What is Replmon.exe?

Replmon is the first tool you should use when troubleshooting Active Directory replication
issues. As it is a graphical tool, replication issues are easy to see and somewhat easier to
diagnose than using its command line counterparts. The purpose of this document is to guide you
in how to use it, list some common replication errors and show some examples of when
replication issues can stop other network installation actions.
The Microsoft definition of the Replmon tool is as follows;
This GUI tool enables administrators to view the low-level status of Active Directory
replication, force synchronization between domain controllers, view the topology in a
graphical format, and monitor the status and performance of domain controller
replication.
Symptoms of Replication Faults

Failure to extend the schema The Active Directory schema has to be extended for
many reasons. Two of the most common are:
o When installing an Exchange 200x server (by running setup.exe /forestprep and
/domainprep)
o When adding a 2003 Domain Controller to a Windows 2000 Active Directory
network (by running adprep /forestprep and /domainprep).
If there is a replication issue with any of the domain controllers on the Schema partition,
the Schema will not allow any extension.

Failure to DCPromo a new Domain Controller When installing a new Domain

Controller, the wizard waits until Active Directory is fully synchronised before
continuing. Replication issues would cause this to hang at this point. (Although it can be
forced to wait until later, this would only put off the problem).

Installation of Active Directory aware software Software that creates a new user
account per network or writes to the Active Directory could fail or produce ambiguous
errors when replication issues exist on the network.

Any recent warnings or errors in the File Replication Service log in Event Viewer

Any recent NTDS Replication Errors in the Directory Service log in Event Viewer

How to Use Replmon

To use Replmon logon to a Domain Controller, select Start|Run, type Replmon, and click OK.
You will be presented with the following screen:

Right click on the Monitored Servers icon and select Add Monitored Server...
Select the Search the directory for the server to add radio button.
Ensure the correct domain populates in drop down list, and click Next.

Select an appropriate server from the list of Domain Controllers

If you know you are experiencing issues with a particular domain controller, choose that
server.

If you are checking general replication, or are not sure where the fault lies, choose the
Forest Root.

On larger networks, you will need to choose more than one server depending on the
replication topology.

(For information on viewing the replication topology, see Appendix A) and click
Finish.

If your Active Directory contains only Windows 2000 domain controllers, you will see
three Directory partitions.

If your Active Directory Forest Root is Windows 2003 you will see five
Directory partitions.

By expanding the + on each directory partition you will be able to see each of
the servers replication partners. Selecting one on the left shows the last
replication attempt in the right hand pane.

If there are any replication issues the partitions on the domain controller the
server cannot replicate with will show a red x.

Highlighting one of the problem replication partner servers will then show
more verbose error messages in the logs pane explaining why it could not
replicate.

Troubleshooting Replication Issues

Step 1: Check validity of replication partners
Perhaps an obvious step, but there can be replication issues when there are
servers present in the replication topology that are no longer connected to
the network. Look for replication agreements with non-existent servers,
servers that have been forcibly removed from the domain or are simply
turned off.
Step 2: Force replication
The last scheduled replication attempt could have failed for unaccountable
reasons, but the failure cause may no longer be an issue. Get an accurate
current understanding of the situation by right clicking on the replication
partner server in each of the partitions and selecting Synchronise with this
Replication Partner.

Then refresh the Tree view by pressing F5. Re-check the replication status in the right hand logs
pane.
Step 3: General IP checks
Doesnt matter if youve done them, do them all again now! From a command prompt:

Can you ping the IP address of the destination server? e.g. Ping 192.168.3.201
If not: The issue will either be hardware (cable, switch, NIC, check all physical
connections) or incorrect configuration of a servers (either destination or host server) IP
details. Check the NICs IP address and Subnet Mask.

Can you ping the netbios name of the destination server? e.g. Ping Replicadc1
If not: The issue will be a name resolution issue. Check there is an A host entry in the
domains Forward Lookup zone. Check the NIC IP properties and ensure the Forest Root
IP is entered as the Preferred DNS Server.

Can you ping the FQDN of the destination server? e.g. Ping Replicadc1.RMTDS.Internal
If not: The issue will be a DNS issue. Check as above, also check the NICs IP Advanced

Properties and ensure the correct DNS Suffix is being used. Open the DNS admin
console and ensure there is a populated Forward Lookup zone for the domain.

Can you reverse lookup the IP of the destination server? e.g. Ping a 192.168.3.201
If not: You have a reverse lookup zone issue. Open the DNS admin console and check for
the existence of a Reverse Lookup zone per Class C IP range. e.g.
10.0.0.x Subnet
10.0.1.x Subnet
Check there is a valid PTR record for each of the Domain Controllers in the relevant
Reverse lookup zone.
Appendix A Other Replmon functions
By right clicking the server you have selected to view Replication agreements from, you
will see a range of options. A few of them are detailed below.

Update Status This will recheck the replication status of the server. The time of
the updated status is logged and displayed in the right hand pane.

Check Replication Topology This will cause the Knowledge Consistency Checker
(KCC) to recalculate the replication topology for the server.
Synchronize Each Directory Partition with All Servers This will start
immediate replication for all of the servers directory partitions with each replication
partner.
Generate Status Report - Creates and saves a verbose status report in the form
of a log file.
Show Domain Controllers in Domain will show a list of all known Domain
Controllers.
Show Replication Topologies - will show a graphical view of the replication
topology. Click View on the menu and select Connection Objects only. Then right
click each server, and select Show Intra/Inter-site connections.
Show Group Policy Object Status shows a list of all the Domains Group
Policies and their respective AD and Sysvol version numbers.