configured in transform_type. See the documentation for each transformer for more details.

TRANSFORM_ORDER

INTEGER

1

X

Specifies the order in which to apply transforms if more than one target operation occurs.

CREATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

Timestamp when this entry was created.

LAST_UPDATE_BY

VARCHAR

50

The user who last updated this entry.

LAST_UPDATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

Timestamp when a user last updated this entry.

DESCRIPTION

LONGVARCHAR

Optional notes and comments for transform_column

A.42. TRANSFORM_TABLE

Defines a data loader transformation which can be used to map arbitrary tables and columns to other tables and columns.

Table 64. TRANSFORM_TABLE

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

TRANSFORM_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK

X

Unique identifier of a specific transform.

SOURCE_NODE_GROUP_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK FK

X

The node group where data changes are captured.

TARGET_NODE_GROUP_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK FK

X

The node group where data changes will be sent.

TRANSFORM_POINT

VARCHAR

10

X

The point during the transport of captured data that a transform happens. Support values are EXTRACT or LOAD.

SOURCE_CATALOG_NAME

VARCHAR

255

Optional name for the catalog the configured table is in.

SOURCE_SCHEMA_NAME

VARCHAR

255

Optional name for the schema a configured table is in.

SOURCE_TABLE_NAME

VARCHAR

255

X

The name of the source table that will be transformed.

TARGET_CATALOG_NAME

VARCHAR

255

Optional name for the catalog a target table is in. Only use this if the target table is not in the default catalog.

TARGET_SCHEMA_NAME

VARCHAR

255

Optional name of the schema a target table is in. Only use this if the target table is not in the default schema.

TARGET_TABLE_NAME

VARCHAR

255

The name of the target table.

UPDATE_FIRST

TINYINT

1

0

If true, the target actions are attempted as updates first, regardless of whether the source operation was an insert or an update.

UPDATE_ACTION

VARCHAR

255

UPDATE_COL

X

An action to take upon update of a row. Possible values are: DEL_ROW, UPD_ROW, INS_ROW or NONE.

DELETE_ACTION

VARCHAR

10

X

An action to take upon delete of a row. Possible values are: DEL_ROW, UPD_ROW, or NONE.

TRANSFORM_ORDER

INTEGER

1

X

Specifies the order in which to apply transforms if more than one target operation occurs.

COLUMN_POLICY

VARCHAR

10

SPECIFIED

X

Specifies whether all columns need to be specified or whether they are implied. Possible values are SPECIFIED or IMPLIED.

CREATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

Timestamp when this entry was created.

LAST_UPDATE_BY

VARCHAR

50

The user who last updated this entry.

LAST_UPDATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

Timestamp when a user last updated this entry.

DESCRIPTION

LONGVARCHAR

Optional notes and comments for transform_table

A.43. TRIGGER

Configures database triggers that capture changes in the database. Configuration of which triggers are generated for which tables is stored here. Triggers are created in a node’s database if the source_node_group_id of a router is mapped to a row in this table.

Table 65. TRIGGER

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

TRIGGER_ID

VARCHAR

128

PK

X

Unique identifier for a trigger.

SOURCE_CATALOG_NAME

VARCHAR

255

Optional name for the catalog the configured table is in. If the name includes * then a wildcard match on the table name will be attempted. Wildcard names can include a list of names that are comma separated. The ! symbol may be used to indicate a NOT match condition.

SOURCE_SCHEMA_NAME

VARCHAR

255

Optional name for the schema a configured table is in. If the name includes * then a wildcard match on the table name will be attempted. Wildcard names can include a list of names that are comma separated. The ! symbol may be used to indicate a NOT match condition.

SOURCE_TABLE_NAME

VARCHAR

255

X

The name of the source table that will have a trigger installed to watch for data changes. If the name includes * then a wildcard match on the table name will be attempted. Wildcard names can include a list of names that are comma separated. The ! symbol may be used to indicate a NOT match condition.

CHANNEL_ID

VARCHAR

128

FK

X

The channel_id of the channel that data changes will flow through.

RELOAD_CHANNEL_ID

VARCHAR

128

reload

FK

X

The channel_id of the channel that will be used for reloads.

SYNC_ON_UPDATE

TINYINT

1

1

X

Whether or not to install an update trigger.

SYNC_ON_INSERT

TINYINT

1

1

X

Whether or not to install an insert trigger.

SYNC_ON_DELETE

TINYINT

1

1

X

Whether or not to install an delete trigger.

SYNC_ON_INCOMING_BATCH

TINYINT

1

0

X

Whether or not an incoming batch that loads data into this table should cause the triggers to capture data_events. Be careful turning this on, because an update loop is possible.

NAME_FOR_UPDATE_TRIGGER

VARCHAR

255

Override the default generated name for the update trigger.

NAME_FOR_INSERT_TRIGGER

VARCHAR

255

Override the default generated name for the insert trigger.

NAME_FOR_DELETE_TRIGGER

VARCHAR

255

Override the default generated name for the delete trigger.

SYNC_ON_UPDATE_CONDITION

LONGVARCHAR

Specify a condition for the update trigger firing using an expression specific to the database.

SYNC_ON_INSERT_CONDITION

LONGVARCHAR

Specify a condition for the insert trigger firing using an expression specific to the database.

SYNC_ON_DELETE_CONDITION

LONGVARCHAR

Specify a condition for the delete trigger firing using an expression specific to the database.

CUSTOM_BEFORE_UPDATE_TEXT

LONGVARCHAR

Specify update trigger text to execute before the SymmetricDS trigger text runs. If you need to modify data, use custom_on_update_text instead, so data is captured in order. This field is not applicable for H2, HSQLDB 1.x or Apachy Derby.

CUSTOM_BEFORE_INSERT_TEXT

LONGVARCHAR

Specify insert trigger text to execute before the SymmetricDS trigger text runs. If you need to modify data, use custom_on_insert_text instead, so data is captured in order. This field is not applicable for H2, HSQLDB 1.x or Apachy Derby.

CUSTOM_BEFORE_DELETE_TEXT

LONGVARCHAR

Specify delete trigger text to execute brefore the SymmetricDS trigger text runs. If you need to modify data, use custom_on_delete_text instead, so data is captured in order. This field is not applicable for H2, HSQLDB 1.x or Apachy Derby.

CUSTOM_ON_UPDATE_TEXT

LONGVARCHAR

Specify update trigger text to execute after the SymmetricDS trigger text runs. This field is not applicable for H2, HSQLDB 1.x or Apachy Derby.

CUSTOM_ON_INSERT_TEXT

LONGVARCHAR

Specify insert trigger text to execute after the SymmetricDS trigger text runs. This field is not applicable for H2, HSQLDB 1.x or Apachy Derby.

CUSTOM_ON_DELETE_TEXT

LONGVARCHAR

Specify delete trigger text to execute after the SymmetricDS trigger text runs. This field is not applicable for H2, HSQLDB 1.x or Apachy Derby.

EXTERNAL_SELECT

LONGVARCHAR

Specify a SQL select statement that returns a single result. It will be used in the generated database trigger to populate the EXTERNAL_DATA field on the data table.

TX_ID_EXPRESSION

LONGVARCHAR

Override the default expression for the transaction identifier that groups the data changes that were committed together.

CHANNEL_EXPRESSION

LONGVARCHAR

An expression that will be used to capture the channel id in the trigger. This expression will only be used if the channel_id is set to 'dynamic.'

EXCLUDED_COLUMN_NAMES

LONGVARCHAR

Specify a comma-delimited list of columns that should not be synchronized from this table. Note that if a primary key is found in this list, it will be ignored.

INCLUDED_COLUMN_NAMES

LONGVARCHAR

Specify a comma-delimited list of columns that should only be synchronized from this table. Note that if a primary key is found in this list, it will be ignored.

SYNC_KEY_NAMES

LONGVARCHAR

Specify a comma-delimited list of columns that should be used as the key for synchronization operations. By default, if not specified, then the primary key of the table will be used.

USE_STREAM_LOBS

TINYINT

1

0

X

Specifies whether to capture lob data as the trigger is firing or to stream lob columns from the source tables using callbacks during extraction. A value of 1 indicates to stream from the source via callback; a value of 0, lob data is captured by the trigger.

USE_CAPTURE_LOBS

TINYINT

1

0

X

Provides a hint as to whether this trigger will capture big lobs data. If set to 1 every effort will be made during data capture in trigger and during data selection for initial load to use lob facilities to extract and store data in the database. On Oracle, this may need to be set to 1 to get around 4k concatenation errors during data capture and during initial load.

USE_CAPTURE_OLD_DATA

TINYINT

1

1

X

Set this to 1 to capture old data. Old data is used for conflict resolution and it also is used to calculate which columns have changed. The software will only update changed columns when old data is captured.

USE_HANDLE_KEY_UPDATES

TINYINT

1

1

X

Deprecated. Allows handling of primary key updates (SQLServer dialect only)

STREAM_ROW

TINYINT

1

0

X

Captures only the primary key when the trigger fires and creates a reload event to pull the full row during extraction.

TIME_BASED_COLUMN_NAME

VARCHAR

255

Only used for time-based capture nodes. This will be the column to use as part of the time-based capture mining.

CREATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

X

Timestamp when this entry was created.

LAST_UPDATE_BY

VARCHAR

50

The user who last updated this entry.

LAST_UPDATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

X

Timestamp when a user last updated this entry.

DESCRIPTION

LONGVARCHAR

Optional notes and comments for trigger

A.44. TRIGGER_HIST

A history of a table’s definition and the trigger used to capture data from the table. When a database trigger captures a data change, it references a trigger_hist entry so it is possible to know which columns the data represents. trigger_hist entries are made during the sync trigger process, which runs at each startup, each night in the syncTriggersJob, or any time the syncTriggers() JMX method is manually invoked. A new entry is made when a table definition or a trigger definition is changed, which causes a database trigger to be created or rebuilt.

Table 66. TRIGGER_HIST

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

TRIGGER_HIST_ID

INTEGER

PK

X

Unique identifier for a trigger_hist entry

TRIGGER_ID

VARCHAR

128

X

Unique identifier for a trigger

SOURCE_TABLE_NAME

VARCHAR

255

X

The name of the source table that will have a trigger installed to watch for data changes.

SOURCE_CATALOG_NAME

VARCHAR

255

The catalog name where the source table resides.

SOURCE_SCHEMA_NAME

VARCHAR

255

The schema name where the source table resides.

NAME_FOR_UPDATE_TRIGGER

VARCHAR

255

The name used when the insert trigger was created.

NAME_FOR_INSERT_TRIGGER

VARCHAR

255

The name used when the update trigger was created.

NAME_FOR_DELETE_TRIGGER

VARCHAR

255

The name used when the delete trigger was created.

TABLE_HASH

BIGINT

0

X

A hash of the table definition, used to detect changes in the definition.

TRIGGER_ROW_HASH

BIGINT

0

X

A hash of the trigger definition. If changes are detected to the values that affect a trigger definition, then the trigger will be regenerated.

TRIGGER_TEMPLATE_HASH

BIGINT

0

X

A hash of the trigger text. If changes are detected to the values that affect a trigger text then the trigger will be regenerated.

COLUMN_NAMES

LONGVARCHAR

X

The column names defined on the table. The column names are stored in comma-separated values (CSV) format.

PK_COLUMN_NAMES

LONGVARCHAR

X

The primary key column names defined on the table. The column names are stored in comma-separated values (CSV) format.

IS_MISSING_PK

TINYINT

0

X

Indicates whether the source table is missing a primary key.

LAST_TRIGGER_BUILD_REASON

CHAR

1

X

The following reasons for a change are possible: New trigger that has not been created before (N); Schema changes in the table were detected (S); Configuration changes in Trigger (C); Trigger was missing (T), Trigger template changed (E), Forced rebuild (F).

ERROR_MESSAGE

LONGVARCHAR

Record any errors or warnings that occurred when attempting to build the trigger.

CREATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

X

Timestamp when this entry was created.

INACTIVE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

The date and time when a trigger was inactivated.

A.45. TRIGGER_ROUTER

Map a trigger to a router.

Table 67. TRIGGER_ROUTER

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

TRIGGER_ID

VARCHAR

128

PK FK

X

The id of a trigger.

ROUTER_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK FK

X

The id of a router.

ENABLED

TINYINT

1

1

X

Indicates whether this trigger router is enabled or not.

INITIAL_LOAD_ORDER

INTEGER

1

X

Order sequence of this table when an initial load is sent to a node. If this value is the same for multiple tables, then SymmetricDS will attempt to order the tables according to FK constraints. If this value is set to a negative number, then the table will be excluded from an initial load.

INITIAL_LOAD_SELECT

LONGVARCHAR

Optional expression that can be used to pare down the data selected from a table during the initial load process.

INITIAL_LOAD_DELETE_STMT

LONGVARCHAR

The expression that is used to delete data when an initial load occurs. If this field is empty, no delete will occur before the initial load. If this field is not empty, the text will be used as a sql statement and executed for the initial load delete.

PING_BACK_ENABLED

TINYINT

1

0

X

When enabled, the node will route data that originated from a node back to that node. This attribute is only effective if sync_on_incoming_batch is set to 1.

CREATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

X

Timestamp when this entry was created.

LAST_UPDATE_BY

VARCHAR

50

The user who last updated this entry.

LAST_UPDATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

X

Timestamp when a user last updated this entry.

DESCRIPTION

LONGVARCHAR

Optional notes and comments for trigger_router

DATA_REFRESH_TYPE

VARCHAR

50

If this table should be refreshed when the refresh job runs. Usually for tables where typical trigger, log, or time-based capture is not available. Possible values are: 'auto' (attempts difference only refresh unless there are more than the threshold and will switch automatically to a full), 'differences' (Uses the compare feature to send only differences), and 'full' (remove all data at the target and fully load it again using a reload)

A.46. TRIGGER_ROUTER_GROUPLET

Deprecated in 3.9. This tables defines what grouplets are associated with what trigger routers. The existence of the grouplet for a trigger_router enables nodes associated with the grouplet and at the same time it disables the trigger router for all other nodes.

Table 68. TRIGGER_ROUTER_GROUPLET

Name

Type

Size

Default

Keys

Not Null

Description

GROUPLET_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK FK

X

Unique identifier for the grouplet.

TRIGGER_ID

VARCHAR

128

PK FK

X

The id of a trigger.

ROUTER_ID

VARCHAR

50

PK FK

X

The id of a router.

APPLIES_WHEN

CHAR

1

PK

X

Indicates the side that a grouplet should be applied to. Use 'T' for target and 'S' for source and 'B' for both source and target.

CREATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

X

Timestamp when this entry was created.

LAST_UPDATE_BY

VARCHAR

50

The user who last updated this entry.

LAST_UPDATE_TIME

TIMESTAMP

X

Timestamp when a user last updated this entry.

Appendix B: Parameter List

There are two kinds of parameters that can be used to configure the behavior of SymmetricDS: Startup Parameters and Runtime Parameters . Startup Parameters are required to be in a system property or a property file, while Runtime Parameters can also be found in the Parameter table from the database. Parameters are re-queried from their source at a configured interval and can also be refreshed on demand by using the JMX API.

The following table shows the source of parameters and the hierarchy of precedence.

Table 69. Parameter Discovery Precedence
Location Required Description

symmetric-default.properties

Y

Packaged inside symmetric-core jar file. This file has all the default settings along with descriptions.

conf/symmetric.properties

N

Changes to this file in the conf directory of a standalone install apply to all engines in the JVM.

symmetric-override.properties

N

Changes to this file, provided by the end user in the JVM’s classpath, apply to all engines in the JVM.

engines/*.properties

N

Properties for a specific engine or node that is hosted in a standalone install.

Java System Properties

N

Any SymmetricDS property can be passed in as a -D property to the runtime. It will take precedence over any properties file property.

Parameter table

N

A table which contains SymmetricDS parameters. Parameters can be targeted at a specific node group and even at a specific external id. These settings will take precedence over all of the above.

IParameterFilter

N

An extension point which allows parameters to be sourced from another location or customized. These settings will take precedence over all of the above.

B.1. Startup Parameters

Startup parameters are read once from properties files and apply only during start up. The following properties are used:

allow.updates.with.results

When executing DML statements during data load, this controls whether executeUpdate or execute is used on the PreparedStatement. executeUpdate is used by default. execute() allows for unusual situations like when an application trigger generates a result set during an update statement.

Default: false

auto.config.database

If this is true, when symmetric starts up it will try to create the necessary tables.

Default: true

auto.config.database.fast

If both auto.config.database and this parameter are true when symmetric starts up, it will only try to create the necessary tables if the current software version is different from the version used during the last start up (stored on sym_node.symmetric_version).

Default: true

auto.config.registration.svr.sql.script

Provide the path to a SQL script that can be run to do initial setup of a registration server. This script will only be run on a registration server if the node_identity cannot be found.

Default:

auto.insert.registration.svr.if.not.found

If this is true, then node, group, security and identity rows will be inserted if the registration.url is blank and there is no configured node identity.

Default: true

auto.resolve.unique.index.ignore.null.values

If this is true, when a batch receives a unique index violation, the blocking rows for each unique index will only be deleted if the unique index has a value that is not null.

Default: true

auto.sync.config.after.upgrade

If this is true, then check if configuration should be pulled from registration server after upgrading. If the config version in the database does not match the software version, it will pull config.

Default: true

auto.update.node.values.from.properties

Update the node row in the database from the local properties during a heartbeat operation.

Default: true

cache.table.time.ms

This is the amount of time table meta data will be cached before re-reading it from the database

Default: 3600000

cluster.server.id

Set this if you want to give your server a unique name to be used to identify which server did what action. Typically useful when running in a clustered environment. This is currently used by the ClusterService when locking for a node.

Default:

console.log.slow.sql.threshold.millis

For queries related to the web console, defines the number of milliseconds before logging that a query is slow.

Default: 4000

db.connection.properties

These are settings that will be passed to the JDBC driver as connection properties. Suggested settings by database are as follows: Oracle db.connection.properties=oracle.net.CONNECT_TIMEOUT=300000;oracle.jdbc.ReadTimeout=300000;SetBigStringTryClob=true

Default:

db.delimited.identifier.mode

Determines whether delimited identifiers are used or normal SQL92 identifiers (which may only contain alphanumerical characters and the underscore, must start with a letter and cannot be a reserved keyword).

Default: true

db.driver

Specify your database driver

Default: org.h2.Driver

db.init.sql

Specify one or more SQL statements that will be run when a database connection is created. Multiple SQL statements must be separated by semicolons. If a statement has a semicolon in the value, then put two semicolons in its place to allow the specification of keeping the semicolon in the value. For example: db.init.sql=SET OPTION 'host=localhost;;user=user1;;password=pwd1';SET OPTION TWO This will be split into two statements that are sent to the database server: SET OPTION 'host=localhost;user=user1;password=pwd1' SET OPTION TWO

Default:

db.jdbc.bulk.execute.batch.override

This override any database specific bulk loader if the channel data loader algorithm is set to bulk and a specific bulk loader is available. For example is a PostgreSQL database is setup for bulk loading and this parameter is true the JdbcBatchBulkDatabaseWriter will be used instead of the PostgreSQL bulk loader. If a dialect does not have a designated bulk loader and the channel is set for bulk loading this will be used automatically even if the the parameter is false. Essentially the parameter only controls "overriding" a dialect specific bulk loader.

Default: false

db.jdbc.bulk.execute.batch.size

This is the default number of rows that will be sent to the database as a batch when SymmetricDS uses the JDBC batch API for bulk data load types. Designed for loads that are setup with a channel data loader algorithm of batch.

Default: 25

db.jdbc.execute.batch.size

This is the default number of rows that will be sent to the database as a batch when SymmetricDS uses the JDBC batch API. Currently, only routing uses JDBC batch. The data loader does not.

Default: 100

db.jdbc.isolation.level

Override the JDBC isolation level. The isolation level is detected by platform and automatically set, but it can be overridden here. Most platforms need at least read committed level to prevent phantom reads. (0=none, 1=read uncommitted, 2=read committed, 4=repeatable read, 8=serializable)

Default:

db.jdbc.streaming.results.fetch.size

This is the default fetch size for streaming result sets.

Default: 100

db.jndi.name

Name of a JNDI data source to use instead of using SymmetricDS’s connection pool. When this is set the db.url is ignored. Using a JNDI data source is relevant when deploying to an application server.

Default:

db.metadata.ignore.case

Indicates that case should be ignored when looking up references to tables using the database’s metadata api.

Default: true

db.native.extractor

Name of class that can extract native JDBC objects and interact directly with the driver. Spring uses this to perform operations specific to database, like handling LOBs on Oracle.

