Can I/should I script system tables for merge replication in SQL Server

Question

I have just started a new job as the only developer on a system. To start with I wanted to set up a development system that is the same as the live system, but without any data. Then I want to populate it with test data. So the first thing I did was script the databases and recreate the databases on my own machine. However, I am getting a problem when I call a stored procedure. The error message I get is " Invalid object name 'dbo.sysmergearticles". I believe this is something to do with merge replication, but that is an area I know nothing about yet. For now I just want to get a test system up and running. If I look in the system tables on the live system, 'dbo.sysmergearticles' is there, along with a whole load of other tables. Is there a way I can script these objects so that I can create a test system using scripts?

Answer 1

You are correct, the presence of sysmergearticles on the live system indicates that it is involved in Merge Replication, or has orphaned metadata from a previous Merge publication or subscription.

On the live system, in Object Explorer in SSMS, expand the Replication node and publication/subscription nodes. You will want to determine if the live system is involved in an active Merge topology or if the Merge system tables are orphans from a previous topology. You can run the following query to determine this:

select * 
from sys.databases
where is_published = 1 or is_merge_published = 1 or is_subscribed = 1

If the live system is involved in an active topology then you will want to determine if it is a publisher or subscriber. From there you can script out the publication and subscription(s) by right-clicking the publication or subscription in Object Explorer -> Generate Scripts... Details on scripting replication can be found here in Scripting Replication. Then you can recreate the topology on your test system.