Websphere File Synchronization Service: Replicate changes from Dmgr to NodeAgent

In a distributed server environment, the administrative console is located in the deployment manager server, dmgr. In this case, the administrative console provides centralized administration of multiple nodes. Configuration changes are made to the master repository and pushed to the local repositories on the nodes by the deployment manager. In order for the administrative console to run, the dmgr server must be running. In order for the changes to the master repository to be pushed to the nodes, the node agents must also be running.

The file synchronization service is the administrative service responsible for keeping up to date the configuration and application data files that are distributed
across the cell. The service runs in the deployment manager and node agents, and ensures that changes made to the master repository will be propagated out to the nodes, as necessary. The file transfer system application is used for the synchronization process. File synchronization can be forced from an administration client, or can be scheduled to happen automatically.

During the synchronization operation, the node agent checks with the deployment manager to see if any files that apply to the node have been updated in the master repository. New or updated files are sent to the node, while any deleted files are also deleted from the node.

Synchronization is one-way. The changes are sent from the deployment manager to the node agent. No changes are sent from the node agent back to the deployment manager

You can configure the File Synchronization service from the WAS Admin Console like this->

System administration -> Node Agents -> $NodeAgent->Configuration -> File synchronization service -> Automatic synchronization

Options Available

Automatic Synchronization : Specifies whether to synchronize files automatically after a designated interval. When this setting is enabled, the node agent automatically contacts the deployment manager every synchronization interval to attempt to synchronize the node’s configuration repository with the master repository owned by the deployment manager. If the Automatic synchronization setting is enabled, the node agent attempts file synchronization when it establishes contact with the deployment manager. The node agent waits the synchronization interval before it attempts the next synchronization.

Startup Synchronization : Specifies whether the node agent attempts to synchronize the node configuration with the latest configurations in the master repository prior to starting an application server. The default is to not synchronize files prior to starting an application server. Enabling the setting ensures that the node agent has the latest configuration but increases the amount of time it takes to start the application server.