Default: org.springframework.jdbc.support.nativejdbc.CommonsDbcpNativeJdbcExtractor

db.password

Specify your database password

Default:

db.pool.initial.size

The initial size of the connection pool

Default: 5

db.pool.max.active

The maximum number of connections that will be allocated in the pool The http.concurrent.workers.max value should be less than half of this value.

Default: 50

db.pool.max.idle

The maximum number of connections that can remain idle in the pool, without extra ones being released

Default: 20

db.pool.max.wait.millis

This is how long a request for a connection from the datasource will wait before giving up.

Default: 30000

db.pool.min.evictable.idle.millis

This is how long a connection can be idle before it will be evicted.

Default: 120000

db.pool.min.idle

The minimum number of connections that can remain idle in the pool, without extra ones being created

Default: 5

db.read.strings.as.bytes

If set to true forces database columns that contain character data to be read as bytes (bypassing JDBC driver character encoding) so the raw values be encoded using the system default character set (usually UTF8). This property was added to bypass MySQL character encoding so the raw data can be converted to utf8 directly.

Default: false

db.sql.query.timeout.seconds

Number of seconds a query can execute before being interrupted using the statement query timeout. The timeout can avoid hanging if a query is slow to return because of an un-optimized plan or if the system is overloaded. Set to zero for no limit. (Make sure socket/read timeout in db.url is set higher than query timeout.)

Default: 3600

db.url

Specify your database URL

Default: jdbc:h2:mem:setme

db.user

Specify your database user

Default: please set me

db.validation.query

This is the query to validate the database connection in Connection Pool. It is database specific. The following are example statements for different databases. MySQL db.validation.query=select 1 Oracle db.validation.query=select 1 from dual DB2 db.validation.query=select max(1) from syscat.datatypes

Default:

db2.capture.transaction.id

Turn on the capture of transaction id for DB2 systems that support it.

Default: false

db2.zseries.version

Use to map the version string a zseries jdbc driver returns to the 'zseries' dialect

Default: DSN08015

engine.name

This is the engine name. This should be set if you have more than one engine running in the same JVM. It is used to name the JMX management bean. Please do not use underscores in this name.

Default: SymmetricDS

external.id

The external id for this SymmetricDS node. The external id is usually used as all or part of the node id.

Default: please set me

group.id

The node group id that this node belongs to

Default: please set me

hsqldb.initialize.db

If using the HsqlDbDialect, this property indicates whether Symmetric should setup the embedded database properties or if an external application will be doing so.

Default: true

http.concurrent.reservation.timeout.ms

This is the amount of time the host will keep a concurrent connection reservation after it has been attained by a client node while waiting for the subsequent reconnect to push.

Default: 20000

http.session.expire.seconds

How long in seconds an authenticated node can keep a session before it expires and the node must be authenticated again. A value of zero or less means never expire.

Default: 14400

http.session.max.count

Maximum number of authenticated sessions to keep in memory before removing the oldest. Normally, this won’t be reached unless something is mis-configured, like a cluster that is not using a sticky session load balancer.

Default: 15000

http.use.header.security.token

When authenticating to a server node, send the security token in the request header instead of using a URL parameter. Using the request header avoids accidentally logging the security token. The transport uses the remote node’s version to determine if it should use header or parameter. Set this to false to force usage of the older parameter style of authentication.

Default: true

http.use.session.auth

When authenticating a client node, create a session on the server and give a session ID to the client that can be sent with subsequent requests. This avoids authenticating every request and limits how often the security token is sent.

Default: true

jmx.line.feed

Specify the type of line feed to use in JMX console methods. Possible values are: text or html.

Default: text

job.log.miner.period.time.ms

How often to run Log Miner in milliseconds

Default: 10000

job.random.max.start.time.ms

When starting jobs, symmetric attempts to randomize the start time to spread out load. This is the maximum wait period before starting a job.

Default: 10000

log.slow.sql.threshold.millis

Defines the number of milliseconds before logging that a query is slow.

Default: 20000

log.sql.parameters.inline

Defines whether the logging of SQL statements include the values inline or not.

Default: true

oracle.jdbc.lob.handling

This indicates how to process LOB values. "plain" is the default, which uses the JDBC interface directly. "createtemporarylob" uses the creation of CLOB/BLOB temporary objects to process the data. "streamlob" uses the stream interface of the JDBC interface (part of JDBC 4.0).

Default: plain

postgres.convert.infinity.date.to.null

Enable this parameter to convert infinite (positive or negative) values of date and timestamp (with/without time zones) types to null. DatabaseOverrideable: false

Default: true

registration.max.time.between.retries

The maximum time (in seconds) between node registration retries.

Default: 30

registration.url

This is the URL this node will use to register and pull it’s configuration. If this is the root server, then this may remain blank and the configuration should be inserted directly into the database

Default: please set me

routing.gaps.use.transaction.view

Find the earliest starting time of any transaction in the database, and expire any data gaps that were created before that time. When enabled, it can expire gaps sooner in some cases (before the routing.stale.dataid.gap.time.ms timeout), and in other cases, it can prevent expiring gaps that reach the timeout when there are still open transactions.

Default: false

security.service.class.name

The class name for the Security Service to use for encrypting and decrypting database passwords. Leave blank for default service.

Default:

staging.dir

This is the location the staging directory will be put. If it isn’t set the staging directory will be located according to java.io.tmpdir.

Default:

staging.low.space.threshold.megabytes

Staging directory low disk space threshold in megabytes. When free space goes below the threshold, requests to create staging files will receive an exception. Data loading and extracting will stop and log an error until disk space becomes available. To disable free space checks, set to zero or negative.

Default: 100

start.heartbeat.job

Whether the heartbeat job is enabled for this node. The heartbeat job simply inserts an event to update the heartbeat_time column on the node_host table for the current node.

Default: true

start.initial.load.extract.job

Whether the background initial load extractor job is started.

Default: true

start.log.miner.job

Log Miner job to find changes from a database archive log

Default: false

start.pull.job

Whether the pull job is enabled for this node.

Default: true

start.purge.incoming.job

Whether the incoming purge job is enabled for this node.

Default: true

start.purge.outgoing.job

Whether the outgoing purge job is enabled for this node.

Default: true

start.push.job

Whether the push job is enabled for this node.

Default: true

start.refresh.cache.job

Whether the refresh cache job is enabled for this node.

Default: false

start.routing.job

Whether the routing job is enabled for this node.

Default: true

start.stage.management.job

Whether the stage management job is enabled for this node.

Default: true

start.stat.flush.job

Whether the statistic flush job is enabled for this node.

Default: true

start.synctriggers.job

Whether the sync triggers job is enabled for this node.

Default: true

start.watchdog.job

Whether the watchdog job is enabled for this node.

Default: true

statistic.record.count.threshold

Controls whether statistics are recorded to the sym_node_host_job_stats table. Statistics will only be recorded if the number of items that were processed exceeds this threshold. A value of -1 (or any negative value) disables these statistics.

Default: 0

stream.to.file.enabled

Save data to the file system before transporting it to the client or loading it to the database if the number of bytes is past a certain threshold. This allows for better compression and better use of database and network resources. Statistics in the batch tables will be more accurate if this is set to true because each timed operation is independent of the others.

Default: true

sync.table.prefix

When symmetric tables are created and accessed, this is the prefix to use for the tables.

Default: sym

sync.trigger.prefix

When symmetric triggers are created and accessed, this is the prefix to use for the tables. If this is not set, it will use the sync.table.prefix as the trigger prefix

Default:

sync.triggers.reg.svr.install.without.config

Whether or not sync triggers job will install triggers on a registration server before configuration is created. When true, triggers are installed as soon as possible, right after configuration tables are created. When false, triggers are installed when the configuration includes one or more group links where this node is the source. A default of true avoids race conditions associated with registering nodes and performing operations before configuration is complete and triggers are installed.

Default: true

sync.url

The url that can be used to access this SymmetricDS node. The default setting of http://$(hostName):31415/sync should be valid of the standalone launcher is used with the default settings The tokens of $(hostName) and $(ipAddress) are supported for this property.

target.db.connection.properties

These are settings that will be passed to the target JDBC driver as connection properties. Suggested settings by database are as follows: Oracle db.connection.properties=oracle.net.CONNECT_TIMEOUT=300000;oracle.jdbc.ReadTimeout=300000;SetBigStringTryClob=true

Default:

target.db.driver

Specify your target database driver. This applies for load only, extract only, and log based data capture.

Default:

target.db.init.sql

Specify one or more SQL statements that will be run when a database connection is created. Multiple SQL statements must be separated by semicolons. If a statement has a semicolon in the value, then put two semicolons in its place to allow the specification of keeping the semicolon in the value. For example: db.init.sql=SET OPTION 'host=localhost;;user=user1;;password=pwd1';SET OPTION TWO This will be split into two statements that are sent to the database server: SET OPTION 'host=localhost;user=user1;password=pwd1' SET OPTION TWO

Default:

target.db.jdbc.execute.batch.size

This is the default number of rows that will be sent to the target database as a batch when SymmetricDS uses the JDBC batch API. Currently, only routing uses JDBC batch. The data loader does not.

Default:

target.db.jdbc.isolation.level

Override the target JDBC isolation level. The isolation level is detected by platform and automatically set, but it can be overridden here. Most platforms need at least read committed level to prevent phantom reads. (0=none, 1=read uncommitted, 2=read committed, 4=repeatable read, 8=serializable)

Default:

target.db.jdbc.streaming.results.fetch.size

This is the default fetch size for target streaming result sets.

Default:

target.db.password

Specify your target database password. This applies for load only, extract only, and log based data capture.

Default:

target.db.pool.initial.size

The initial size of the target connection pool

Default:

target.db.pool.max.active

The maximum number of target connections that will be allocated in the pool The http.concurrent.workers.max value should be less than half of this value.

Default:

target.db.pool.max.idle

The maximum number of target connections that can remain idle in the pool, without extra ones being released

Default:

target.db.pool.max.wait.millis

This is how long a request for a target connection from the datasource will wait before giving up.

Default:

target.db.pool.min.evictable.idle.millis

This is how long a target connection can be idle before it will be evicted.

Default:

target.db.pool.min.idle

The minimum number of target connections that can remain idle in the pool, without extra ones being created

Default:

target.db.read.strings.as.bytes

If set to true forces target database columns that contain character data to be read as bytes (bypassing JDBC driver character encoding) so the raw values be encoded using the system default character set (usually UTF8). This property was added to bypass MySQL character encoding so the raw data can be converted to utf8 directly.

Default:

target.db.sql.query.timeout.seconds

Number of seconds a query can execute before being interrupted using the statement query timeout. The timeout can avoid hanging if a query is slow to return because of an un-optimized plan or if the system is overloaded. Set to zero for no limit. (Make sure socket/read timeout in db.url is set higher than query timeout.)

Default: 3600

target.db.test.on.borrow

This property determines whether or not the target pool will validate objects before they are borrowed from the pool.

Default:

target.db.test.on.return

This property determines whether or not the target pool will validate objects before they are returned to the pool.

Default:

target.db.test.while.idle

This property determines whether or not the target idle object evictor will validate connections.

Default:

target.db.url

Specify your target database URL. This applies for load only, extract only, and log based data capture.

Default:

target.db.user

Specify your target database user. This applies for load only, extract only, and log based data capture.

Default:

target.db.validation.query

This is the query to validate the target database connection in Connection Pool. It is database specific. The following are example statements for different databases. MySQL db.validation.query=select 1 Oracle db.validation.query=select 1 from dual DB2 db.validation.query=select max(1) from syscat.datatypes

Default:

target.log.slow.sql.threshold.millis

Defines the number of milliseconds before logging that a target query is slow.

Default:

target.log.sql.parameters.inline

Defines whether the logging of target SQL statements include the values inline or not.

Default:

transport.type

Specify the transport type. Supported values currently include: http, file, internal.

Default: http

treat.binary.as.lob.enabled

Whether binary fields should be treated as lobs

Default: false

B.2. Runtime Parameters

Runtime parameters are read periodically from properties files or the database. The following properties are used:

as400.cast.clob.to

Specify the database type to cast clob values to

Default: DBCLOB

auto.registration

If this is true, registration is opened automatically for nodes requesting it.

Default: false

auto.reload

If this is true, a reload is automatically sent to nodes when they register and it’s either their first time or they haven’t received an initial load before. (A first-time registration occurs when a node contacts the registration URL because it is missing its node identity. The status of the initial load for a node is recorded on sym_node_security as the initial_load_time.) This parameter needs set at the registration node.

Default: false

auto.reload.reverse

If this is true, a reload is automatically sent from a source node to all target nodes after the source node has registered for the first time. This parameter needs set at the registration node.

Default: false

auto.reload.use.config

If this is true, a reload will use configuration to determine which nodes to send a load to. Default will send to the load to the node it regiestered

Default: false

auto.resolve.capture.delete.missing.rows

If this is true, when a delete affects zero rows, if the table is configured for sync on incoming, then the auto resolver will write the deletes into the capture log.

Default: false

auto.resolve.foreign.key.violation

If this is true, when a batch receives a foreign key violation, the missing data will be automatically sent to resolve it. The resolution is done at the source node by sending reload batches when it receives the acknowledgement of the batch error.

Default: true

auto.resolve.foreign.key.violation.delete

If this is true, when a batch receives a foreign key violation due to the parent row being updated or deleted, all existing child rows will be deleted.

Default: true

auto.resolve.foreign.key.violation.reverse

If this is true, when a batch receives a foreign key violation, the missing data will be automatically sent to resolve it. The resolution is done at the target node by sending a script that requests reload batches.

Default: false

auto.resolve.foreign.key.violation.reverse.peers

When resolving a foreign key violation for a batch in error at a node, also send the missing data to peers in a multi-master configuration who may also be missing the same data.

Default: false

auto.resolve.foreign.key.violation.reverse.reload

If this is true, when a reload batch receives a foreign key violation, the missing data will be automatically sent to resolve it. The resolution is done at the target node by sending a script that requests reload batches.

Default: true

auto.resolve.primary.key.violation

If this is true, when a batch receives a primary key violation during an update, the blocking row will be replaced with the updated row.

Default: true

auto.resolve.unique.index.violation

If this is true, when a batch receives a unique index violation, the blocking rows for each unique index will be deleted.

Default: true

auto.start.engine

This indicates whether this node engine should be started when the instance is restarted

Default: true

auto.sync.config.at.startup

If this is true, then check if configuration should be pulled from registration server at startup. If the config version in the database does not match the software version, it will pull config.

Default: true

auto.sync.configuration

Capture and send SymmetricDS configuration changes to client nodes.

Default: true

auto.sync.configuration.on.incoming

Whether triggers should fire when changes sync into the node that this property is configured for.

Default: true

auto.sync.triggers

If this is true, triggers will be created or dropped to match configuration during the sync triggers process.

Default: true

auto.sync.triggers.after.config.change

If this is true, when a configuration change is detected during routing, symmetric will make sure all triggers in the database are up to date.

Default: true

auto.sync.triggers.after.config.loaded

If this is true, when a configuration change is detected while being loaded onto a target node, symmetric will make sure all triggers in the database are up to date.

Default: true

auto.sync.triggers.at.startup

If this is true, then run the sync triggers process at startup

Default: false

auto.sync.triggers.at.startup.force

If this is true, then force rebuild of all triggers at startup

Default: false

bsh.extension.global.script

BeanShell script to include at the beginning of all scripts used in extensions

Default:

bsh.load.filter.handles.missing.tables

This parameter can be used to indicate that bean shell load filters will handle missing tables. Useful for the case where you want to make, for example, global catalog or schema changes at the destination in the case where the catalog, schema, or table doesn’t exist but the BSH will handle it.

Default: false

bsh.transform.global.script

BeanShell script to include at the beginning of all scripts used in transforms

Default:

cache.channel.common.batches.time.ms

This is the amount of time the routing service will cache the common batch status of channels.

Default: 600000

cache.channel.default.router.time.ms

This is the amount of time the routing service will cache the default router status of channels.

Default: 600000

cache.channel.time.ms

This is the amount of time channel entries will be cached before re-reading them from the database.

Default: 600000

cache.conflict.time.ms

This is the amount of time conflict setting entries will be cached before re-reading them from the database.

Default: 600000

cache.grouplets.time.ms

This is the amount of time grouplet entries will be cached before re-reading them from the database.

Default: 600000

cache.load.filter.time.ms

This is the amount of time load filter entries will be cached before re-reading them from the database.

Default: 600000

cache.node.group.link.time.ms

This is the amount of time node group links entries will be cached before re-reading them from the database.

Default: 600000

cache.node.security.time.ms

This is the amount of time node security entries will be cached before re-reading them from the database.

Default: 600000

cache.node.time.ms

This is the amount of time node entries will be cached before re-reading them from the database.

Default: 600000

cache.transform.time.ms

This is the amount of time transform entries will be cached before re-reading them from the database.

Default: 600000

cache.trigger.router.time.ms

This is the amount of time trigger entries will be cached before re-reading them from the database.

Default: 600000

check.software.updates

Check for a newer version of SymmetricDS and let the user know when one is available.

Default: true

cluster.lock.enabled

Enables clustering of jobs across multiple nodes. This feature is available in SymmetricDS Pro.

Default: false

cluster.lock.refresh.ms

Period of time that certain locks will get refreshed while long processing happens. This value should be a small fraction of cluster.lock.timeout.ms

Default: 1200000

cluster.lock.timeout.ms

Indicate that this node is being run on a farm or cluster of servers and it needs to use the database to 'lock' out other activity when actions are taken.

Default: 7200000

cluster.staging.enabled

Set this to true if you are sharing your staging directory with multiple instances of SymmetricDS

Default: false

compression.level

Set the compression level this node will use when compressing synchronization payloads. @see java.util.zip.Deflater NO_COMPRESSION = 0 BEST_SPEED = 1 BEST_COMPRESSION = 9 DEFAULT_COMPRESSION = -1

Default: -1

compression.strategy

Set the compression strategy this node will use when compressing synchronization payloads. @see java.util.zip.Deflater FILTERED = 1 HUFFMAN_ONLY = 2 DEFAULT_STRATEGY = 0

Default: 0

conflict.default.pk.with.fallback

When enabled, the default conflict detection uses the primary key and the resolution uses fallback, which was the original default in version 3.11 and older. This is a convenient way to go back to the old default without having to configure a conflict on each group link.

Default: false

create.index.convert.unique.to.nonunique.when.columns.not.required

If set to true, then convert unique indexes to non-unique when one of the columns is defined as not required (defined with the NOT NULL constraint).

Default: true

create.table.not.null.columns.supported

If set to true, when a table’s schema is sent to the target database it will use NOT NULL statements to match the source. If this is false NOT NULL will not be included in the sql

Default: true

create.table.without.defaults

If set to true, when a table’s schema is sent to the target database default values will not be included.

Default: false

create.table.without.foreign.keys

If set to true, when a table’s schema is sent to the target database foreign keys will not be included.

Default: false

create.table.without.indexes

If set to true, when a table’s schema is sent to the target database, indexes will not be included.

Default: false

create.table.without.pk.if.source.without.pk

If set to true, when a table’s schema is sent to the target database it will not have all columns set as the primary key if the source does not have any primary keys.

Default: true

data.create_time.timezone

Specify the timezone for the create_time value on sym_data when changes are captured. Only implemented for Oracle, Tibero, and PostgreSQL currently.

Default:

data.flush.jdbc.batch.size

Flush size for JDBC batch mode used by services to save configuration.

Default: 10000

data.id.increment.by

This is the expected increment value for the data_id in the data table. This is useful if you use auto_increment_increment and auto_increment_offset in MySQL. Note that these settings require innodb_autoinc_lock_mode=0, otherwise the increment and offset are not guaranteed.

Default: 1

dataextractor.enable

Disable the extraction of all channels with the exception of the config channel

Default: true

dataextractor.text.column.expression

Provide an expression that will be used in the trigger templates, and in the initial load and the sym_data extraction SQL for all text based column values (like varchar, char, nvarchar, clob and nchar columns). The expression can be used to make scenario based casts. For example, if the data in the database was inserted under a different character set that the default character set on Oracle, then a helpful expression might be something like this: convert($(columnName), 'AR8ISO8859P6', 'AR8MSWIN1256')

Default:

dataloader.apply.changes.only

Indicates that old data should be used to create the update statement. If old data is equal to the new data and this property is set to true, then no update statement will be run.

Default: true

dataloader.create.table.alter.to.match.db.case

Whether to alter the case of the database tables that are created by the SymmetricDS data loader to match the default case of the target database.

Default: true

dataloader.create.table.without.defaults.on.error

If set to true, when a table creation fails on a database platform that is different than the source database, try to create the table without default values.

