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Error 1205 when you configure transactional replication

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This article helps you resolve a problem that occurs when you configure transactional replication in SQL Server.

Original product version:   SQL Server
Original KB number:   2674882

Symptoms

Consider the following scenario:

  • You configure transactional replication in SQL Server.
  • The transactional replication topology consists of several publishers.
  • The publishers replicate data into the same subscriber database.
  • The distribution agents run continuously or run on a frequent schedule. For example, the distribution agents run every minute.

In this scenario, the distribution agents may be involved in a deadlock scenario and may be selected as a deadlock victim. When this issue occurs, you may receive an error message that resembles the following:

Error 1205
Transaction (Process ID %d) was deadlocked on %.*ls resources with another process and has been chosen as the deadlock victim. Rerun the transaction.

If you enable trace flag 1222 to redirect the deadlock information into the SQL Server Error Log, you receive an error message that resembles one of the following:

  • update MSreplication_subscriptions set transaction_timestamp = cast(@P1 as binary(15)) + cast(case datalength(transaction_timestamp) when 16 then isnull(substring(transaction_timestamp, 16, 1), 0) else 0 end as binary(1)), "time" = @P2 where UPPER(publisher) = UPPER(@P3) and publisher_db = @P4 and publication = @P5 and subscription_type = 0

  • update MSreplication_subscriptions set transaction_timestamp = cast(@P1 as binary(15)) + cast(substring(transaction_timestamp, 16, 1) as binary(1)), "time" = @P2 where UPPER(publisher) = UPPER(@P3) and publisher_db = @P4 and publication = @P5 and subscription_type = 0 and (substring(transaction_timestamp, 16, 1) = 0 or datalength(transaction_timestamp) < 16)

Cause

This issue occurs if the rowcount estimate for the number MSreplication_subscriptions system table is incorrect. If the rowcount estimate is incorrect, the SQL Server database engine may use an incorrect method to update the database.

Note

Typically, the correct rowcount estimate is equal to the number of subscriptions in the database. If you use the Subscription Streams feature, the rowcount estimate is equal to the number of subscriptions multiplied by the number of configured streams for each subscription.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, use one of the following methods.

  • Method 1: Use the DBCC UPDATEUSAGE command.

    To resolve this issue, update the incorrect rowcount value. To do this, run the following command:

    DBCC UPDATEUSAGE (**subscriber_database_name** **,**'MSreplication_subscriptions') WITH COUNT_ROWS

    Note

    The DBCC UPDATEUSAGE command determines the correct values for rows, used pages, reserved pages, leaf pages, and data page counts for each partition in a table. If these values are correct, the DBCC UPDATEUSAGE command returns no data. If inaccurate values are found and corrected, DBCC UPDATEUSAGE returns the rows and columns that are updated.

  • Method 2: Use the ALTER INDEX statement.

    To resolve this issue, rebuild the indexes that are associated with the MSreplication_subscriptions table. To do this, use the following statement:

    ALTER INDEX ALL ON [dbo].[MSreplication_subscriptions] REBUILD

More information

When the issue that's mentioned in the Symptoms section occurs, the rowcount estimate for the MSreplication_subscriptions system table can be as high as 4,294,967,296. To check the rowcount value, use one of the following methods.

  • Method 1: Use SQL Server Management Studio.

    To use SQL Server Management Studio to check the rowcount value for the MSreplication_subscriptions system table, follow these steps:

    1. Start SQL Server Management Studio, and then connect to the subscriber server instance.
    2. Expand Databases, and then expand the subscriber database.
    3. Expand Tables, and then expand System Tables.
    4. Right-click dbo.MSreplication_subscriptions, and then select Properties.
    5. Select Storage, and then verify the rowcount value in the Row count field.

  • Method 2: Use a query statement.

    To check the rowcount value for the MSreplication_subscriptions system table, run the following query:

    SELECT rows, * FROM sys.partitions WHERE object_id = object_id('MSreplication_subscriptions')

References