Skip Snapshot Process

A trick for forcing the distribution agent through a snapshot cycle without actually delivering any data.

Published Nov 20, 2009

Occasionally you need the distribution agent to believe it has delivered a fresh snapshot - for example to clear a stuck state - without actually shipping gigabytes of data. This five-step trick does exactly that: stop the distribution agent, create a real snapshot, replace every file in the snapshot folder with an empty file using a one-line FOR command, then start the agent again. It applies the blank files and moves on as if everything were normal.

1) Stop distribution agent.
2) Create snapshot.
3) Replace all snapshot files with blank files.
	1) Create "blank.txt" - leave empty.
	2) Run at command line: FOR %F in ("SNAPSHOT_FOLDER_PATH\*.*") DO copy /Y "blank.txt" "%F"
4) Start distribution agent. It will appear to deleiver a snap, but all files will be blank.
5) You are good to go.