Default: true

dataloader.enable

Disable the loading of all channel with the exception of the config channel. This property can be set to allow all changes to be extracted without introducing other changes in order to allow maintenance operations.

Default: true

dataloader.error.save.curval

Indicates that the current value of the row should be recorded in the incoming_error table

Default: false

dataloader.fit.to.column

Indicate that the data loader should truncate data that is bigger than the target columns can handle. This applies to text-based columns only.

Default: false

dataloader.ignore.missing.tables

Tables that are missing at the target database will be ignored. This should be set to true if you expect that in some clients a table might not exist. If set to false, the batch will fail.

Default: false

dataloader.ignore.sql.event.errors

Indicate that the data loader should ignore errors while loading a SQL event and the execution of the statement fails.

Default: false

dataloader.log.sql.params.on.error

Indicate that the data loader should log SQL parameter values when a batch fails, which can be helpful for debugging. Since SQL parameters will contain application data, some sites may need to turn this off for policy compliance.

Default: true

dataloader.max.rows.before.commit

This is the maximum number of rows that will be supported in a single transaction. If the database transaction row count reaches a size that is greater than this number then the transaction will be auto committed. The default value of -1 indicates that there is no size limit.

Default: 10000

dataloader.sleep.time.after.early.commit

Amount of time to sleep before continuing data load after dataloader.max.rows.before.commit rows have been loaded. This is useful to give other application threads a chance to do work before continuing to load.

Default: 5

dataloader.text.column.expression

Provide a SQL expression that will be used by the data loader in DML statements for all text based column values (like varchar, char, nvarchar, clob and nchar columns). The expression can be used to make scenario based casts. For example, if the data in the database should be converted to a different character set that the default character set on Oracle, then a helpful expression might be something like this: convert($(columnName), 'AR8MSWIN1256', 'AR8ISO8859P6')

Default:

dataloader.use.primary.keys.from.source

Indicates that the database writer should use the primary keys from the source. Flip this to false if you want update and deletes to be based on the primary key as defined by the target table

Default: true

datareload.batch.insert.transactional

Indicate whether the process of inserting data, data_events and outgoing_batches for a reload is transactional. The only reason this might be marked as false is to reduce possible contention while multiple nodes connect for reloads at the same time.

Default: true

db.master.collation

For Sql Server, work around "Implicit conversion of varchar" issues by explicitly collating varchar columns in the database trigger. Relevant when the default database collation does not match the collation of the varchar columns of a table

Default:

db.treat.date.time.as.varchar.enabled

This is a setting that instructs the data capture and data load to treat JDBC TIME, DATE, and TIMESTAMP columns as if they were VARCHAR columns. This means that the columns will be captured and loaded in the form that the database stores them. Setting this to true on MySQL will allow datetime columns with the value of '0000-00-00 00:00:00' to be synchronized.

Default: false

dbf.router.validate.header

Determines if the *.DBF file headers should be validated when using the DBF Router

Default: true

default.values.to.leave.unquoted

A list of default values in CSV format that should not be quoted when synchronized from another node.

Default:

default.values.to.translate

A list of pairs of default values in CSV format that tells SymmetricDS to translate the first value to the second value when synchronized from another node.

Default:

extensions.xml

Spring xml configuration for extension points. This property enables maintaining Spring extension point configuration in the database. After changing this property a server restart is required.

Default:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
           xmlns:context="http://www.springframework.org/schema/context"
           xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
           xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans
           http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd
           http://www.springframework.org/schema/util
           http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-3.0.xsd
           http://www.springframework.org/schema/context
           http://www.springframework.org/schema/context/spring-context-3.0.xsd">
</beans>
external.id.is.unique.enabled

null

Default: true

extract.check.row.size

Determines if the size of a LOB value should be checked before extracting to prevent a JVM crash that can occur if the size of a LOB is bigger than the max size of a java array 2^31 - 1

Default: false

extract.row.capture.time

Extract the capture time of each row and put it in the batch to be used by the conflict manager for picking the winning row during a conflict. Enable for the best precision in resolution, which includes a unix timestamp for each occurrence of insert, update, and delete. Disable to include a single unix timestamp to represent the entire batch, when accuracy is less important or conflict management isn’t needed.

Default: true

extract.row.max.length

Used when the extract.check.row.size is true as an upper limit to check against. If the size exceeds the limit the row will be skipped and logged as a warning.

Default: 1000000000

file.compression.level

Set the compression level this node will use when compressing file synchronization payloads. @see java.util.zip.Deflater NO_COMPRESSION = 0 BEST_SPEED = 1 BEST_COMPRESSION = 9 DEFAULT_COMPRESSION = -1

Default: -1

file.pull.lock.timeout.ms

null

Default: 7200000

file.pull.period.minimum.ms

null

Default: 0

file.pull.thread.per.server.count

null

Default: 1

file.push.lock.timeout.ms

null

Default: 7200000

file.push.period.minimum.ms

null

Default: 0

file.push.thread.per.server.count

null

Default: 1

file.sync.delete.ctl.file.after.sync

If the ctl file is used to control file triggers this will allow the system to remove the ctl file after sync but leave the source file.

Default: false

file.sync.delete.zip.file.after.sync

If set to true, this will delete the zip file from staging immediately after attempting to sync it to the target. If synchronization fails due to a timeout or an error, the zip file will have to be re-created during the next sync attempt. If set to false, this will leave the zip file in staging until it is purged by the Stage Management job.

Default: false

file.sync.enable

Enables File Synchronization capabilities

Default: false

file.sync.fast.scan

For Unix, fast scan will look for files that were modified since the last run of file sync tracker and commit their changes using the data loader max commit row setting. When it finds modified directories, it compares to the file snapshot to find changes. For a large file system, this is faster and more efficient than the normal tracker. This setting works on most Unix systems, but reportedly not working on some Windows systems.

Default: false

file.sync.lock.wait.ms

How long file sync should wait in millis for the exclusive lock used by file tracker or the shared lock used by file sync push/pull jobs.

Default: 300000

file.sync.prevent.ping.back

Record each file received in the sym_incoming_file table, which is checked when syncing outgoing files to prevent a "ping back" where the same file change is sent back and forth during bi-directional sync. If you aren’t using bi-directional sync, turn this off for better performance.

Default: true

file.sync.retry.count

How many times the file sync bean shell script will be attempted at the target node. The bean shell script will be attempted more than once if the exception java.nio.file.FileSystemException is thrown during the execution of the script.

Default: 2

file.sync.retry.delay.ms

How long to pause in milliseconds between the attempts of the bean shell script that is run at the target node when the execution of the script fails.

Default: 5000

file.sync.use.crc

Calculate a checksum for each file (using CRC32), which is used to detect a file collision if the target file has a different checksum. If you don’t need to detect conflicts, turn this off for better performance.

Default: true

file.sync.use.ctl.as.file.ext

If the ctl file is used to control file triggers this will look for a control file with the same name but .ctl replacing the existing extension. Example: temp.txt would need control file called temp.ctl instead of temp.txt.ctl

Default: false

filesynctracker.max.rows.before.commit

Maximum number of rows to put into sym_file_snapshot in a single database transaction. This will help keep sym_data freed up for other processing to occur.

Default: 10000

firebird.extract.varchar.row.old.pk.data

On Firebird database, the varchar sizes to use during extracting the row_data, old_data, and pk_data from sym_data. Specify the values as comma-separated for row, old, and pk respectively. By casting to varchar and using small sizes, performance of extract is improved. The entire row size must be under 64K or you will get a "block size exceeds implementation restriction" error. If you need to extract larger sizes, then enable the contains_big_lobs on the channel.

Default: 20000,20000,1000

google.bigquery.location

Google BigQuery location.

Default: US

google.bigquery.max.rows.per.rpc

Google BigQuery parameter to control the number of rows sent through the insertAll command while sending data into BigQuery.

Default: 100

google.bigquery.project.id

Google BigQuery project id.

Default:

google.bigquery.security.credentials.path

Google BigQuery security credentials path for the json file containing the credentials to connect to Big Query.

Default:

grouplet.enable

Enables the Grouplet functionality

Default: false

heartbeat.sync.on.push.enabled

Specify whether to push node_host records to configured push clients. If this is true the node for this instance and the node_host rows for all children instances will be pushed to all nodes that this node is configured to push to.

Default: true

heartbeat.sync.on.push.period.sec

This is the number of seconds between when the sym_node_host table’s heartbeat_time column is updated. This property depends on the frequency of the heartbeat job. If the heartbeat job is set to run every 10 minutes and this property is set to 10 seconds, then the heartbeat will only update every 10 minutes.

Default: 0

heartbeat.sync.on.startup

When this property is set to true the heartbeat process will run at server startup. Prior to 3.4 the heartbeat always happened at startup.

Default: false

heartbeat.update.node.with.batch.status

When this is set to true, SymmetricDS will update fields in the sym_node table that indicate the number of outstanding errors and/or batches it has pending

Default: false

http.compression

Whether or not to use compression over HTTP connections. Currently, this setting only affects the push connection of the source node. Compression on a pull is enabled using a filter in the web.xml for the PullServlet. @see web.compression.disabled to enable/disable the filter

Default: true

http.concurrent.workers.max

This is the number of HTTP concurrent push/pull requests SymmetricDS will accept. This is controlled by the NodeConcurrencyFilter. The number is per servlet the filter is applied to. The db.pool.max.active value should be twice this value plus some overhead (like 10 more than twice this value).

Default: 20

http.connect.timeout.ms

Sets the connection timeout on the internal HttpUrlConnection

Default: 90000

http.push.stream.output.enabled

The HTTP client connection, during a push, buffers the entire outgoing pay-load locally before sending it. Set this to true if you are getting heap space errors during a push. Note that basic auth may not work when this is turned on.

Default: true

http.push.stream.output.size

When HTTP chunking is turned on, this is the size to use for each chunk.

Default: 30720

http.timeout.ms

Sets the read timeout on the internal HttpUrlConnection

Default: 90000

https.verified.server.names

During SSL handshaking, if the URL’s hostname and the server’s identification hostname mismatch, the verification mechanism will check this comma separated list of server names to see if the cert should be accepted (see javax.net.ssl.HostnameVerifier.) Set this value equal to 'all' if all server names should be accepted. Set this value to blank if a valid SSL cert is required.

Default:

hybrid.push.pull.buffer.status.updates

This controls whether or not the ReportStatus job will buffer its status updates. When buffered, status updates will only be sent when a channel’s batch to send count goes from 0 to non-zero.

Default: true

hybrid.push.pull.enabled

Enable hybrid push/pull functionality. Allows for pull configuration, but also allows clients to report their outgoing batch status so that the nodes that have data can be prioritized for pulling.

Default: false

hybrid.push.pull.timeout.ms

When hybrid.push.pull.enabled=true, how much time in millis has to go by to pull from a node that hasn’t reported pending batches.

Default: 3600000

incoming.batches.record.ok.enabled

Indicates whether batches that have loaded successfully should be recorded in the incoming_batch table. Note that if this is set to false, then duplicate batches will NOT be skipped because SymmetricDS will have no way of knowing that a batch has already loaded. This parameter can be set to false to reduce contention on sym_incoming_batch for systems with many clients.

Default: true

incoming.batches.skip.duplicates

This instructs symmetric to attempt to skip duplicate batches that are received. Symmetric might be more efficient when recovering from error conditions if this is set to true, but you run the risk of missing data if the batch ids get reset (on one node, but not another) somehow (which is unlikely in production, but fairly likely in lab or development setups).

Default: true

initial.load.after.sql

This is SQL that will run on the client after an initial load finishes. The default delimiter for these lines is a semicolon. To override, include a single line that starts with delimiter and is followed by the new delimiter, then the old For example a line that reads: delimiter $; would change sql lines to have a delimiter of $ for subsequent lines. This parameter needs set for the node that will send the initial load, not the node receiving it.

Default:

initial.load.before.sql

This is SQL that will run on the client before an initial load starts. The default delimiter for these lines is a semicolon. To override, include a single line that starts with delimiter and is followed by the new delimiter, then the old For example a line that reads: delimiter $; would change sql lines to have a delimiter of $ for subsequent lines. This parameter needs set for the node that will send the initial load, not the node receiving it.

Default:

initial.load.block.channels

Initial load and reload events should normally block other channels to ensure each table is loaded first followed by changes captured during the initial load. Setting this to false will allow all channels to load in priority order even when reload events or an initial load is running.

Default: true

initial.load.concat.csv.in.sql.enabled

Indicates that the SQL used to extract data from a table for an initial load should concatenate the data using the same SQL expression that a trigger uses versus concatenating the data in code.

Default: false

initial.load.create.first

Set this if tables should be created prior to an initial load. This parameter needs set for the node that will send the initial load, not the node receiving it.

Default: false

initial.load.defer.create.constraints

If tables are created as part of the initial load, it will defer the creation of foreign keys and indexes to improve performance. After data is loaded, the constraints will be added after tables have reached consistency. This parameter needs set for the node that will send the initial load, not the node receiving it.

Default: true

initial.load.delete.first

Set this if tables should be purged prior to an initial load. This parameter needs set for the node that will send the initial load, not the node receiving it.

Default: false

initial.load.delete.first.sql

This is the SQL statement that will be used for purging a table during an initial load. This parameter needs set for the node that will send the initial load, not the node receiving it.

Default: delete from %s

initial.load.extract.thread.per.server.count

The number of threads available for concurrent extracts of initial load batches.

Default: 20

initial.load.extract.timeout.ms

The number of milliseconds to wait until the lock will be broken on an initial load extract job.

Default: 7200000

initial.load.extract.use.two.pass.lob

Some dialects can extract small LOBs faster using a substring function. When the dialect supports it and the parameter is enabled, the initial load will extract tables with LOBs using two passes. The first pass gets rows with LOBs under the character limit, and the second pass gets all other rows. Currently implemented for Oracle/Tibero.

Default: true

initial.load.purge.stage.immediate.threshold.rows

If the number of rows in a reload batch is greater than or equal to this threshold, it will immediately purge the staging file after it is successfully loaded. Set this to -1 to disable and keep the staging files.

Default: 100

initial.load.recursion.self.fk

For tables with self-referencing foreign keys, the initial load will attempt to query each level of the rows starting with parent rows, as a way to preserve the order of rows.

Default: true

initial.load.reverse.after.sql

This is SQL that will run on the server after a reverse initial load finishes.

Default:

initial.load.reverse.before.sql

This is SQL that will run on the server before a reverse initial load starts.

Default:

initial.load.reverse.first

Indicate that if both the initial load and the reverse initial load are requested, then the reverse initial load should take place first.

Default: true

initial.load.schema.dump.command

Specify a system command that writes the structure of the database to system.out to be captured and sent to the node that is being initial loaded. Used in conjunction with initial.load.schema.load.command. An example is: pg_dump --dbname=server --schema=my_schema --schema-only --clean

Default:

initial.load.schema.load.command

Specify a system command that will take the content captured by initial.load.schema.dump.command and apply it to the database. The content is passed to the system command via system.in. An example is: psql --output=output.log --dbname=client

Default:

initial.load.transport.max.bytes.to.sync

This is the number of maximum number of bytes to synchronize in one connect during an initial load.

Default: 524288000

initial.load.unblock.channels.on.error

Allow other channels to load when initial.load.block.channels is true and the reload channel goes into error. When the initial load runs while changes are being made, it can lead to foreign key errors that might resolve when the other channels are allowed to sync.

Default: false

initial.load.use.column.templates.enabled

The initial load SQL to extract a table will wrap each column with a template of SQL functions to format the data using the database. When disabled, each column is selected directly, and data is formatted by the server instead, which is faster. Currently, the server can format text, numeric, date, time, timestamp, and binary types, and it will fall back on using templates for other types.

Default: false

initial.load.use.estimated.counts

Estimate the row count for tables to generate the number of batches needed for initial load. It is faster to estimate the row count than to get an actual row count.

Default: true

initial.load.use.extract.job.enabled

Indicate that the extract job job should be used to extract reload batches

Default: true

initial.load.use.reload.channel

Indicate that the initial load events should be put on the reload channel. If this is set to false each table will be put on it’s assigned channel during the reload. This parameter needs set for the node that will send the initial load, not the node receiving it.

Default: true

job.file.sync.pull.period.time.ms

null

Default: 60000

job.file.sync.push.period.time.ms

null

Default: 60000

job.file.sync.tracker.cron

null

Default: 0 0/5 * * * *

job.heartbeat.period.time.ms

This is how often the heartbeat job runs. Note that this doesn’t mean that a heartbeat is performed this often. See heartbeat.sync.on.push.period.sec to change how often the heartbeat is sync’d

Default: 900000

job.initial.load.extract.period.time.ms

This is how often the initial load extract job will run in the background

Default: 10000

job.initial.load.queue.period.time.ms

This is how often the initial load queue job will run in the background

Default: 10000

job.offline.pull.period.time.ms

This is how often the offline pull job will be run to schedule offline reading of batch files from nodes.

Default: 60000

job.offline.push.period.time.ms

This is how often the offline push job will be run to schedule offline writing of batch files for nodes.

Default: 60000

job.pull.period.time.ms

This is how often the pull job will be run to schedule pulls of nodes.

Default: 10000

job.purge.first.pass

Enables a first pass purge for sym_data and sym_data_event that quickly purges the beginning of the table that precedes outstanding batches. These delete statements don’t use joins, so they run quicker.

Default: true

job.purge.first.pass.outstanding.batches.threshold

The maximum number of outstanding batches allowed for running the first pass purge. If there are too many outstanding batches, it will take too long to find their first data_id, so it shouldn’t be run.

Default: 100000

job.purge.incoming.cron

This is how often the incoming batch purge job will be run.

Default: 0 0 */4 * * *

job.purge.max.data.gaps.read

The maximum number of expired data gaps to check individually before using a single query to detect any expired data that was missed. The single query gets a range from sym_data before the starting gap that does not exist in sym_data_event, and then queries only the expired data gaps that are within that range.

Default: 100

job.purge.max.lingering.batches.read

The number of lingering batch IDs to read into memory at once before purging them from the database. A lingering batch is a batch that had a non-OK status when it became old enough to purge. The purge job runs a special routine to purge lingering batches after their status becomes OK, which allows the normal routine to move forward efficiently.

Default: 100000

job.purge.max.num.batches.to.delete.in.tx

This is the number of batches that will be purged in one database transaction.

Default: 5000

job.purge.max.num.data.event.batches.to.delete.in.tx

This is the number of batches that will be purged from the data_event table in one database transaction.

Default: 5

job.purge.max.num.data.to.delete.in.tx

This is the number of data ids that will be purged in one database transaction.

Default: 5000

job.purge.outgoing.cron

This is how often the outgoing batch and data purge job will be run.

Default: 0 0 */4 * * *

job.push.period.time.ms

This is how often the push job will be run to schedule pushes to nodes.

Default: 10000

job.refresh.cache.cron

This is when the refresh cache job will run.

Default: 0/30 * * * * *

job.report.status.cron

This is how often a client will push its status to the root server. Used in conjuction with hybrid.push.pull.

Default: 0 0/5 * * * *

job.routing.period.time.ms

This is how often the router will run in the background

Default: 10000

job.stage.management.cron

This is when the stage management job will run.

Default: 0 0 * * * *

job.stat.flush.cron

This is how often accumulated statistics will be flushed out to the database from memory.

Default: 0 0/5 * * * *

job.sync.config.cron

This is when the sync config job will run.

Default: 0 0/10 1 * * *

job.synctriggers.cron

This is when the sync triggers job will run.

Default: 0 0 0 * * *

job.watchdog.period.time.ms

null

Default: 3600000

jobs.synchronized.enable

If jobs need to be synchronized so that only one job can run at a time, set this parameter to true

Default: false

lock.timeout.ms

The amount of time a thread can hold a shared or exclusive lock before another thread can break the lock. The timeout is a safeguard in case an unexpected exception causes a lock to be abandoned. Restarting the service will clear all locks.

Default: 1800000

lock.wait.retry.ms

While waiting for a lock to be released, how often should we check the lock status in the sym_lock table in the database.

Default: 10000

log.conflict.resolution

Whether logging is enabled for conflict resolution

Default: false

mssql.allow.only.row.level.locks.on.runtime.tables

Automatically update data, data_event and outgoing_batch tables to allow only row level locking.

