Red Hat Directory Server 8.0 Administrator's Guide

There are three ways to convert a replica database to LDIF:
• When creating a replication agreement, by selecting Create consumer initialization file in
the Initialize Consumer dialog box of the Replication Agreement Wizard.
• From the Directory Server Console, by right-clicking the replication agreement under the
Replication folder and choosing Create LDIF File from the pop-up menu.
• From the command-line by using the export command, as described in Section 2.3,
“Exporting to LDIF from the Command-Line”.
10.4.2. Importing the LDIF File to the Consumer Server
Import the LDIF file which contains the supplier replica contents to the consumer server by
using the import features in the Directory Server Console or by using either the ldif2db script
or ldif2db.pl script. Both import methods are described in Section 1.3, “Importing from the
Command-Line”.
NOTE
With the ldif2db.pl script, the LDIF file import operation does not require a server
restart. For more information on command-line scripts, see the Directory Server
Configuration, Command, and File Reference.
10.5. Filesystem Replica Initialization
A very large database, such as one with several million entries, can take an hour or more to
initialize a consumer from the Console or even with manual initialization. To save time, use
filesystem replica initialization.
Directory Server has the capability to initialize a replica using the database files from the
supplier server. This avoids the need to rebuild the consumer database and can be done at
essentially the speed of the network between the two servers by transferring the files with FTP
or NFS, for example. Instead of sending entries via LDAP to replica servers, filesystem replica
initialization populates the new database on the destination server by backing up the supplier
database on one server and restoring the database on the destination server.
This method of initializing consumers is especially useful in replication over wide-area networks
or over networks with slow or unstable connections.
For smaller databases, Red Hat recommends using manual initialization or initialize consumers
from the Console.
Command Line
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