You can set the transition properties that match the decisions you made in your planning. Once you make the decisions outlined in Step 1: Primary replication before a failure , you must set the transition properties that support those decisions, as listed in the table that follows. (See Transition properties summary for a complete list of all transition properties.)

Table 1. Setting transition properties
To implement this transition planning decision . . . Do this . . .
Which is the primary and which is the secondary database? Modify the responsibility property (currently used for informational purposes only) to identify the type of database. Possible values are:
  • Primary — This database is the primary database.
  • Secondary — This database is the secondary database.
What type of transition will occur? Modify the database-role property to identify the new role of the database once it is transitioned. Possible values are:
  • Reverse — The role of the database is reversed: A source database becomes a target database, and a target database becomes a source database.
  • Normal — The role of the database becomes that of a normal database; the database is no longer enabled for replication once the transition is performed. This is the default value.
What type of after-imaging operations should transition perform?

Modify the after-imaging properties auto-begin-ai, auto-add-ai-areas, and ai-structure-file to set AI behavior.

Specify either of these values for the auto-begin-ai property:

  • 0 — Do not begin AI automatically after a target-to-source transition.
  • 1 — Begin AI automatically after a target-to-source transition.

Specify either of these values for the auto-add-ai-areas property:

  • 0 — Do not add AI areas to the database automatically (when a database is transitioned to a source database or there are currently no AI areas for the database).
  • 1 — Add AI areas to the database automatically by using the structure file specified in the ai-structure-file property (when a database is transitioned to a source database or there are currently no AI areas for the database).

Specify the name of the structure file (which contains the list of AI areas to add) in the ai-structure-file property.
What types of backup do you want to perform during transition?

Modify the backup properties backup-method, backup-arguments, and incremental-backup-arguments to set the type of backup you want to perform during transition and before AI is enabled.

Specify one of these values for the backup-method property:

  • mark — Mark the database as backed up by using the following command:

    rfutil db-name -C mark backedup

    Marking the database as backed up does not allow future AI extents to be used when recovering from a disaster.

  • full-offline — Back up the database offline by using the OpenEdge PROBKUP utility.

    The backup is performed in two steps. The first backup is a full backup, which is performed before AI is enabled for the database. The second backup is an incremental backup, which is performed after AI is enabled and after the role of the database is changed.

  • full-online — Back up the database online after the database is restarted, which occurs after the database has been transitioned.
Specify the backup-arguments property for the arguments required for the full online and offline backups performed for the database. Keep the following in mind:
  • You must specify, at a minimum, the target file or device in these arguments for both online and offline backups.
  • To avoid overwriting a backup, do not use the same target file or device for both the backup and the incremental backup.
  • Do not use backup validation parameters (such as -vp and -vf).
  • Begin the arguments with device-name.
Specify the incremental-backup-arguments property for the arguments required for the offline incremental backup performed after AI is enabled and the database's role is reversed. Begin the arguments with device-name.
Note: The backup-method property behaves differently during online transition. For more information see Failover transition and offline backup in Use Database Replication.
Do you want the database to restart automatically after transition? Modify the following automatic transition properties to specify whether the database should be automatically restarted after transition:
  • restart-after-transition
  • source-startup-arguments, target-startup-arguments, or normal-startup-arguments
  • start-secondary-broker, source-secondary-broker-startup-arguments, target-secondary-broker-startup-arguments, or normal-secondary-broker-startup-arguments
Specify either of these values for the restart-after-transition property:
  • 0 — Do not automatically restart the database after transition is performed.
  • 1 — Automatically restart the database after transition is performed. When you specify this value, you must also supply the *-startup-arguments properties, or the database startup will fail.
Note: The restart-after-transition property behaves differently during online transition. Setting the property value to 1 will not automatically restart the database. The value will be ignored. For more information see Automatic restart and online failover transition in Use Database Replication.
Specify either of these values for the start-secondary-broker property:
  • 0 — Do not automatically start a secondary broker for the database after transition is performed.
  • 1 — Automatically start a secondary broker for the database after transition is performed. When you specify this value, you must also supply the *-secondary-startup-arguments properties, or the broker startup will fail.
Specify the *-startup-arguments property or properties:
  • If the database is transitioned to a normal database, specify the normal-startup-arguments property. These arguments are used when the database is started. The arguments will be appended to the PROSERVE command. In most cases, the only argument specified here should be -pf followed by a parameter file name, as shown here:

    -pf db-name.normal.pf

  • If the database is transitioned to a source database, you must specify the source-startup-arguments property. The arguments are appended to the PROSERVE command and are used when the database is started. In most cases, the only argument specified should be -pf followed by a parameter file name, as shown here:

    -pf db-name.source.pf

  • If the database is transitioned to a target database, you must specify the target-startup-arguments property.The arguments are appended to the PROSERVE command and are used when the database is started. In most cases, the only argument specified here should be -pf followed by a parameter file name, as shown here:

    -pf db-name.target.pf

    Because the database is a target, you must also specify the following argument as an indication to the broker to listen on the TCP/IP port as specified:

    -S {port-number |service-name}

  • If the database role is reversed, you must specify the source-startup-arguments property and the target-startup-arguments property.

For additional details about the source-, target-, or normal-startup-arguments, see Sample of a startup parameter file used by transition.
Will transition automatically attempt to recover in the event of a failure?

Modify the recovery-backup-arguments property, which determines whether transition automatically attempts a recovery.

Specify the device name, followed by any other backup arguments.