Default: true

mssql.include.catalog.in.triggers

Includes the catalog/database name within generated triggers (catalog.schema.table). May need turned off to support backup processes such as creating a bacpac file

Default: true

mssql.lock.escalation.disabled

Disables lock escalation and turns off page level locking. May need turned off to support backup processes such as creating a bacpac file

Default: true

mssql.trigger.execute.as

Specify the user the SymmetricDS triggers should execute as. Possible values are { CALLER | SELF | OWNER | 'user_name' }

Default: caller

mssql.trigger.order.first

Set the order of triggers to 'First' using sp_settriggerorder after creating triggers. This is needed when the user has existing custom triggers that modify data. The SymmetricDS triggers need to fire first and capture the first change so that order of changes is preserved. If the user has a trigger set as 'First', it will be changed to 'None'.

Default: false

mssql.use.ntypes.for.sync

Use ntext for the data capture columns and cast to nvarchar(max) in the trigger text so that nvarchar, ntext and nchar double byte data isn’t lost when the database collation for char types isn’t compatible with n char types.

Default: false

mssql.use.snapshot.isolation

Specifies if snapshot isolation should be automatically turned on.

Default: false

mssql.use.varchar.for.lob.in.sync

Use varchar(max) or nvarchar(max) when a column in SymmetricDS tables is set to long or nlong. This is for example necessary when using a _UTF8 of _SC collation.

Default: false

mysql.tinyint.ddl.to.boolean

Allows MySQL columns of type tinyint to be sent to other platforms as boolean in ddl statements

Default: false

node.copy.mode.enabled

If the copy mode is enabled and the node starts up with an identity that does not match the configured external id, then the node will register with a special parameter that indicates the registration server should copy outgoing batch to the new node id.

Default: false

node.id.creator.script

This is a bean shell script that will be used to generate the node id for a registering node. This script is run on the registration server, not the registering node. The following variable are available for use: node, hostname, remoteHost, remoteAddress, and log. You can get the node group id by calling node.getNodeGroupId()

Default:

node.offline

Set the node to offline mode so that outgoing and incoming data are written to and read from a local directory instead of being sent over the network.

Default: false

node.offline.archive.dir

For a node operating in offline mode, specify the local directory where incoming data files should be moved to after successfully loading them. If this parameter is empty, files are removed after loading. The $(nodeGroupId) and $(nodeId) variables are useful when running multiple engines in the same server.

Default:

node.offline.error.dir

For a node operating in offline mode, specify the local directory where incoming data files should be moved to when they encounter an error during loading. To guarentee order of data loading, this parameter should be left empty so the file is not moved. The $(nodeGroupId) and $(nodeId) variables are useful when running multiple engines in the same server.

Default:

node.offline.incoming.accept.all

Accept batch data files from any node in the incoming directory, regardless of whether or not it is considered offline.

Default: true

node.offline.incoming.dir

For a node operating in offline mode, specify the local directory where data files should be read from. The $(nodeGroupId) and $(nodeId) variables are useful when running multiple engines in the same server.

Default: tmp/$(nodeGroupId)-$(nodeId)/offline/incoming

node.offline.outgoing.dir

For a node operating in offline mode, specify the local directory where data files should be written to. The $(nodeGroupId) and $(nodeId) variables are useful when running multiple engines in the same server.

Default: tmp/$(nodeGroupId)-$(nodeId)/offline/outgoing

node.password.failed.attempts

Number of failed login attempts by a node before lockout (0 = never lockout, -1 = never lockout or record)

Default: 5

num.of.ack.retries

This is the number of times we will attempt to send an ACK back to the remote node when pulling and loading data.

Default: 5

offline.node.detection.period.minutes

This is the number of minutes that a node has been offline before taking action A value of -1 (or any negative value) disables the feature.

Default: 86400

offline.node.detection.restart.minutes

This is the number of minutes after a node has been restarted that it will begin considering remote nodes as offline. This gives remote nodes a chance to send their heartbeats.

Default: 5

offline.pull.lock.timeout.ms

The amount of time a single offline pull worker node_communication lock will timeout after.

Default: 7200000

offline.pull.thread.per.server.count

The number of threads created that will be used to read incoming offline batch data files

Default: 1

offline.push.lock.timeout.ms

The amount of time a single offline push worker node_communication lock will timeout after.

Default: 7200000

offline.push.thread.per.server.count

The number of threads created that will be used to write outgoing offline batch data files

Default: 1

opensearch.load.aws.access.key

The AWS secret access key (aws_secret_access_key) to use as credentials for uploading to S3

Default:

opensearch.load.aws.secret.key

The AWS secret access key (aws_secret_access_key) to use as credentials for uploading to S3

Default:

oracle.load.query.hint.parallel.count

For initial load extracting data to specify the number of parallel processes to use while selecting data from a table

Default: 1

oracle.sequence.noorder

On Oracle RAC, an ordered sequence for sym_data must be coordinated across RAC nodes, which has wait overhead. By setting this to true, a no-order sequence is used instead, which performs better for high throughput. Because the sequence is no longer ordered, sym_data is queried using an order by of create_time and data_id. You will need to restart after changing this parameter to get DDL applied to the sequence and sym_data.

Default: false

oracle.sequence.noorder.nextvalue.db.urls

For Oracle RAC in no-order mode, this parameter provides two methods for managing data gaps across multiple nodes in the cluster. When left blank, routing will use gv$_sequences to manage gaps. Or, use this parameter to specify a comma-separated list of database URLs to connect to during the heartbeat, which ensures each RAC node has periodic activity within its gap to prevent the gap from expiring.

Default:

oracle.template.precision

This is the precision that is used in the number template for oracle triggers

Default: *,38

oracle.template.precision.text.minimum

Use the text minimum format model for capturing changes to number data types. When enabled, numbers are converted with to_char('TM'), which can capture up to 40 digits. When disabled, numbers are converted with cast to number(*,38), which can capture up to 38 digits.

Default: false

oracle.transaction.view.clock.sync.threshold.ms

Requires access to gv$transaction. This is the threshold by which clock can be off in an oracle rac environment. It is only applicable when oracle.use.transaction.view is set to true.

Default: 60000

oracle.use.ntypes.for.sync

Use nclob for the data capture columns and use to_nclob() in the trigger text so that double byte data isn’t lost when the database collation for char types isn’t compatible with n char types.

Default: false

oracle.use.transaction.view

Requires access to gv$transaction

Default: false

outgoing.batches.copy.to.incoming.staging

When sending an outgoing batch, copy directly from the outgoing staging to the incoming staging when both nodes are on the same server. This also requires the staging to be enabled (stream.to.file.enabled=true). The HTTP transport is still used to send a batch "retry" instruction that causes the target node to read from staging.

Default: true

outgoing.batches.max.to.select

The maximum number of unprocessed outgoing batch rows for a node that will be read into memory for the next data extraction.

Default: 50000

outgoing.batches.peek.ahead.batch.commit.size

This is the number of data events that will be batched and committed together while building a batch. Note that this only kicks in if the prospective batch size is bigger than the configured max batch size.

Default: 10

outgoing.batches.update.status.data.count

Update the outgoing batch status to QY (querying) and SE (sending) when the data event count is larger than this threshold. This can improve performance overhead on small batches by avoiding status updates.

Default: 1000

outgoing.batches.update.status.millis

Update the outgoing batch status to QY (querying) and SE (sending) only when the last update to the batch is in the past by at least the specified number of milliseconds. This can improve performance overhead on small batches by avoiding status updates.

Default: 10000

parameter.reload.timeout.ms

The number of milliseconds parameters will be cached by the ParameterService before they are reread from the file system and database.

Default: 600000

postgres.security.definer

Postgres triggers default to "security invoker" with permissions based on caller. Enable this parameter to use "security definer" with permissions based on owner.

Default: false

pull.immediate.if.data.found

If true, the pull job will re-pull immediately after it receives data.

Default: true

pull.lock.timeout.ms

The amount of time a single pull worker node_communication lock will timeout after.

Default: 7200000

pull.period.minimum.ms

This is the minimum time that is allowed between pulls of a specific node.

Default: 0

pull.thread.per.server.count

The number of threads created that will be used to pull nodes concurrently on one server in the cluster.

Default: 10

purge.expired.data.gap.retention.minutes

This is the retention time for how long an expired data gap will be retained. The purge job will watch for data to commit inside of expired data gaps, and try to resend the data. Knowing about expired data gaps lets the purge use a fast range-based delete but avoid purging any ranges that could include expired data gaps. (Checking for stranded data before running a purge isn’t sufficient because it leaves open a race condition of the data arriving during the deletes.)

Default: 1440

purge.extract.request.retention.minutes

This is the retention time for how long a extract request will be retained

Default: 14400

purge.log.summary.retention.minutes

This is the retention for how long log summary messages will be retained in memory.

Default: 60

purge.monitor.event.retention.minutes

This is the retention time for how long to keep monitor events before purging them.

Default: 43200

purge.registration.request.retention.minutes

This is the retention time for how long a registration request will be retained

Default: 7200

purge.retention.minutes

This is the retention for how long synchronization data will be kept in the symmetric synchronization tables. Note that data will be purged only if the purge job is enabled.

Default: 120

purge.stats.retention.minutes

This is the retention for how long statistic data will be kept in the symmetric stats tables. Note that data will be purged only if the statistics flush job is enabled.

Default: 14400

purge.trigger.hist.retention.minutes

This is the retention time for how long an inactive trigger history will be retained

Default: 86400

push.immediate.if.data.found

If true, the push job will re-push immediately after it sends data.

Default: true

push.lock.timeout.ms

The amount of time a single push worker node_communication lock will timeout after.

Default: 7200000

push.period.minimum.ms

This is the minimum time that is allowed between pushes to a specific node.

Default: 0

push.thread.per.server.count

The number of threads created that will be used to push to nodes concurrently on one server in the cluster.

Default: 10

registration.auto.create.group.link

When this is set to true a group link will be created by default between two groups even if the user does not explicitly set one up.

Default: true

registration.number.of.attempts

This is the number of times registration will be attempted before being aborted. The default value is -1 which means an endless number of attempts. This parameter is specific to the node that is trying to register, not the node that is providing registration.

Default: -1

registration.push.config.allowed

When group link is configured to push to clients, allow registration to work over push. Useful when client cannot reach server, so server pushes registration to client.

Default: true

registration.reopen.use.same.password

Indicates that if registration is reopened if the same password should be used. If set to false then a new password will be generated.

Default: true

registration.require.initial.load

When this is set to true a node will have to have had an initial load prior to allowing other nodes to register with it

Default: true

right.trim.char.values

Whether char fields should be right trimmed

Default: false

route.on.extract

Whether the routing job will start manually when a push or pull is started

Default: false

routing.collect.stats.unrouted

Enable to collect unrouted data statistics into the stat tables for graphs.

Default: false

routing.data.reader.into.memory.enabled

Router will read all unrouted data into memory, then perform sorting. Enable this option if sorting is expensive for the database to perform.

Default: false

routing.data.reader.order.by.gap.id.enabled

Use the order by clause to order sym_data when selecting data for routing. Most databases order the data naturally and might even have better performance when the order by clause is left off.

Default: true

routing.data.reader.threshold.gaps.to.use.greater.than.query

Select data to route from sym_data using a simple > start_gap_id query if the number of gaps in sym_data_gap are greater than the following number

Default: 0

routing.data.reader.use.multiple.queries

Routing reader may run multiple queries for data, with each query including the maximum number of data gaps as specified by the routing.max.gaps.to.qualify.in.sql parameter. This method attempts to use the table’s index for quick results and avoid wasting time on filtering rows that were already routed (as used by the greater.than.query method).

Default: true

routing.detect.invalid.gaps

Run checks for duplicate, invalid range, overlapping, and large gaps while processing each gap. This can be used to log information and catch problems with gap detection, but it incurs additional overhead.

Default: true

routing.flush.batches.jdbc.batch.size

JDBC batch size for sym_outgoing_batch

Default: 5000

routing.flush.jdbc.batch.size

JDBC batch size for sym_data_event

Default: 50000

routing.gaps.transaction.view.clock.sync.threshold

When using the earliest transaction time to expire gaps (routing.gaps.use.transaction.view=true), subtract the given number of milliseconds from the transaction time. This may be needed in a clustered environment where the time on each database master is not perfectly in sync.

Default: 10000

routing.immediate.if.max.channel

Start routing again immediately when that last run of routing reached the max data to route for a channel.

Default: true

routing.largest.gap.size

This is the maximum number of data that will be routed during one run. It should be a number that well exceeds the number rows that will be in a transaction.

Default: 50000000

routing.lock.timeout.ms

The amount of time a single routing worker node_communication lock will timeout after.

Default: 7200000

routing.log.stats.on.batch.error

Enable to collect routing statistics for each batch and log the statistics when a batch goes into error.

Default: false

routing.max.batch.size.exceed.percent

The percentage of the channel’s max batch size that a batch can exceed when seeking a transaction boundary using the default batch algorithm. Use zero to indicate that the batch size can grow as large as needed to include the complete transaction. For example, a setting of 100 percent with a channel’s max batch size of 1000 allows a batch size of 2000 to be routed before it will be forced as complete. This setting protects from a large transaction that causes batch sizes that far exceed the channel’s max size and have trouble loading on the target database.

Default: 100

routing.max.gap.changes

This is the maximum number of changes that can be applied to the data_gap table. If the gap detection exceeds this number of changes, it will record the minimal gaps to the table and keep the rest in memory. This setting only applies to non-clustered systems.

Default: 200

routing.max.gaps.to.qualify.in.sql

This is the number of gaps that will be included in the SQL that is used to select data from sym_data. If there are more gaps than this number, then the last gap will in the SQL will use the end id of the last gap.

Default: 100

routing.peek.ahead.memory.threshold.percent

When reading data to route, if a lot of data has been committed in a single transaction, then the peek ahead queue size can cause out of memory errors. This setting instructs the routing reader to disperse with all "non" active transactions if the peek ahead queue grows to be a certain percentage of the overall allocated heap size.

Default: 50

routing.peek.ahead.window.after.max.size

This is the maximum number of events that will be peeked at to look for additional transaction rows after the max batch size is reached. The more concurrency in your db and the longer the transaction takes the bigger this value might have to be.

Default: 2000

routing.query.channels.first

Enable to query for which channels have data waiting, and then only route for those channels.

Default: true

routing.stale.dataid.gap.time.ms

This is the time that any gaps in data_ids will be considered stale and skipped.

Default: 1200000

routing.stale.gap.busy.expire.time.ms

For a busy system, how often to run checks on sym_data in order to expire gaps. Normally the routing reads all data and gap expiration can run without checking sym_data. But when the system is busy, then not all data is read, and gap expiration must query each gap from the sym_data table, which is expensive.

Default: 7200000

routing.thread.per.server.count

The number of threads created that will be used to route channels concurrently on one server in the cluster.

Default: 5

routing.use.channel.threads

When enabled, use a thread per channel for parallel routing.

Default: false

routing.use.common.groups

Use common mode for groups of target nodes, regardless of channel configuration. A batch in common mode has only one data_event for each data row, and it extracts once for all nodes that receive it.

Default: true

routing.use.non.common.for.incoming

When using common batch mode for groups (and sync on incoming enabled for table triggers), if a change comes from a remote node, then use non-common batches instead. When a server routes each incoming remote change back to all nodes minus the source node, there are as many common groups as nodes. As the number of nodes increases, the number of small batches increases, and it can be more efficient to use non-common mode for routing incoming remote changes into a small number of large batches.

Default: true

routing.wait.for.data.timeout.seconds

null

Default: 330

schema.version

This is hook to give the user a mechanism to indicate the schema version that is being synchronized.

Default: ?

send.ack.keepalive.ms

After a push or pull HTTP connection has been idle for this many milliseconds, a small partial acknowledgement or partial batch is sent to keep the connection alive.

Default: 30000

send.usage.stats

Send usage statistics to the SymmetricDS project to help improve the software.

Default: true

snapshot.file.include.hostname

Prefix snapshot filename with hostname to indicate which environment it came from

Default: false

snapshot.max.batches

Max number of batches to write to statistics listing for support snapshot.

Default: 10000

snapshot.max.files

Max number of files to write in directory listing for support snapshot.

Default: 50000

snapshot.max.node.channels

Max number of nodes and channels for batch statistics, after which it will group by node only.

Default: 5000

snapshot.operation.timeout.ms

Max time for a snapshot operation to complete, such as gathering table definitions, before it will be interrupted so the snapshot completes in a reasonable amount of time.

Default: 30000

snowflake.internal.stage.name

The snowflake managed stage name for internal storage

Default:

snowflake.staging.type

The snowflake staging type to use for bulk loading Valid values : SNOWFLAKE_INTERNAL, AWS_S3, AZURE

Default:

spatial.data.types.enabled

Determines if spatial data type functions will be installed. By default they will be installed but can be set to false to not install the additional spatial functions if they are not needed.

Default: true

start.offline.pull.job

Whether the offline pull job is enabled for this node.

Default: false

start.offline.push.job

Whether the offline push job is enabled for this node.

Default: false

start.sync.config.job

Whether the sync config job is enabled for this node. This job checks that the configuration version matches the software version, otherwise it will pull the latest configuration from the registration server.

Default: true

stream.to.file.min.ttl.ms

If stream.to.file.enabled is false and staging is purged based on the database, then this is the minimum amount of time a staging file will be retained after it is purged from the database

Default: 1800000

stream.to.file.purge.on.ttl.enabled

When this is set to false, then batches in the staging area will only be purged after they have been purged from the database. If this is set to true, then batches will be purged based on the stream.to.file.ttl.ms setting.

Default: false

stream.to.file.threshold.bytes

If stream.to.file.enabled is true, then the threshold number of bytes at which a file will be written is controlled by this property. Note that for a synchronization the entire payload of the synchronization will be buffered in memory up to this number (at which point it will be written and continue to stream to disk.)

Default: 0

stream.to.file.ttl.ms

If stream.to.file.enabled is true, then this is how long a file will be retained in the staging directory after it has been marked as done.

Default: 3600000

sybase.allow.only.row.level.locks.on.runtime.tables

Automatically alter data, data_event and outgoing_batch tables to allow only row level locking.

Default: true

sybase.ase.convert.unitypes.for.sync

Converts unitypes in Sybase ASE to the corresponding type in the target database.

Default: false

sybase.change.identity.gap.on.runtime.tables

Automatically change attribute on data, data_event and outgoing_batch tables to set the identity gap to the number provided. This prevents skipping a large number of identities that can cause routing to stop. Use 0 to disable.

Default: 1000

sync.triggers.fix.duplicate.active.trigger.histories

Whether or not duplicate active trigger histories will be detected and fixed so that the most recent will end up being the only active trigger history.

Default: true

sync.triggers.thread.count.per.server

Number of threads to use for creating triggers and removing old ones.

Default: 1

sync.triggers.timeout.in.seconds

Time out value in milliseconds for sync triggers. This timeout value will be used to time out the inactivate step and the create or update step.

Default: 3600

target.treat.binary.as.lob.enabled

Whether target binary fields should be treated as lobs

Default:

time.between.ack.retries.ms

This is the amount of time to wait between trying to send an ACK back to the remote node when pulling and loading data.

Default: 5000

transport.max.bytes.to.sync

This is the number of maximum number of bytes to synchronize in one connect.

Default: 104857600

transport.max.error.millis

Networks errors will be logged at INFO level since they are retried. After the maximum number of millis for network errors that continue in succession, the logging switches to WARN level.

Default: 300000

trigger.allow.create.or.replace

Enable or disabled use of create or replace syntax on Oracle and MS-SQL 2016 SP1 and newer.

Default: true

trigger.capture.ddl.changes

Feature to install a DDL trigger to capture any schema changes, including tables, views, triggers, functions, and stored procedures, which are synced to all nodes on configured group links. Supported on MS SQL-Server, Oracle and Postgres only.

Default: false

trigger.capture.ddl.check.trigger.hist

Disable this property to capture all DDL changes regardless of whether the associated table has a corresponding row in sym_trigger_hist. MS SQL-Server, Oracle and Postgres only. See: trigger.capture.ddl.changes

Default: true

trigger.capture.ddl.delimiter

The delimiter to use when capturing changes from a DDL trigger. MS SQL-Server, Oracle and Postgres only. See: trigger.capture.ddl.changes

Default: $

trigger.create.before.initial.load.enabled

Disable this property to prevent table triggers from being created before initial load has completed.

Default: true

trigger.update.capture.changed.data.only.enabled

Enable this property to force a compare of old and new data in triggers. If old=new, then don’t record the change in the data capture table. This is currently supported by the following dialects: mysql, oracle, db2, postgres, sql server

Default: false

trigger.use.insert.delete.for.primary.key.changes

For Sybase and SQL Server, if a primary key is changed, this parameter determines if a delete followed by an insert is captured for the row change instead of an update. When set to true, an update will be created if no primary keys are changed or if only one row is changed when a primary key change occurs, otherwise a delete followed by an insert is created for each row updated when a primary key change occurs and more than one row is updated by the SQL statement. If set to false, it will always create an update. This parameter, when changed, requires a restart of the SymmetricDS instance, followed by a rebuild of the triggers.

Default: true

web.compression.disabled

Disable compression from occurring on Servlet communication. This property only affects the outbound HTTP traffic streamed by the PullServlet and PushServlet.

Default: false

B.3. Server Configuration

Server configuration is read from conf/symmetric-server.conf for settings needed by the server before the parameter system has been initialized.

host.bind.name

Specify the hostname/IP address to bind to. (Default 0.0.0.0 will bind to all interfaces.)

Default: 0.0.0.0

http.enable

Enable synchronization over HTTP.

Default: true

http.port

Port number for synchronization over HTTP.

Default: 31415

https.allow.self.signed.certs

Use a trust manager that allows self-signed server SSL certificates.

Default: true

https.enable

Enable synchronization over HTTPS (HTTP over SSL).

Default: false

https.need.client.auth

Requires client authentication with SSL certificate

Default: false

https.port

Port number for synchronization over HTTPS (HTTP over SSL).

Default: 31417

https.verified.server.names

List host names that are allowed for server SSL certificates.

Default: all

https.want.client.auth

Accepts client authentication with SSL certificate

Default: false

https2.enable

Enable HTTPS/2 for multiplexing and resistance to protocol attacks.

Default: false

server.cookie.name

Custom cookie name for session (defaults to JSESSIONID_{port})

Default:

server.http.cookies.enabled

Accept cookies if load balancer requires it for clustering

Default: false

Appendix C: Database Notes

This section describes specific settings and notes for using each supported database platform.

C.1. Compatibility

Each database management system has its own characteristics that results in feature coverage in SymmetricDS. The following table shows which features are available by database.

Table 70. Support by Database
Database Versions Transaction Identifier Data Capture Log Mining Conditional Sync Update Loop Prevention BLOB Sync CLOB Sync Transactional DDL Supports Bulk Loading Supports Bulk Replace

BigQuery *

All

DB2

9.5

DB2

10,11

DB2 for IBM i *

6

DB2 for IBM z/OS *

10

Derby

10.3.2.1

Elasticsearch *

7.13.2

Firebird

2.0

Greenplum

8.2.15 and above

H2

1.x, 2.1, 2.2

HSQLDB

1.8

HSQLDB

2.0

Informix

11

Ingres

11 and above

Interbase

9.0

MySQL

5.0.2 and above

MariaDB

5.1 and above

NuoDB

2.6 and above

OpenEdge

Tested on 12.2

Oracle

10g and above

✔ 11g and above

PostgreSQL

8.2.5 and above

✔ 8.3 and above

✔ 9.4 and above

Redshift

1.0

Snowflake *

6.13 and above

SingleStore *

All

SQL Anywhere

9

SQL Server

2005 and above

✔ 2008 and above

SQL Server Azure

Tested on 11.00.2065

SQLite

3.x

Sybase ASE

12.5

Teradata

15.10 and above

Tibero

6 and above

Database *

Asterisk (*) next to database indicates the database support is available in SymmetricDS Pro only.

Transaction Identifier

A transaction identifier is recorded in the SYM_DATA table along with changes, which allows changes in the same transaction to be grouped together for commit within a batch.

Data Capture

Changes to tables can be captured using database triggers.

Log Mining

Changes to tables can be captured using log mining. This feature is available in SymmetricDS Pro only

Conditional Sync

Conditions can be specified on SYM_TRIGGER, which are compiled into the trigger to decide if a change should be captured.

Update Loop Prevention

The remote node is recorded on data that is captured, so the system can prevent the changes from being sent back to the same node.

BLOB Sync

Binary large object data can be captured or streamed from the database.

CLOB Sync

Character large object data can be captured or streamed from the database.

C.2. Catalog and Schema

A relational database may be divided into catalogs that contain sub-databases called schemas, which contain tables. Each database management system can implement the concepts of catalog and schema differently or not at all. When locating a table, SymmetricDS uses the default catalog and schema unless the user specifies one.

Table 71. Catalog and Schema Support by Database
Database Version Catalog Support Catalog Default Schema Support Schema Default

BigQuery

(dataset name)

DB2

values current schema

Derby

values current schema

Elasticsearch

Firebird

Greenplum

select current_schema()

H2

select database()

select schema()

HSQLDB

1.0

HSQLDB

2.0

select value from information_schema.system_sessioninfo where key = 'CURRENT SCHEMA'

select value from information_schema.system_sessioninfo where key = 'CURRENT SCHEMA'

Informix

select trim(user) from sysmaster:sysdual

Ingres

select dbmsinfo('username')

Interbase

MySQL

select database()

MariaDB

select database()

NuoDB

select current_schema from system.dual

OpenEdge

select user() from sysprogress.syscalctable

Oracle

select sys_context('USERENV', 'CURRENT_SCHEMA') from dual

PostgreSQL

select current_schema()

Snowflake

select current_database()

select current_schema()

SingleStore

select database()

SQL Anywhere

select db_name()

select user_name()

SQL Server

2000

select db_name()

select 'dbo'

SQL Server

2005+

select db_name()

select schema_name()

SQL Server

select db_name()

select schema_name()

SQL Server Azure

select db_name()

select schema_name()

SQLite

Sybase ASE

select db_name()

select user_name()

Redshift

select current_schema()

Tibero

select sys_context('USERENV', 'CURRENT_SCHEMA') from dual

C.3. Google BigQuery

Support for Google BigQuery is available in SymmetricDS Pro.

Use symadmin module install bigquery to install driver files, or copy your own files into the lib sub-directory.

Send changes from your relational database to Google’s BigQuery.

C.3.1. Setup

BigQuery is only supported as a load only node in SymmetricDS. See Load Only Node for details on setting up a load only node in SymmetricDS.

Example properties to setup a Google BigQuery load only node
load.only=true

target.db.url=bigquery\://cloud.google.com
target.db.driver=google

C.3.2. Loading Data

Setup reload channels for bulk loading.

Update any reload channels that will be used on the table triggers that will capture changes and send them to BigQuery by setting the column data_loader_type to 'bulk'. It is also recommended to increase the batch size so that larger CSV files will be processed instead of the default size on reloads of 10,000 rows.

Example SQL to setup the main reload channel to use bulk and also update the batch sizes.
update sym_channel set data_loader_type='bulk', max_batch_size=500000 where channel_id='reload'
BigQuery Authentication

Create a service account within your project. This account will need to be given the roles/bigquery.admin role. Create a JSON credentials file through this service account.

google.bigquery.project.id=<Google BigQuery Project ID>
google.bigquery.security.credentials.path=<Local Path to JSON Credentials File>
google.bigquery.location=<Google BigQuery Location: defaults to US>

C.4. DB2

Use symadmin module install db2 to install driver files, or copy your own files into the lib sub-directory.

The IBM DB2 Dialect uses global variables to enable and disable node and trigger synchronization. These variables are created automatically during the first startup. The DB2 JDBC driver should be placed in the "lib" folder.

Currently, the DB2 Dialect for SymmetricDS does not provide support for transactional synchronization. Large objects (LOB) are supported, but are limited to 16,336 bytes in size. The current features in the DB2 Dialect have been tested using DB2 9.5 on Linux and Windows operating systems.

There is currently a bug with the retrieval of auto increment columns with the DB2 9.5 JDBC drivers that causes some of the SymmetricDS configuration tables to be rebuilt when auto.config.database=true. The DB2 9.7 JDBC drivers seem to have fixed the issue. They may be used with the 9.5 database.

A system temporary tablespace with too small of a page size may cause the following trigger build errors:

SQL1424N Too many references to transition variables and transition table
columns or the row length for these references is too long. Reason
code="2". LINE NUMBER=1. SQLSTATE=54040

Simply create a system temporary tablespace that has a bigger page size. A page size of 8k will probably suffice.

CREATE BUFFERPOOL tmp_bp PAGESIZE 8k;

CREATE SYSTEM TEMPORARY TABLESPACE tmp_tbsp
     PAGESIZE 8K
     MANAGED BY SYSTEM
     USING ('/home/db2inst1/tmp_tbsp')
         BUFFERPOOL tmp_bp
Table 72. Supported Data Types
Data Type Supported?

Char, VarChar, Long VarChar

Yes

Graphic, VarGraphic, Long VarGraphic

Yes

SmallInt, Integer, BigInt

Yes

Double

Yes

Decimal

Yes

Date, Time, TimeStamp

Yes

Blob, Clob, DBClob

Yes

DecFloat

No

Binary, VarBinary

No

By default DB2 will not capture the transaction id associated with the captured data. This can be turned on with the following parameter.

db2.capture.transaction.id=false

C.5. DB2 for IBM i

Support for DB2 for IBM i is available in SymmetricDS Pro.

Use symadmin module install db2 to install driver files, or copy your own files into the lib sub-directory.

The DB2 for IBM i dialect can connect to a database on IBM iSeries (AS/400) machines. It was tested with the jt400 JDBC driver, which is already included in the SymmetricDS download. Here is an example JDBC URL:

jdbc:as400://hostname/myschema

The "libraries" parameter may be used in some cases to resolve unqualified object names:

jdbc:as400://hostname/;libraries=myschema
The tables created by SymmetricDS must have journaling enabled for commitment control.

C.5.1. Auto Journaling

The SymmetricDS library will be automatically journaled if it is created using the CREATE SCHEMA or CREATE COLLECTION SQL commands.

Otherwise, journaling can be enabled for new tables automatically by creating a default journal named QSQJRN in the library. The following steps add automatic journaling to the "sym" library (change it to your library) using the OS/400 command line:

  • Create the journal receiver object:

CRTJRNRCV JRNRCV(sym/symjrnrcv)
  • Create the journal object:

CRTJRN JRN(sym/QSQJRN) JRNRCV(sym/symjrnrcv)

C.5.2. Manual Journaling

Using automatic journaling for the SymmetricDS library is the preferred method, but journaling can also be enabled for each table manually. After starting SymmetricDS for the first time, it will connect to the database and create the required tables. Then it will log an error message that journaling needs to be enabled for its tables. The following steps add journaling to the "sym" library (change it to your library) using the OS/400 command line:

  • Create a journal receiver object:

CRTJRNRCV JRNRCV(sym/symjrnrcv)
  • Create a journal object:

CRTJRN JRN(sym/symjrn) JRNRCV(sym/symjrnrcv)
  • Start journaling:

STRJRNPF FILE(sym/SYM_C00001) JRN(sym/symjrn)

This step needs to be repeated for each physical file (table) created by SymmetricDS. A single command can be run for all tables at once, like this:

CALL QCMD
<hit F11 for more lines>

STRJRNPF FILE(sym/SYM_C00001 sym/SYM_C00002 sym/SYM_C00003 sym/SYM_C00004 sym/SYM_C00005 sym/SYM_C00006 sym/SYM_D00001 sym/SYM_D00002 sym/SYM_DATA sym/SYM_E00001 sym/SYM_E00002 sym/SYM_F00001 sym/SYM_F00002 sym/SYM_F00003 sym/SYM_F00004 sym/SYM_G00001 sym/SYM_G00002 sym/SYM_I00005 sym/SYM_I00008 sym/SYM_L00001 sym/SYM_LOCK sym/SYM_M00001 sym/SYM_M00002 sym/SYM_N00001 sym/SYM_N00002 sym/SYM_N00003 sym/SYM_N00004 sym/SYM_N00005 sym/SYM_N00006 sym/SYM_N00007 sym/SYM_N00008 sym/SYM_N00009 sym/SYM_N00010 sym/SYM_N00011 sym/SYM_N00012 sym/SYM_NODE sym/SYM_O00001 sym/SYM_P00001 sym/SYM_R00001 sym/SYM_R00002 sym/SYM_ROUTER sym/SYM_S00001 sym/SYM_T00001 sym/SYM_T00002 sym/SYM_T00003 sym/SYM_T00004 sym/SYM_T00005 sym/SYM_T00006 sym/SYM_T00007) JRN(sym/symjrn)
Table 73. Supported Data Types
Data Type Supported?

Char, VarChar, Long VarChar

Yes

Graphic, VarGraphic, Long VarGraphic

Yes

SmallInt, Integer, BigInt

Yes

Double

Yes

Decimal

Yes

Date, Time, TimeStamp

Yes

Blob, Clob, DBClob

Yes

DecFloat

No

Binary, VarBinary

No

C.5.3. Log Based

Log based capture for DB2 for IBM iSeries uses a journal to read changes. The journal that is used to read changes must have USE permission by the SymmetricDS user.

Also the journal must be setup to for BOTH before and after image data if you old data is required during replication or if primary key updates are to be replicated.

C.5.4. Capturing Old Data

In order for SymmetricDS to capture old data for updates, the IMAGES(*BOTH) journaling attribute must be specified. One way to specify this attribute is by running the following command:

CHGJRNOBJ OBJ((sym/SYM_C00001 *FILE)) ATR(*IMAGES) IMAGES(*BOTH)

C.6. DB2 for IBM z/OS

Support for DB2 for IBM z/OS is available in SymmetricDS Pro.

Use symadmin module install db2 to install driver files, or copy your own files into the lib sub-directory.

To access DB2 z/OS, you will need the respective DB2 Connect license activated on the mainframe.

C.7. Derby

Use symadmin module install derby to install driver files, or copy your own files into the lib sub-directory.

The Apache Derby database can be run as an embedded database that is accessed by an application or a standalone server that can be accessed from the network. This dialect implementation creates database triggers that make method calls into Java classes. This means that the supporting JAR files need to be in the classpath when running Derby as a standalone database, which includes symmetric-ds.jar and commons-lang.jar.

C.8. Elasticsearch

Elasticsearch is only supported in the professional version of SymmetricDS.

C.9. Firebird

Use symadmin module install firebird to install driver files, or copy your own files into the lib sub-directory.

The Firebird Dialect may require the installation of a User Defined Function (UDF) library in order to provide functionality needed by the database triggers. SymmetricDS includes the required UDF library, called SYM_UDF, in both source form (as a C program) and as pre-compiled libraries for both Windows and Linux. For Firebird 2.0 and earlier, the UDF is needed for capturing character and BLOB types, so the dialect will not allow startup if the UDF is missing. For Firebird 2.1 and later, the UDF is only needed for capturing BLOB types, so installation may not be necessary and the dialect does not check for it.

Download the SymmetricDS UDF Library if it is required for your use case. The SYM_UDF library is copied into the UDF folder within the Firebird installation directory.

For Linux users:

cp firebird/sym_udf.so /opt/firebird/UDF

For Windows users:

copy firebird\sym_udf.dll C:\Program Files\Firebird\Firebird_X_Y\UDF

The following limitations currently exist for this dialect:

  1. The outgoing batch does not honor the channel size, and all outstanding data events are included in a batch.

  2. Syncing of Binary Large Object (BLOB) is limited to 16KB per column.

  3. Syncing of character data is limited to 32KB per column. The overall row size of a resultset cannot exceed 64KB. For change capture, the row_data and old_data are limited to 10KB and and the pk_data is limited to 500 bytes for performance reasons. If you get the error of "arithmetic exception, numeric overflow, or string truncation" during extraction of a batch, set the contains_big_lob to true for the channel.

Firebird 3 is supported, however legacy authentication must be enabled in order to connect. Please refer to the Firebird 3.0 documentation for instructions on enabling this feature.

Table 74. Supported Data Types
Data Type Supported?

SmallInt

Yes

Integer

Yes

BigInt

Yes

Char

Yes

VarChar

Yes

Float

Yes

Decimal

Yes

Numeric

Yes

Double Precision

Yes

Date

Yes

Time

Yes

TimeStamp

Yes

Blob

No

C.9.1. Bulk Loading

SymmetricDS has bulk loading capability available for Firebird, when registering a Firebird database with SymmetricDS, bulk loading will be checked by default. SymmetricDS specifies data loader types on a channel by channel basis. Once you have your database registered, to utilize bulk loading versus straight JDBC insert, specify the Bulk Loader ("bulk") in the data_loader_type column of sym_channel table.

C.10. Greenplum

Greenplum is a data warehouse based on PostgreSQL. It is supported as a target platform in SymmetricDS.

SymmetricDS has bulk loading capability available for Greenplum. SymmetricDS specifies data loader types on a channel by channel basis. To utilize Greenplum Bulk loading versus straight JDBC insert, specify the Postgres Bulk Loader ("postgres_bulk") in the data_loader_type column of sym_channel.

C.11. H2

The H2 database allows only Java-based triggers. Therefore the H2 dialect requires that the SymmetricDS jar file be in the database’s classpath.

Table 75. Supported Data Types
Data Type Supported?

Int, TinyInt, SmallInt, BigInt

Yes

Boolean

Yes

Decimal

Yes

Double, Real

Yes

Time, Date, Timestamp

Yes

Binary, Blob

Yes

C.12. HBase

Use symadmin module install hbase to install driver files, or copy your own files into the lib sub-directory.

C.12.1. Empty HBase

If you are setting up replication to HBase and the tables are not already present in Hbase SymmetricDS can create them through the phoenix JDBC driver. This driver maintains some additional meta data about the tables so that they can be accessed using SQL through the JDBC driver.

This configuration is setup as a Load Only Node in SymmetricDS. It does require the phoenix jdbc driver though to utilize it. This driver should be downloaded and placed in the /lib folder of SymmetricDS and restarted.

C.12.2. Existing HBase

If you are setting up replication to an HBase database that already has tables present you will need to follow the steps below.

Setup a new H2 node that will contain all the SymmetricDS runtime tables. To do this go through the Add Node setup and select type H2 and provide a name for the database (it will create a new one locally if not present). This will allow SymmetricDS to create tables such as incoming_batch etc to maintain the replication.

Next you will need to setup a channel (or use the default channel) and set the data_loader_type to hbase.

Finally setup a parameter that contains the path of your hbase-site.xml file.

hbase.site.xml.path

All changes captured will now use the HBase data loader to load into an existing HBase table.

C.13. HSQLDB

Use symadmin module install hsqldb to install driver files, or copy your own files into the lib sub-directory.

HSQLDB was implemented with the intention that the database be run embedded in the same JVM process as SymmetricDS. Instead of dynamically generating static SQL-based triggers like the other databases, HSQLDB triggers are Java classes that re-use existing SymmetricDS services to read the configuration and insert data events accordingly.

The transaction identifier support is based on SQL events that happen in a 'window' of time. The trigger(s) track when the last trigger fired. If a trigger fired within X milliseconds of the previous firing, then the current event gets the same transaction identifier as the last. If the time window has passed, then a new transaction identifier is generated.

C.14. Apache Ignite

Use symadmin module install ignite to install driver files, or copy your own files into the lib sub-directory.

Since SymmetricDS is trigger based and there are not triggers in Apache Ignite, data can only be loaded to an Apache Ignite instance. The runtime SymmetricDS tables will also need to be installed in a full relational database to support integration with Apache Ignite.

See Load Only Node for more details on the general concepts of a load only node.

The following steps explain how to configure a SymmetricDS instance using Apache Ignite as a destination node:

  • Configure and start an Apache Ignite cluster.

  • Copy the Apache Ignite JDBC driver (ignite-core-VERSION.jar) to the "lib" directory of the SymmetricDS installation.

  • Start SymmetricDS and configure a master node with the desired source database.

  • Configure the desired node groups, group links, and routers.

  • Create a target node and database that will contain the SymmetricDS runtime tables for the Apache Ignite instance.

The simplest solution to support Ignite is to add a new node (see Add Node) that is connected to an H2 database to store all the SYM_* runtime tables.
  • Stop your SymmetricDS instance and edit the .properties file for the target node in the engines directory of the SymmetricDS installation.

  • Set the following properties in the engine file:

load.only=true
target.db.url=jdbc:ignite:thin://localhost
target.db.driver=org.apache.ignite.IgniteJdbcThinDriver
target.db.user=
target.db.password=
target.create.table.not.null.columns.supported=false
  • Update the jdbc url, username, and password to the desired Apache Ignite instance.

  • Restart SymmetricDS.

  • Create Table Triggers and Table Routers for the desired source tables to sync.

Keep in mind that SymmetricDS currently only supports syncing to the "PUBLIC" schema of an Apache Ignite instance.
  • (Optional) Perform an initial load from the source to the target node and/or send the table definitions to the Apache Ignite instance.

C.15. Informix

Use symadmin module install informix to install driver files, or copy your own files into the lib sub-directory.

The Informix Dialect was tested against Informix Dynamic Server 11.50, but older versions may also work. You need to download the Informix JDBC Driver (from the IBM Download Site) and put the ifxjdbc.jar and ifxlang.jar files in the SymmetricDS lib folder.

Make sure your database has logging enabled, which enables transaction support. Enable logging when creating the database, like this:

CREATE DATABASE MYDB WITH LOG;

Or enable logging on an existing database, like this:

ondblog mydb unbuf log
ontape -s -L 0

Make sure your user has permission to connect and create objects in the database:

GRANT CONNECT TO SYMMETRIC;
GRANT RESOURCE TO SYMMETRIC;

The following features are not yet implemented:

  1. Syncing of Binary and Character Large Objects (LOB) is disabled.

  2. There is no transaction ID recorded on data captured, so it is possible for data to be committed within different transactions on the target database. If transaction synchronization is required, either specify a custom transaction ID or configure the synchronization so data is always sent in a single batch. A custom transaction ID can be specified with the tx_id_expression on TRIGGER. The batch size is controlled with the max_batch_size on CHANNEL. The pull and push jobs have runtime properties to control their interval.

C.16. Ingres

This section describes Ingres specific SymmetricDS details.

C.16.1. Ingres Driver

The Ingres Driver is a licensed library, so the download of the driver can not be performed by SymmetricDS. You will have to provide the driver and install it in the lib sub-directory of the SymmetricDS installation.

C.16.2. Set Row Level Locking For Connections

The default locking by Ingres is page level locking, and can cause deadlocks to occur during SymmetricDS processing. In order to reduce the chance of deadlocks, set the connections used by SymmetricDS to use row level locking. This can be accomplished by setting the following parameter in the engine file:

db.init.sql=set lockmode session where level = row

C.16.3. Supported Data Types

Table 76. Supported Data Types
Data Type Supported?

Char

Yes

NChar

Yes

VarChar

Yes

NVarChar

Yes

Long VarChar

Yes

Long NVarChar

Yes

C

No

Text

No

TinyInt

Yes

SmallInt

Yes

Integer

Yes

BigInt

Yes

Float

Yes

Float4

No

AnsiDate

No

Time Without Time Zone

Yes

Time With Time Zone

Yes

Time With Local Time Zone

Yes

Timestamp Without Time Zone

Yes

Timestamp With Time Zone

Yes

Timestamp With Local Time Zone

Yes

Interval Year To Month

Yes

Interval Day To Second

Yes

IngresDate

No

Money

No

Logical_Key

No

IPV4

No

IPV6

No

UUID

Yes

Byte

Yes

VarByte

Yes

Long Byte

Yes

Boolean

Yes

Spatial

No

C.17. Interbase

Use symadmin module install interbase to install driver files, or copy your own files into the lib sub-directory.

The Interbase Dialect requires the installation of a User Defined Function (UDF) library in order to provide functionality needed by the database triggers. SymmetricDS includes the required UDF library, called SYM_UDF, in both source form (as a C program) and as pre-compiled libraries for both Windows and Linux.

Download the SymmetricDS UDF Library. The SYM_UDF library is copied into the UDF folder within the Interbase installation directory.

For Linux users:

cp interbase/sym_udf.so /opt/interbase/UDF

For Windows users:

copy interbase\sym_udf.dll C:\CodeGear\InterBase\UDF

The Interbase dialect currently has the following limitations:

  1. Data capture is limited to 4 KB per row, including large objects (LOB).

  2. There is no transaction ID recorded on data captured. Either specify a tx_id_expression on the TRIGGER table, or set a max_batch_size on the CHANNEL table that will accommodate your transactional data.

C.18. Kafka

Use symadmin module install kafka to install driver files, or copy your own files into the lib sub-directory.

Send changes from your relational database to Kafka in a variety of formats. A Kafka node can be setup as a Load Only Node to receive changes from another node that is capturing changes.

C.18.1. Output Message Format

Set the output message format with the following property
kafka.format=JSON|XML|AVRO|CSV
JSON

Json formatted output message

{
  "table name": {
    "eventType": "INSERT|UPDATE|DELETE",
    "data": {
      "column name": "value",....
    }
  }
}
XML

Xml formatted output message

<row entity="table name" dml="INSERT|UPDATE|DELETE">
        <data key="column name">value</data>
        ...
</row>
AVRO

Apache Avro output message (Avro Schema Below)

{
  "type": "record",
  "name": "cdc",
  "fields": [
    {
      "name": "table",
      "type": "string"
    },
    {
      "name": "eventType",
      "type": "string"
    },
    {
      "name": "data",
      "type": {
        "type": "array",
        "items": {
          "name": "column",
          "type": "record",
          "fields": [
            {
              "name": "name",
              "type": "string"
            },
            {
              "name": "value",
              "type": [
                "null",
                "string"
              ]
            }
          ]
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}
CSV

CSV formatted output message

TABLE,table name,EVENT,INSERT|UPDATE|DELETE,column name,value, ...

C.18.2. Setting the Topic

Set the topic using the following property
kafka.topic.by=CHANNEL|TABLE
CHANNEL

This will send to a topic based on the channel of the batch that is being sent.

TABLE

This will send to a topic based on the table name of the change.

C.18.3. Setting Messages By

Set following property to determine how messages will be sent.
kafka.message.by=BATCH|ROW
BATCH

This will send one message for each batch containing all changes.

ROW

This will send one messsage for each change captured.

C.18.4. Setting The Producer

Set following property to specify the producer of the messages.
kafka.producer=myapplication

C.18.5. Using a Confluent AVRO Schema Registry

The message format must be AVRO for this option to work.
Set following property to a Confluent registry.
kafka.confluent.registry.url
Set following property to the base java package that contains the java POJOs that implement the org.apache.avro.generic.IndexedRecord.
kafka.avro.java.package
The jar file containing the AVRO generated POJO java beans must be placed in the /lib or /patches folder of SymmetricDS and then a restart is required.

C.18.6. Using Authentication

Any engine property prefixed with kafkaclient will be passed through to the Kafka client producer. Here is an example of authentication over SSL.

kafkaclient.security.protocol=SASL_SSL
kafkaclient.sasl.mechanism=PLAIN
kafkaclient.sasl.jaas.config=org.apache.kafka.common.security.plain.PlainLoginModule required username="myuser" password="mypassword";

C.19. MariaDB

Use symadmin module install mariadb to install driver files, or copy your own files into the lib sub-directory.

See MySQL notes. You can use either the MySQL or MariaDB driver for this dialect.

Table 77. Supported Data Types
Data Type Supported?

TinyInt, SmallInt, MediumInt, Int, BigInt

Yes

Decimal, Numeric

Yes

Float, Double

Yes

Bit

Yes

Char, Varchar

Yes

Binary, VarBinary

Yes

TinyBlob

No

Blob, MediumBlob, Longblob

Yes

TinyText, Text, MediumText, LongText

Yes

Enum

No

Set

No

Date, Time, DateTime, TimeStamp, Year

Yes

Point, LineString, Polygon, MultiPoint, MultiLinestring, MultiPolygon, GeometryCollection, Geometry

No

C.19.1. Bulk Loading

When registering a Maria database with SymmetricDS, bulk loading will be checked by default.

mysql enable bulk loading

To succesfully bulk load, once your MySQL database is registered with SymmetricDS, go to the top of the screen and select the MySQL node you want to bulk load from the drop down list of your nodes.

Then, go to the Manage tab, and go to Startup Parameters and set mysql.bulk.load.local to true, and restart SymmetricDS.

mysql bulk load local true

After completing this step, your Maria database should be configured to bulk load.

C.20. MongoDB

MongoDB is only supported in the professional version of SymmetricDS.

C.21. MySQL

MySQL supports several storage engines for different table types. However, SymmetricDS requires a storage engine that handles transactions. The recommended storage engine is InnoDB, which is included by default in MySQL 5.0 distributions. Either select the InnoDB engine during installation or modify your server configuration. To make InnoDB the default storage engine, modify your MySQL server configuration file (my.ini on Windows, my.cnf on Unix):

default-storage_engine = innodb

Alternatively, you can convert tables to the InnoDB storage engine with the following command:

alter table t engine = innodb;

On MySQL 5.0, the SymmetricDS user needs the SUPER privilege in order to create triggers.

grant super on *.* to symmetric;

On MySQL 5.1, the SymmetricDS user needs the TRIGGER, PROCESS, and CREATE ROUTINE privileges in order to create triggers and functions.

grant trigger on *.* to symmetric;
grant create routine on *.* to symmetric;
grant alter routine on *.* to symmetric;
grant process on *.* to symmetric;

Starting in MySQL 5.7.6, the "PROCESS" privilege is also required for the MySQL user that is modifying the application tables. This is required to look up the transaction id. Internally, the trigger will submit this query during an insert/update/delete:

select TRX_ID from INFORMATION_SCHEMA.INNODB_TRX where TRX_MYSQL_THREAD_ID = CONNECTION_ID();

grant process on *.* to db_user;

MySQL allows '0000-00-00 00:00:00' to be entered as a value for datetime and timestamp columns. JDBC cannot deal with a date value with a year of 0. In order to work around this SymmetricDS can be configured to treat date and time columns as varchar columns for data capture and data load. To enable this feature set the db.treat.date.time.as.varchar.enabled property to true.

If you are using UTF-8 encoding in the database, you might consider using the characterEncoding parameter in the JDBC URL.

jdbc:mysql://hostname/databasename?tinyInt1isBit=false&characterEncoding=utf8

If you are using Amazon Web Services to run the MySQL instance, Amazon by default uses binary log replication and disables the creation of triggers. In order to allow SymmetricDS to function correctly, the parameter 'log_bin_trust_function_creators' needs to be set to a value of '1'. You can set this value by logging into the database as root and enter the following command:

mysql -u USERNAME -p
set global log_bin_trust_function_creators=1;

If you can not log into the server as root, then you can set the parameter in a new parameter group on the Relational Database Services (RDS) web console. See the documentation from RDS for details.

Table 78. Supported Data Types
Data Type Supported?

TinyInt, SmallInt, Int, MediumInt, BigInt

Yes

Decimal, Numeric

Yes

Float, Double

Yes

Bit

Yes

Date, DateTime, TimeStamp, Time, Year

Yes

Char, Varchar

Yes

Binary, VarBinary

Yes

TinyBlob, Blob, MediumBlob, BigBlob

Yes

TinyText, Text, MediumText, BigText

Yes

Enum

No

Set

No

Geometry, Point, LineString, Polygon, GeometryCollection, MultiPoint, MultiLinestring, MultiPolygon

No

C.21.1. Bulk Loading

When registering a MySQL database with SymmetricDS, bulk loading will be checked by default.

mysql enable bulk loading

To succesfully bulk load, once your MySQL database is registered with SymmetricDS, go to the top of the screen and select the MySQL node you want to bulk load from the drop down list of your nodes.

mysql selecting node 1
mysql selecting node 2

Then, go to the Manage tab, and go to Startup Parameters and set mysql.bulk.load.local to true, and restart SymmetricDS.

mysql bulk load local true

In order to bulk load, your MySQL database must have the local_infile variable set to ON. In order to set this, you can run the query below to set the variable and have it remain on, even upon the restarting of your database.

SET PERSIST local_infile=1;

After completing these steps, your MySQL database should be configured to bulk load.

C.22. Progress OpenEdge

Progress OpenEdge is only supported in the professional version of SymmetricDS.

C.23. OpenSearch

OpenSearch is only supported in the professional version of SymmetricDS.

C.24. Oracle

This section describes Oracle specific SymmetricDS details.

C.24.1. Permissions

The SymmetricDS database user generally needs privileges for connecting and creating tables (including indexes), triggers, sequences, and procedures (including packages and functions). For change data capture, use the following permissions:

GRANT CONNECT TO SYMMETRIC;
GRANT RESOURCE TO SYMMETRIC;
GRANT CREATE ANY TRIGGER TO SYMMETRIC;
GRANT EXECUTE ON UTL_RAW TO SYMMETRIC;

C.24.2. Known Limitations

  • The LONG data type is not supported with change capture, since LONG columns cannot be accessed from triggers. The data in LONG columns can still be kept in sync by enabling the use_stream_lobs feature in TRIGGER.

  • The global precision of numeric columns is controlled by the oracle.template.precision parameter. It defaults to a precision of 30,10

  • With the default settings a database row cannot exceed 4k. If the error 'ORA-01489: result of string concatenation is too long' occurs then set use_capture_lobs to 1 in the TRIGGER table and contains_big_lobs to 1 on the assigned CHANNEL. Triggers will need to be synchronized. By enabling use_capture_lobs, the concatenated varchar string is cast to a clob which allows a length of more than 4k. By enabling contains_big_lobs, the extraction of sym_data is cast to a clob which prevents truncation at 4k. There is overhead for both of these settings

  • When multiple triggers are defined on the same table, then the order in which the triggers occur appears to be arbitrary

C.24.3. Bulk Loading

SymmetricDS has bulk loading capability available for Oracle. SymmetricDS specifies data loader types on a channel by channel basis.

To utilize bulk loading with Oracle, you should create a user that is not the default system user of the database. Whatever user you end up using, make sure it also has the permissions mentioned above in the Database Permission section, as well as the ones mentioned below. It’s important to note that SQL Loader (what Oracle uses to bulk load) will not work if either your user name or password contains a '@' symbol, so make sure to avoid this in both your username and password.

create user yourusername identified by "yourpassword";

Once your user is created, make sure to add the following permissions to the user to make sure that Symmetric has the correct permissions to bulk load with your database. (Again, make sure your user has the permissions mentioned in the Database Permission section as well)

GRANT CREATE SESSION TO yourusername;
GRANT CREATE TABLE TO yourusername;
alter user yourusername quota unlimited on system;
GRANT CONNECT TO yourusername;
GRANT RESOURCE TO yourusername;
GRANT CREATE ANY TRIGGER TO yourusername;
GRANT EXECUTE ON UTL_RAW To yourusername;

Register your Oracle database with Symmetric using the user you’ve just created. Once you have done that, when you get to the Bulk Loading screen on the Connect Database Wizard you will need to provide a path to your SQL Loader installation. If you do not have SQL Loader installed, there is a link provided in the Connect Database Wizard where you can go to get this installed.

Once you have your database registered, to utilize Oracle Bulk loading versus straight JDBC insert, specify the Oracle Bulk Loader ("bulk") in the data_loader_type column of sym_channel table.

Once these steps are complete your database should be configured to bulk load with SymmetricDS.

C.24.4. Optional - Partitioning

Partitioning the DATA table by channel can help insert, routing and extraction performance on concurrent, high throughput systems. TRIGGERs should be organized to put data that is expected to be inserted concurrently on separate CHANNELs. The following is an example of partitioning. Note that both the table and the index should be partitioned. The default value allows for more channels to be added without having to modify the partitions.

CREATE TABLE SYM_DATA
(
    data_id INTEGER NOT NULL ,
    table_name VARCHAR2(50) NOT NULL,
    event_type CHAR(1) NOT NULL,
    row_data CLOB,
    pk_data CLOB,
    old_data CLOB,
    trigger_hist_id INTEGER NOT NULL,
    channel_id VARCHAR2(20),
    transaction_id VARCHAR2(1000),
    source_node_id VARCHAR2(50),
    external_data VARCHAR2(50),
    create_time TIMESTAMP
) PARTITION BY LIST (channel_id) (
PARTITION P_CONFIG VALUES ('config'),
PARTITION P_CHANNEL_ONE VALUES ('channel_one'),
PARTITION P_CHANNEL_TWO VALUES ('channel_two'),
...
PARTITION P_CHANNEL_N VALUES ('channel_n'),
PARTITION P_DEFAULT VALUES (DEFAULT));
CREATE UNIQUE INDEX IDX_D_CHANNEL_ID ON SYM_DATA (DATA_ID, CHANNEL_ID)  LOCAL
(
 PARTITION I_CONFIG,
 PARTITION I_CHANNEL_ONE,
 PARTITION I_CHANNEL_TWO,
 ...
 PARTITION I_CHANNEL_N,
 PARTITION I_DEFAULT
);

C.24.5. Supported Data Types

Table 79. Supported Data Types
Data Type Supported?

Char

Yes

NChar

Yes

VarChar2

Yes

NVarChar2

Yes

Long

No

Number

Yes

Binary_Float

Yes

Binary_Double

Yes

Date

Yes

Timestamp

Yes

Timestamp With Time Zone

Yes

Timestamp With Local Time Zone

Yes

Interval Year to Month

Yes

Interval Day to Second

Yes

Raw

Yes

Long Raw

No

RowID

Yes

URowID

No

Clob

Yes

NClob

Yes

Blob

Yes

BFile

No

C.25. PostgreSQL

Starting with PostgreSQL 8.3, SymmetricDS supports the transaction identifier. Binary Large Object (BLOB) replication is supported for both byte array (BYTEA) and object ID (OID) data types.

In order to function properly, SymmetricDS needs to use session variables. Before PostgreSQL 9.2, session variables are enabled using a custom variable class. Add the following line to the postgresql.conf file of PostgreSQL server on versions before 9.2:

custom_variable_classes = 'symmetric'

This setting is required on versions before 9.2, and SymmetricDS will log an error and exit if it cannot set session variables. PostgreSQL versions 9.2 or later do not require this setting.

Before database triggers can be created by in PostgreSQL, the plpgsql language handler must be installed on the database. If plpgsql is not already installed, the following statements can be run by the administrator on the database:

CREATE FUNCTION plpgsql_call_handler() RETURNS language_handler AS
    '$libdir/plpgsql' LANGUAGE C;

CREATE FUNCTION plpgsql_validator(oid) RETURNS void AS
    '$libdir/plpgsql' LANGUAGE C;

CREATE TRUSTED PROCEDURAL LANGUAGE plpgsql
    HANDLER plpgsql_call_handler
    VALIDATOR plpgsql_validator;

If you want SymmetricDS to install into a schema other than public you can alter the database user to set the default schema.

alter user {user name} set search_path to {schema name};

You will also need to set privileges on the schema so that the SymmetricDS user can use and write to the schema.

grant usage on schema {schema name} to {user name};
grant create on schema {schema name} to {user name};

C.25.1. Permissions

If SymmetricDS is connected into a different schema than the application tables and a different user account is used to write to the the application tables the following permissions need to be granted to the application user to access the SymmetricDS schema

GRANT SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE ON ALL TABLES IN SCHEMA {SYMMETRIC_SCHEMA} TO  {APPLICATION USER}
GRANT ALL ON SCHEMA {SYMMETRIC_SCHEMA} TO {APPLICATION USER}
GRANT ALL ON ALL SEQUENCES IN SCHEMA {SYMMETRIC_SCHEMA} TO  {APPLICATION USER}
GRANT ALL ON ALL FUNCTIONS IN SCHEMA {SYMMETRIC_SCHEMA} TO  {APPLICATION USER}
Table 80. supported data types
Data Type Supported?

SmallInt, Integer, BigInt

Yes

Decimal, Numeric

Yes

Real, Double Precesion

Yes

Serial, BigSerial

Yes

Char, Varchar, Text

Yes

Money

No

Timestamp, Date, Time, Interval

Yes

Enum

No

Point, Lseg, Box, Path, Polygon, Circle

Yes

C.25.2. Bulk Loading

SymmetricDS has bulk loading capability available for Postgres, when registering a PostgreSQL database with SymmetricDS, bulk loading will be checked by default. SymmetricDS specifies data loader types on a channel by channel basis. To utilize Postgres Bulk loading versus straight JDBC insert, specify the Postgres Bulk Loader ("postgres_bulk") in the data_loader_type column of sym_channel.

C.26. RabbitMQ

Send changes from your relational database to RabbitMQ in a variety of formats. A RabbitMQ node can be setup as a Load Only Node to receive changes from another node that is capturing changes.

C.26.1. Output Message Format

Set the output message format with the following property
rabbitmq.format=JSON|XML|CSV
JSON

Json formatted output message

{
  "table name": {
    "eventType": "INSERT|UPDATE|DELETE",
    "data": {
      "column name": "value",....
    }
  }
}
XML

Xml formatted output message

<row entity="table name" dml="INSERT|UPDATE|DELETE">
        <data key="column name">value</data>
        ...
</row>
CSV

CSV formatted output message

TABLE,table name,EVENT,INSERT|UPDATE|DELETE,column name,value, ...

C.26.2. Setting Messages By

Set following property to determine how messages will be sent.
rabbitmq.message.by=BATCH|ROW
BATCH

This will send one message for each batch containing all changes.

ROW

This will send one messsage for each change captured.

C.26.3. Setting Queue By

Set following property to determine what queues will be used to load data to.
rabbitmq.queue.by=TABLE|CHANNEL|USER
TABLE

A queue with the name of the table will be created for each table in the batch. For example if you are sending information from a table called "my_table", a queue called "my_table" will be created and the messages will be sent there.

CHANNEL

A queue with the name of the channel will be created for the name of the channel of the batch. For example, if the batch is sent on the "reload" channel, a queue called "sym_reload" will be created and the messages will be sent there.

USER

A queue with the name of the user will be created to load data to.

C.26.4. Queue Name

Enter the queue name you wish to configure with SymmetricDS. If you enter a value for this field, it will override the "Queue By" selection. If you leave this field blank, queue(s) will be created based on the "Queue By" field.

C.27. Redshift

Use symadmin module install redshift to install driver files, or copy your own files into the lib sub-directory.

Redshift is a managed data warehouse in the cloud from Amazon. Version 1.0 of Redshift is based on PostgreSQL 8.0, with some features modified or removed. SymmetricDS supports Redshift as a target platform where data can be loaded, but it does not support data capture. However, the initial load and reload functions are implemented, so it is possible to query rows from Redshift tables and send them to another database.

While Redshift started with PostgreSQL 8.0, there are some important differences from PostgreSQL. Redshift does not support constraints, indexes, functions, triggers, or sequences. Primary keys, foreign keys, and unique indexes can be defined on tables, but they are informational metadata that are not enforced by the system. When using the default data loader with SymmetricDS, it will enforce primary keys, either defined in the database or with the sync keys features, by checking if a row exists before attempting an insert. However, the bulk loader does not perform this check. The data types supported are smallint, integer, bigint, decimal, real, double precision, boolean, char, varchar, date, and timestamp.

A data loader named "redshift_bulk" is a bulk loader that can be set for a channel to improve loading performance. Instead of sending individual SQL statements to the database, it creates a comma separated value (CSV) file, uploads the object to Amazon S3, and uses the COPY statement to load it. The COPY command appends the new data to any existing rows in the table. If the target table has any IDENTITY columns, the EXPLICIT_IDS option is enabled to override the auto-generated values and load the incoming values. The following parameters (see Appendix B) can be set for bulk loader:

redshift.bulk.load.max.rows.before.flush

When the max rows is reached, the flat file is sent to S3 and loaded into the database. The default is 100,000 rows.

redshift.bulk.load.max.bytes.before.flush

When the max bytes is reached, the flat file is sent to S3 and loaded into the database. The default is 1,000,000,000 bytes.

redshift.bulk.load.s3.bucket

The S3 bucket name where files are uploaded. This bucket should be created from the AWS console ahead of time.

redshift.bulk.load.s3.access.key

The AWS access key ID to use as credentials for uploading to S3 and loading from S3.

redshift.bulk.load.s3.secret.key

The AWS secret key to use as credentials for uploading to S3 and loading from S3.

redshift.bulk.load.s3.endpoint

The AWS endpoint used for uploading to S3. This is optional. You might need to specify if you get warnings about retrying during the S3 upload.

To clean and organize tables after bulk changes, it is recommended to run a "vacuum" against individual tables or the entire database so that consistent query performance is maintained. Deletes and updates mark rows for delete that are not automatically reclaimed. New rows are stored in a separate unsorted region, forcing queries to sort on demand. Consider running a "vacuum" periodically during a maintenance window when there is minimal query activity that will be affected. If large batches are continually loaded from SymmetricDS, the "vacuum" command can be run after committing a batch by using a load filter (see Section 3.9) for the "batch commit" event, like this:

for (String tablename : context.getParsedTables().keySet()) {
    engine.getSqlTemplate().update("vacuum " + tablename, new Object[] { } );
}

C.28. SingleStore

SingleStore is only available in the professional version of SymmetricDS. Supports bi-directional replication with SingleStore using log based data capture from the audit logs.

C.28.1. Requirements

User provided to connect SymmetricDS to the SingleStore database must be different than the user account used by applications writing to SingleStore. This is required for configurations where SingleStore is used as a source.

Several database variables need to to be setup to support audit logging when SingleStore is a source node. These variables can be set using the sdb-admin tool.

Setting variables
sdb-admin update-config --key auditlog_level --value ALL-QUERIES-PLAINTEXT --all
sdb-admin update-config --key auditlog_disk_sync --value ON --all
sdb-admin update-config --key auditlog_retention_period --value 7 --all

C.29. Snowflake

Use symadmin module install snowflake to install driver files, or copy your own files into the lib sub-directory.

C.29.1. Setup

Snowflake supports running as a load only node in SymmetricDS. See Load Only Node for details on setting up a load only node in SymmetricDS. Snowflake can also be set up to capture changes using log-mining.

Example properties to setup a Snowflake load only node
load.only=true
target.db.driver=net.snowflake.client.jdbc.SnowflakeDriver
target.db.url=jdbc:snowflake://<account_name>.snowflakecomputing.com/?db=<database_name>
target.db.user=<snowflake_user>
target.db.password=<snowflake_password>

C.29.2. Permissions

Log Miner Permissions

If the tables that are being tracked for change data capture using log mining are already created, each table needs to be altered to add change data tracking to it. An example DDL statement to turn this on is shown:

ALTER TABLE TABLE1 SET CHANGE_TRACKING=TRUE;

Permissions must also be added to the database user ID that is used to access the Snowflake database. Assuming that you wanted to use a role called SYMMETRIC and a user called SYMMETRIC, here are the set of permissions that must be set in order for SymmetricDS to successfully run the log mining (called Streams in Snowflake) functionality (replace <warehouse>, <database>, and <schema> with real values):

CREATE ROLE SYMMETRIC;
GRANT USAGE ON WAREHOUSE <warehouse> TO ROLE SYMMETRIC;
GRANT USAGE ON DATABASE <database> TO ROLE SYMMETRIC;
GRANT USAGE ON SCHEMA <database>.<schema> TO ROLE SYMMETRIC;
GRANT CREATE STREAM ON SCHEMA <database>.<schema> TO ROLE SYMMETRIC;
GRANT SELECT ON ALL TABLES IN DATABASE <database> TO ROLE SYMMETRIC;
GRANT CREATE TABLE ON SCHEMA <database>.<schema> TO ROLE SYMMETRIC;
GRANT CREATE FILE FORMAT ON SCHEMA SYMMETRIC_TEST.SYMMETRIC_TEST TO ROLE SYMMETRIC;
CREATE USER SYMMETRIC PASSWORD = 'symmetric' DEFAULT_ROLE = 'SYMMETRIC';
GRANT ROLE SYMMETRIC TO USER SYMMETRIC;

C.29.3. Bulk Loading

Setup reload channels for bulk loading.

Update any reload channels that will be used on the table triggers that will capture changes and send them to snowflake by setting the column data_loader_type to 'bulk'. It is also recommended to increase the batch size so that larger CSV files will be processed instead of the default size on reloads of 10,000 rows.

Example SQL to setup the main reload channel to use bulk and also update the batch sizes.
update sym_channel set data_loader_type='bulk', max_batch_size=500000 where channel_id='reload'

If you have SymmetricDS create the tables to synchronize into Snowflake, SymmetricDS creates the tables with a cluster column specification based on the primary key of the table. If you do not want SymmetricDS to create the clustered columns, set the following property in the symmetric-server.properties file in the conf directory and restart the instance:

snowflake.cluster.primary.keys=false

If you do not have SymmetricDS create the tables, and you want clustered columns to be specified, you will have to define the cluster specification yourself. Here is an example statement of a clustered column specification for a primary key column called ID on table TABLE1:

ALTER TABLE TABLE1 CLUSTER BY (ID);

When defining the triggers, make sure to specify the source catalog (which would be the Snowflake database value) and the source schema for each table.

Choose a bulk load storage option

SymmetricDS will create and send CSV files to the a desired storage location (see below) as part of the load. Once the CSV files have been uploaded to a selected storage area Snowflake’s COPY INTO command will be used to load the data into Snowflake. Once the COPY INTO has completed SymmetricDS will also remove the CSV file from the storage container.

There are currently 3 supported storage options to stage the CSV files prior to loading into Snowflake
  • Snowflake Managed (internal storage)

  • AWS: S3

  • Azure: Storage Account

    SNOWFLAKE MANAGED

    Use a Snowflake managed internal stage.

snowflake.staging.type=SNOWFLAKE_INTERNAL
snowflake.internal.stage.name=<defaults to symmetricds>
AWS S3

Use an existing AWS S3 cloud storage.

snowflake.staging.type=AWS_S3
cloud.bulk.load.s3.bucket=
cloud.bulk.load.s3.access.key=
cloud.bulk.load.s3.secret.key=
AZURE Storage Account

Use an existing Azure Storage Account.

snowflake.staging.type=AZURE
cloud.bulk.load.azure.account.name=<storage account name>
cloud.bulk.load.azure.account.key=
cloud.bulk.load.azure.blob.container=<defaults to symmetricds>
cloud.bulk.load.azure.sas.token=

C.30. SQLite

Use symadmin module install sqlite to install driver files, or copy your own files into the lib sub-directory.

For SQLite, the implementation of sync-on-incoming back and the population of a source node if in the sym data rows relies on use of a context table (by default, called sym_context) to hold a boolean and node id in place of the more common methods of using temp tables (which are inaccessible from triggers) or functions (which are not available). The context table assumes there’s a single thread updating the database at any one time. If that is not the case in the future, the current implementation of sync on incoming batch will be unreliable.

Nodes using SQLite should have the jobs.synchronized.enable parameter set to true. This parameter causes the jobs and push/pull threads to all run in a synchronized fashion, which is needed in the case of SQLite.

The SQLite dialect has the following limitations:

  • There is no transaction ID recorded on data captured. Either specify a tx_id_expression on the TRIGGER table, or set a max_batch_size on the CHANNEL table that will accommodate your transactional data.

  • Due to the single threaded access to SQLite, the following parameter should be set to true: jobs.synchronized.enable. The sync.triggers.thread.count.per.server parameter should be set to 1.

Table 81. Suported Data Types
Data Type Supported?

Text

Yes

Numeric

Yes

Integer

Yes

Real

Yes

Blob

Yes

C.30.1. Loading Data

SymmetricDS has bulk loading capability available for SQLite, when registering a SQLite database with SymmetricDS, bulk loading will be checked by default. SymmetricDS specifies data loader types on a channel by channel basis. Once you have your database registered, to utilize bulk loading versus straight JDBC insert, specify the Bulk Loader ("bulk") in the data_loader_type column of sym_channel table.

C.31. SQL Server

Microsoft SQL Server was tested using the jTDS JDBC driver.

SQL Server allows the update of primary key fields via the SQL update statement. If your application allows updating of the primary key field(s) for a table, and you want those updates synchronized, you will need to set the "Handle Key Updates" field on the trigger record for that specific table. The default for Handle Key Updates is false.

SymmetricDS expects a row count to be returned for data manipulation statements, which is the default setting for most server. However, if the NOCOUNT option is ON for SQL-Server, SymmetricDS will not behave correctly. The NOCOUNT setting can be checked with "select case when (512 & @@OPTIONS) = 512 then 'on' else 'off' end". If you’re unable to change NOCOUNT for the server, the "db.init.sql" parameter can be set to "SET NOCOUNT OFF" in the engine properties file.

Connections are pooled and expected to be in the database context like a new connection, so avoid using the "USE database" Transact-SQL statement in extension code.

If SQL Server is configured with a default collation that does NOT support unicode then we have experienced bad performance for update and delete statements when a table has character based primary keys. This is because statements are prepared for a unicode type and as a result the indexes are not used. You can turn this functionality off in JTDS by appending the following to your db.url: ;sendStringParametersAsUnicode=false

C.31.1. Permissions

SymmetricDS can be configured to work with a variety SQL Server configurations. It is possible to install SymmetricDS in the same database and schema with the same user account your application runs. However you can also set it up to run in its own database with a designated user. Whichever configuration you choose below are the permissions required for SymmetricDS to run.

Symmetric User

Application User

Symmetric Database

CREATE TABLE, CREATE FUNCTION, REFERENCES

INSERT, EXECUTE

Symmetric Schema

ALTER, SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE

Application Database

SELECT, ALTER (and INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE if the node is a target)

Example 25. Example Script for a designated SymmetricDS database and user account

Replace the following variables with your desired values.

SYM_USER

The SymmetricDS user

SYM_DATABASE

The database the SymmetricDS runtime tables will be installed in

APP_DATABASE

The application database where sync data resides

APP_USER

The application database user account that the application uses when making changes to the data.

-- SymmetricDS User

CREATE LOGIN SYM_USER
WITH PASSWORD = 'SYM_USER';
GO
use SYM_DATABASE;
GO
CREATE USER SYM_USER FOR LOGIN SYM_USER;
GO
GRANT CREATE TABLE ON DATABASE::SYM_DATABASE to SYM_USER;
GRANT CREATE FUNCTION ON DATABASE::SYM_DATABASE to SYM_USER;
GRANT REFERENCES ON DATABASE::SYM_DATABASE to SYM_USER;
GRANT ALTER, SELECT, INSERT, DELETE, UPDATE ON SCHEMA::dbo TO SYM_USER;
GO

use APP_DATABASE;
CREATE USER SYM_USER FOR LOGIN SYM_USER
GRANT SELECT, ALTER ON DATABASE::APP_DATABASE to SYM_USER;

-- Grant the below permissions to the SymmetricDS User if the node is a target

GRANT INSERT, DELETE, UPDATE ON DATABASE::APP_DATABASE to SYM_USER;

-- Application User

CREATE LOGIN APP_USER
WITH PASSWORD = 'APP_USER';
GO
use APP_DATABASE;
GO
CREATE USER APP_USER FOR LOGIN APP_USER
GO
GRANT SELECT, INSERT, DELETE, UPDATE ON SCHEMA::dbo TO APP_USER;
GO
use SYM_DATABASE;
CREATE USER APP_USER FOR LOGIN APP_USER
GRANT INSERT, EXECUTE ON DATABASE::SYM_DATABASE to APP_USER;
Table 82. Supported Data Types
Data Type Supported?

BigInt, Int, SmallInt, TinyInt

Yes

Decimal, Numeric

Yes

Bit

Yes

Money, SmallMoney

Yes

Float, Real

Yes

Date, DateTime, Datetime2, SmallDatetime, Time

Yes

Datetimeoffset

Yes

Char, Varchar, Text, Nchar, Nvarchar, Ntext

Yes

Binary, Varbinary

Yes

Image

Yes

Spatial Data Types

No

C.31.2. Bulk Loading

When registering a SQL Server database with SymmetricDS, bulk loading will be be checked by default. In order to make use of bulk loading, the user must provide a path to a bcp executable (installation for this executable is linked in the Connect Database Wizard when asked about bulk loading).

C.32. Sybase ASE

Use symadmin module install sybase to install driver files, or copy your own files into the lib sub-directory.

Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise (ASE) was tested using the jConnect 7 JDBC driver. The jConnect 7 JDBC driver should be placed in the "lib" folder.

driver class : com.sybase.jdbc4.jdbc.SybDriver

SymmetricDS requires the "select into" database option be turned on for Sybase ASE. Run the following command with the sa account on the master database while replacing the database value with your database name.

sp_dboption 'YOUR_DATABASE', 'select into', true

SymmetricDS requires that the meta data information be installed on each database that will be used in replication. Sybase provides these metadata store procedures in a script that is packaged with the installation.

Without the metadata stored procedures installed above the following error will be produced by SymmetricDS

Error while reading the database metadata: JZ0SJ: Metadata accessor information was not found on this database. Please install the required tables as mentioned in the jConnect documentation.
Set the classpath to contain the jconnect jar and the classes directory
export CLASSPATH=/opt/sybase/jConnect-7_0/classes/jconn4.jar:/opt/sybase/jConnect-7_0/classes
Install appropriate script from the jconnect driver folder in your Sybase installation under the /sp directory
java  IsqlApp -U sa -P {SA_PASSWORD} -S jdbc:sybase:Tds:{HOSTNAME}:{PORT}/{DATABASE} -I sql_server{SYBASE VERSION}.sql -c go

Columns of type DATETIME are accurate to 1/300th of a second, which means that the last digit of the milliseconds portion will end with 0, 3, or 6. An incoming DATETIME synced from another database will also have its millisconds rounded to one of these digits (0 and 1 become 0; 2, 3, and 4 become 3; 5, 6, 7, and 8 become 6; 9 becomes 10). If DATETIME is used as the primary key or as one of the columns to detect a conflict, then conflict resolution could fail unless the milliseconds are rounded in the same fashion on the source system.

On ASE, each new trigger in a table for the same operation (insert, update, or delete) overwrites the previous one. No warning message displays before the overwrite occurs. When SymmetricDS is installed and configured to synchronize a table, it will install triggers that could overwrite already existing triggers on the database. New triggers created after SymmetricDS is installed will overwrite the SymmetricDS triggers. Custom trigger text can be added to the SymmetricDS triggers by modifying CUSTOM_ON_INSERT_TEXT, CUSTOM_ON_UPDATE_TEXT, and CUSTOM_ON_DELETE_TEXT on the TRIGGER table.

SymmetricDS expects a row count to be returned for data manipulation statements, which is the default setting for most server. However, if the NOCOUNT option is ON or the "send doneinproc tokens" setting is 0 for Sybase, SymmetricDS will not behave correctly. The NOCOUNT setting can be checked with "select case when (512 & @@OPTIONS) = 512 then 'on' else 'off' end". The DONEINPROC setting can be checked with "sp_configure 'send doneinproc tokens'". The commands "sp_configure 'send doneinproc tokens', 1" and "SET NOCOUNT OFF" will enable row counts. If you’re unable to change NOCOUNT for the server, the "db.init.sql" parameter can be set to "SET NOCOUNT OFF" in the engine properties file.

Connections are pooled and expected to be in the database context like a new connection, so avoid using the "USE database" Transact-SQL statement in extension code.

Table 83. Supported Data Types
Data Type Supported?

BigInt, Int, SmallInt, TinyInt

Yes

Decimal, Numeric

Yes

Bit

Yes

Money, SmallMoney

No

Float, Real

Yes

NChar, NVarchar

No

UNIChar, UNIVarchar, UNIText

No

Date, DateTime, SmallDatetime, Time

Yes

Char, Varchar, Text

Yes

Binary, Varbinary

Yes

Image

Yes

Blob

Yes

C.32.1. Permissions

The SymmetricDS database user generally needs privileges for connecting and creating tables (including indexes), triggers, sequences, and procedures (including packages and functions). In Sybase ASE, only the System Administrator can create or drop triggers on tables it does not own. The table owner can create or drop triggers freely on their tables. For change data capture, it is recommended that the application user who controls Sybase and SymmetricDS be the same, so that there will be no permissions errors with dropping or creating triggers. This means that all of the Sybase tables pertaining to and being used by SymmetricDS are owned by the same user, and that is the user who is assigned to SymmetricDS. If this is not possible, the SA user is the only other option, as users cannot be granted the permission to create or delete triggers on tables they do not own. Any outside users that will need to Insert, Update, Delete or read from a Sybase table that they do not own will need the following permissions for any tables they need access to:

grant ALL on <catalog.schema.tablename> to <user_name>
go

ALL is referring to the combination of INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, SELECT, ALTER and REFERENCES. These can be done individually or as the ALL command demonstrated above.

C.32.2. Bulk Loading

SymmetricDS has bulk loading capability available for Sybase ASE, when registering a Sybase ASE database with SymmetricDS, bulk loading will be checked by default. SymmetricDS specifies data loader types on a channel by channel basis. Once you have your database registered, to utilize bulk loading versus straight JDBC insert, specify the Bulk Loader ("bulk") in the data_loader_type column of sym_channel table.

C.33. SQL Anywhere

Use symadmin module install sybase to install driver files, or copy your own files into the lib sub-directory.

SQL Anywhere and Sybase Adaptive Server Anywhere (ASA) were tested using the jConnect JDBC driver. The jConnect JDBC driver should be placed in the "lib" folder.

C.34. Amazon S3

S3 is only supported in the professional version of SymmetricDS.

C.35. Teradata

Use symadmin module install teradata to install driver files, or copy your own files into the lib sub-directory.

Teradata is only supported as a Load Only Node. It can only be used as a target to load data into from other dialects.

C.35.1. Drivers

All jdbc driver jar files need to be placed in the SymmetricDS installation /lib directory or on the classpath of the app server for a deployment through a war file.

The following jars were required to load data into 15.10
  • terajdbc4.jar

  • tdgssconfig.jar

C.35.2. Permissions

The user provided at the setup of the node but have select access to the DBC database.

GRANT SELECT ON "DBC" TO {USER} WITH GRANT OPTION;

C.35.3. Bulk Loading

Turn off the initial load extract in background job

initial.load.use.extract.job.enabled=false

There is a bulk loader provided for Teradata that can be used by setting the Channels data loader type to bulk for any reload channels used. This will use the FASTLOADCSV process provided by Teradata.

To use the FASTLOADCSV the Teradata table must be empty.

C.36. Tibero

Use symadmin module install tibero to install driver files, or copy your own files into the lib sub-directory.

This section describes Tibero specific SymmetricDS details.

C.36.1. Permissions

The SymmetricDS database user generally needs privileges for connecting and creating tables (including indexes), triggers, sequences, and procedures (including packages and functions). The following is an example of the needed grant statements:

GRANT CONNECT TO SYMMETRIC;
GRANT RESOURCE TO SYMMETRIC;
GRANT CREATE ANY TRIGGER TO SYMMETRIC;
GRANT EXECUTE ON UTL_RAW TO SYMMETRIC;

Appendix D: Data Format

The SymmetricDS Data Format is used to stream data from one node to another. The data format reader and writer are pluggable with an initial implementation using a format based on Comma Separated Values (CSV). Each line in the stream is a record with fields separated by commas. String fields are surrounded with double quotes. Double quotes and backslashes used in a string field are escaped with a backslash. Binary values are represented as a string with hex values in "\0xab" format. The absence of any value in the field indicates a null value. Extra spacing is ignored and lines starting with a hash are ignored.

The first field of each line gives the directive for the line. The following directives are used:

nodeid, {node_id}

Identifies which node the data is coming from. Occurs once in CSV file.

binary, {BASE64|NONE|HEX}

Identifies the type of decoding the loader needs to use to decode binary data in the pay load. This varies depending on what database is the source of the data.

channel, {channel_id}

Identifies which channel a batch belongs to. The SymmetricDS data loader expects the channel to be specified before the batch.

batch, {batch_id}

Uniquely identifies a batch. Used to track whether a batch has been loaded before. A batch of -9999 is considered a virtual batch and will be loaded, but will not be recorded in incoming_batch.

basetime, {unix_timestamp}

Base create time (as a unix timestamp integer) of first row (insert, update, delete) in batch.

ts, {unix_timestamp}

Offset create time (as a unix timestamp integer) for the current row (insert, update, delete). This is a small offset integer that is added to the base time.

schema, {schema name}

The name of the schema that is being targeted.

catalog, {catalog name}

The name of the catalog that is being targeted.

table, {table name}

The name of the table that is being targeted.

keys, {column name…​}

Lists the column names that are used as the primary key for the table. Only needs to occur after the first occurrence of the table.

columns, {column name…​}

Lists all the column names (including key columns) of the table. Only needs to occur after the first occurrence of the table.

insert, {column value…​}

Insert into the table with the values that correspond with the columns.

update, {new column value…​},{old key value…​}

Update the table using the old key values to set the new column values.

old, {old column value…​}

Represent all the old values of the data. This data can be used for conflict resolution.

delete, {old key value…​}

Delete from the table using the old key values.

sql, {sql statement}

Optional notation that instructs the data loader to run the accompanying SQL statement.

bsh, {bsh script}

Optional notation that instructs the data loader to run the accompanying BeanShell snippet.

create, {xml}

Optional notation that instructs the data loader to run the accompanying DdlUtils XML table definition in order to create a database table.

commit, {batch_id}

An indicator that the batch has been transmitted and the data can be committed to the database.

Example 26. Data Format Stream
nodeid, 1001
channel, pricing
binary, BASE64
batch, 100
schema,
catalog,
table, item_selling_price
keys, price_id
columns, price_id, price, cost
insert, 55, 0.65, 0.55
schema,
catalog,
table, item
keys, item_id
columns, item_id, price_id, name
insert, 110000055, 55, "Soft Drink"
delete, 110000001
schema,
catalog,
table, item_selling_price
update, 55, 0.75, 0.65, 55
commit, 100

Appendix E: Version Numbering

The software is released with a version number based on Semantic Versioning guidelines. In summary, the version is denoted as three integers in the format of MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH. Major versions are incompatible at the API level, and they can include any kind of change. Minor versions are compatible with older versions at the API and binary level, and they can introduce new functions or remove old ones. Patch versions are perfectly compatible, and they are released to fix defects.

Appendix F: Upgrading

The upgrade process can either be a full upgrade of a new installation that copies in existing settings or an incremental upgrade of an existing installation that copies in new library files. A full upgrade is the cleanest method that ensures all new files are updated, while an incremental upgrade changes a minimal number of files. An incremental upgrade works best for patch releases and most minor releases. When SymmetricDS is started after a major or minor software update, it will alter its database tables with any changes needed for that release.

F.1. Full Upgrade

For major releases and clean upgrades, copy old settings into a new installation using the following steps:

  1. Stop the old SymmetricDS.

  2. Backup the old SymmetricDS folder by renaming it.

  3. Unzip the SymmetricDS distribution.

  4. Copy old files from "engines" folder. (These files contain database connection information and engine settings.)

  5. Copy old files from "conf" folder. (These files contain settings for ports, wrapper, and logging.) Check to see if any new changes need merged.

  6. Copy old files from "security" folder. (These files contain keys for encryption.)

  7. Restart SymmetricDS.

F.2. Incremental Upgrade

For patch and minor releases, copy and replace the library folders of the installation using the following steps:

  1. Stop the old SymmetricDS.

  2. Backup the old "lib" and "web/WEB-INF/lib" folders by renaming them.

  3. Unzip the SymmetricDS distribution to a temporary folder.

  4. Copy the new "lib" and "web/WEB-INF/lib" folders into the old installation.

  5. Restart SymmetricDS.

Most patch releases only change the JAR files named with "symmetric" in the "web/WEB-INF/lib" folder.

Appendix G: Server Migration

The SymmetricDS installation can be moved from one server to another. If the hostname and/or port is changing, then update the sync_url recorded in NODE and let it sync to other nodes before migration, by using the following steps:

  • Stop the SymmetricDS service.

  • Edit the engine properties file and update the sync.url property to use the new hostname and/or port

  • Start the SymmetricDS service.

  • Verify that a batch on the "config" channel is synced to other nodes.

To migrate to a new server, use the following steps:

  • Stop the SymmetricDS service.

  • Copy the SymmetricDS installation directory to the new server.

    • The contents of the "tmp" sub-directory do NOT need copied, which can speed up the migration.

  • In the database, clear the NODE_HOST and LOCK tables to avoid startup checks for the old host.

  • Install the service on the new server (See Running as a Service.)

  • Start the SymmetricDS service.

If any files are excluded from the migration, be careful to at least copy the "security/keystore", "conf/sym_service.conf", and "bin/setenv" files that contain the encryption key and keystore password.

If the registration server is moved, new nodes will need to use a registration.url property that references the sync.url of the new registration server. Optionally, the existing nodes can also be updated with the new registration.url, but they will continue to sync with nodes based on the sync_url recorded in NODE.

Appendix H: Utilities

H.1. DBCompare

The DbCompare utility provides the ability to compare two SQL-based data sources and output a report of the differences, and optionally generate SQL to bring the target into sync with the source.

The dbcompare utility can be run directly from the command line. The dbcompare command is as follows:

dbcompare (tablename...) <optional-arguments>

A table name or list of comma separated table names must be included in order for dbcompare to work properly. The dbcompare (tablename…​) can be followed by any optional parameters from the command line in the bin directory of the Symmetric instance. The --help option will display all the possible configurable parameters for the compare utility. Possible options include:

  • --config <arg> : A reference to a properties file path containing additional configuration arguments for dbcompare. This properties file allows you to include table specific configuration and specify arguments such as where_clause, order_by_suffix, and exclude_columns. Where clauses in the file should be formatted as [table].[source|target].where_clause. For example, with a table called item, use item.where_clause=field > now()-2. If you do not specify a table before "where_clause", then it will be used on all tables. The same concept applies to order by suffixes, which can also include a column name formatted as [table].[column].[source|target].order_by_suffix.

    • Example of config properties file:

dbcompare config
  • --date-time-format <arg>: The format to be used when comparing date time values. For example, using the format 'yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss' would convert date time values into yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss and then compare.

  • --exclude <arg> : A comma-separated list of table names to exclude from comparison.

  • -h, --help : Print help with each option and description.

  • --numeric-scale <arg> : When comparing decimals, how many decimal places to consider while doing the comparison. Remaining digits will be rounded. Default value is 3.

  • --output-sql <arg> : An output file for SQL statements that if executed on the target, should bring it into sync with the source.

  • -s, --source : The source database engine properties file for comparison.

  • -t, --target <arg> : The target database engine properties file for comparison.

  • --use-sym-config <arg> : true|false. If true, sym_trigger, sym_transform, etc. will be consulted to build up the data model to compare, and the tablename argument is no longer required, but if tablename is provided it will only compare the matching tables. Default is false.

An example DbCompare results table is shown below:

dbcompare results

The results table gives info from the compare as table columns. The data includes the number of rows Matched, Different, Missing, and Extra between the two source and target tables.

H.2. DBImport

The DbImport utility has the ability to import the structure and data of a tables(s) from a file to database tables.

The DbImport utility can be run directly from the command line. To run DbImport enter the command dbimport [filename…​] followed by any parameters from the command line in the bin directory of the Symmetric installation. The --help parameter will display all the possible parameters for the import utility. They are as follows:

  • --alter : If the table already exists, attempt to alter it to match the import definition. This only applies for --format=XML.

  • --alter-case : During the creation of tables alter the case to match the default case of the database. This only applies for --format=XML.

  • --catalog <arg> : Look for tables in catalog.

  • --commit <arg> : The number of rows to import before committing data. The default is 10000.

  • --debug : Print debug information in logging.

  • --drop-if-exists : If the table already exists, attempt to drop it before creating it. This only applies for --format=XML.

  • -e, --engine <arg> : The name of a configured engine. The name should correspond to an engine.name setting in one of the properties files in the engines directory.

  • --filter-classes <arg> : A comma separated list of Java classes that implement org.jumpmind.symmetric.io.data.writer.IDatabaseWriterFilter. These filters will be applied to the import.

  • --force : Ignore ANY errors and attempt to continue on processing the import data.

  • --format <arg> : Input format: SQL, CSV, CSV_DQUOTE, XML, or SYM_XML.

  • -h, --help : Print help with each option and description.

  • --ignore : Indicates that conflicts with existing rows should be ignored.

  • --interval <arg> : The number of milliseconds to wait between committing transaction.

  • --no-log-console : No output will be sent to the console.

  • --no-log-file : No output will be sent to the log file.

  • -p, --properties <arg> : The properties file with settings for the SymmetricDS engine. If not provided. defaults are used, then overridden with first symmetric.properties in classpath, then overridden with symmetric.properties values in user.home directory.

  • --replace : Indicates that existing rows should be replaced. They will be replaced by an update statement. This only applies for --format=CSV, SYM_XML.

  • --schema <arg> : Look for tables in schema.

  • --table <arg> : Specify table to import.

  • --use-sym-db : Import into the database that contains SymmetricDS’s tables. This only applies for nodes that are load only, extract only, time based, or log based.

  • --use-variable-dates : Allow date subscription using format ${curdate+-millis}.

  • -v, --verbose : Use verbose format for console output.

The following is an example of the SQL format used for DbImport.

CREATE TABLE ITEM(
    ITEM_ID INTEGER NOT NULL,
    NAME VARCHAR(100) NULL,
    PRIMARY KEY (ITEM_ID)
);
insert into ITEM (ITEM_ID, NAME) values (1805,'lVlmyxlADKEMZFIfWiipfiBqoeMHsSjsbgsoqBuEAWKhmJfaNA');
insert into ITEM (ITEM_ID, NAME) values (2649,'qjyWrDHXnsfdSDBqUzHMJPkRFQmwmWPWxBPPwaQmgpoQrqLcQC');
insert into ITEM (ITEM_ID, NAME) values (3334,'sCTJrMPFLauMvNrmYVyuLwcrinAVDVNmuHLULCWGYYmHRSmbsc');
insert into ITEM (ITEM_ID, NAME) values (3613,'xCNfevpgVBfegbrXHQOsChxCYPcwbjkpHXZpLFkLxMACaFWJnF');
insert into ITEM (ITEM_ID, NAME) values (3622,'UPTWPHujLPjFvusxAqzKSZCSFXXyhqfkbmholwDvuNdhLfIBGY');

The following is an example of the CSV format used for DbImport.

"ITEM_ID","NAME"
"12","zSYwAyLGsbvsLhYFLBqmeprkfISVTlRnfHwsHFZcmZUpKQMXkT"
"471","RFHEaWcFtPDOkqEtbomEomuEWDQoAuyvJVnjPEsPpaqLxEuWpj"
"113","SDFSDf\"SD\"ggdD"

The following is an example of the CSV_DQUOTE format used for DbImport. CSV_DQUOTE escapes quote characters with double quotes if there are quotes in the column values so it can be correctly parsed by programs like Excel. For example, "SPbSDf""SD""gNdD" parses to SPbSDf"SD"gNdD.

"ITEM_ID","NAME"
"12","zSYwAyLGsbvsLhYFLBqmeprkfISVTlRnfHwsHFZcmZUpKQMXkT"
"471","RFHEaWcFtPDOkqEtbomEomuEWDQoAuyvJVnjPEsPpaqLxEuWpj"
"113","SPbSDf""SD""gNdD"

The following is an example of the XML format used for DbImport.

<database xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" name="dbimport">
        <table name="ITEM">
                <column name="ITEM_ID" primaryKey="true" required="true" type="INTEGER" size="10">
                        <platform-column name="h2" type="INTEGER" size="10"/>
                </column>
                <column name="NAME" type="VARCHAR" size="100">
                        <platform-column name="h2" type="VARCHAR" size="100"/>
                </column>
        </table>
<table_data name="ITEM">
        <row>
                <field name="ITEM_ID">1805</field>
                <field name="NAME">lVlmyxlADKEMZFIfWiipfiBqoeMHsSjsbgsoqBuEAWKhmJfaNA</field>
        </row>
        <row>
                <field name="ITEM_ID">2649</field>
                <field name="NAME">qjyWrDHXnsfdSDBqUzHMJPkRFQmwmWPWxBPPwaQmgpoQrqLcQC</field>
        </row>
        <row>
                <field name="ITEM_ID">3334</field>
                <field name="NAME">sCTJrMPFLauMvNrmYVyuLwcrinAVDVNmuHLULCWGYYmHRSmbsc</field>
        </row>
        <row>
                <field name="ITEM_ID">3613</field>
                <field name="NAME">xCNfevpgVBfegbrXHQOsChxCYPcwbjkpHXZpLFkLxMACaFWJnF</field>
        </row>
        <row>
                <field name="ITEM_ID">3622</field>
                <field name="NAME">UPTWPHujLPjFvusxAqzKSZCSFXXyhqfkbmholwDvuNdhLfIBGY</field>
        </row>
<table_data>

H.3. DBExport

The DbExport utility has the ability to export the structure of data from database tables to file.

The dbexport utility can be run directly from the command line. To run dbexport enter the command dbexport [tablename…​] followed by any parameters from the command line in the bin directory of the Symmetric installation. The --help parameter will display all the possible parameters for the export utility. They are as follows:

  • --add-drop-table : Add drop table commands to output.

  • --catalog <arg> : Look for tables in catalog

  • --compatible <arg> : Change export to be compatible with a given database: db2, db2zos, derby, firebird, greenplum, h2, hsqldb, hsqldb2, informix, interbase, mssql, mysql, oracle, postgres, sybase.

  • --debug : Print debug information in logging.

  • --dir <arg> : Indicate a directory to use for the export of files. If the directory is specified, then a file per table will be written to the directory.

  • -e, --engine <arg> : The name of a configured engine. The name should correspond to an engine.name setting in one of the properties files in the engines directory.

  • --exclude-columns <arg> : A comma separated list of columns to exclude from the exported tables.

  • --format <arg> : Output format: SQL, CSV, CSV_DQUOTE, XML, or SYM_XML.

  • -h, --help : Print help with each option and description.

  • -i, --comments : Write informational comments.

  • --no-create-info : Do not write statements to create tables.

  • --no-data : Do not write statements to insert into tables.

  • --no-foreign-keys : Do not write statements to create foreign keys.

  • --no-indices : Do not write statements to create indices.

  • --no-log-console : No output will be sent to the console.

  • --no-log-file : No output will be sent to the log file.

  • --no-qualifiers : Do not qualify table and columns names with quoted identifiers.

  • -p, --properties <arg> : The properties file with settings for the SymmetricDs engine. If not provided, defaults are used, then overridden with symmetric.properties values in user.home directory.

  • --schema <arg> : Look for tables in schema.

  • --sql <arg> : Run custom SQL to select data.

  • --use-jdbc-timestamp-format <arg> : When true db export uses {ts 'yyyy-MM-dd h:mm:ss.SSS'} format for exported dates and times. Defaults to true.

  • --use-sym-db : Use the database that contains SymmetricDS’s tables. This only applies for nodes that are load only, extract only, time based, or log based.

  • --use-variable-dates : Substitute dates as ${curdate+-millis}.

  • -v, --verbose : Use verbose format for console output.

  • --where <arg> : Specify the SQL for the "where" clause.

The same file formats utilized by dbimport are used for dbexport as well. Please see DbImport for format examples.

H.4. DBFill

The DbFill utility provides the ability to generate random data to populate any tables in Symmetric.

The DbFill utility can be run directly from the command line. To run dbfill enter the command dbfill [tablename…​] followed by any parameters from the command line in the bin directory of the Symmetric installation. The --help parameter will display all the possible parameters for the file utility. They are as follows:

  • --cascade : Include foreign key dependent tables not included in the table list.

  • --catalog <arg> : Look for tables in catalog.

  • --commit <arg> : number of rows to commit as transaction.

  • --commit-delay <arg> : The time to wait in milliseconds after changing data before committing. The default is 0.

  • --continue : Ignore ANY errors and continue to modify the database.

  • --count <arg> : The number of rows to generate in each table.

  • --debug : Print debug information in logging.

  • -e, engine <arg> : The name of a configured engine. The name should correspond to an engine.name setting in one of the properties files in the engines directory.

  • -h, --help : Print help with each option and description.

  • --ignore <arg> : One or more prefixes to identify tables to ignore. This argument only works when no table names are provided. (e.g., "sym_,sys_")

  • --interval <arg> : The time to wait in milliseconds between each transaction in the database.

  • --no-log-console : No output will be sent to the console.

  • --no-log-file : No output will be sent to the log file.

  • -p, --properties <arg> : The properties file with settings for the SymmetricDS engine. If not provided. defaults are used, then overridden with first symmetric.properties in classpath, then overridden with symmetric.properties values in user.home directory.

  • --prefixed <arg> : Prefix of table names to include.

  • --print : Print out the SQL of the DbFill instead of filling the tables(s).

  • --rand : Randomize number of rows to generate and commit.

  • --repeat <arg> : Number of times to repeat the count of rows.

  • --rollback <arg> : Percent chance (0-100) to perform a rollback.

  • --schema <arg> : Look for tables in schema.

  • --select : Select foreign key dependent data to satisfy constraints.

  • --truncate : Truncate the tables before filling them.

  • -v, --verbose : Use verbose format for console output.

  • --weights <arg> : By default, an insert is performed for each count ('1, 0, 0'). To randomly select between an insert, update or delete on each table, weight can be applied so inserts an occur more than deletes. To make sure inserts happen twice as much as updates, and deletes are never performed use '2,1,0'.

If the print parameter is given, by default, the insert statements for the fill will be sent to the command line.

Appendix I: Replication Modes

I.1. Trigger-based

In a trigger-based replication mode application tables are monitered for changes by creating insert, update, and delete triggers on all configured tables. As changes occur on these tables the triggers will capture the row data and old data for the change which will be used as the starting point in the SymmetricDS replication workflow.

Overview

  • Supported on a wide variety of ANSI SQL databases

  • Transactional guarantee that data as changes are committed triggers capture.

  • Changes will be captured even if SymmetricDS is not running (outage, maintenance etc).

  • Less threat of data loss as long as the database is scaled to grow as more data is collected.

  • Old data can also be captured and used in the replication workflow.

  • Triggers are maintained by SymmetricDS and requires no user interaction.

  • Nightly job to verify triggers are in place and rebuilt if table structure changes (SyncTriggers job, scheduling can be configured).

  • Will work with existing triggers on tables as long as database supports multiple triggers on a table. SymmetricDS triggers are designed to fire last after all other triggers to ensure the final state of the data is captured.

More to Consider

  • Requires alter permission to replicated tables so triggers can be installed.

  • Requires SymmetricDS runtime tables to present in the same installation and available for the triggers to write changes.

  • Incurs an additional insert into the SYM_DATA capture table with each DML.