NotesReplication + NotesReplicationEntry: Managing Database Replication Settings with LotusScript

Jun 6, 2026 331 words

You’re preparing a maintenance window across a Domino environment with dozens of NSFs. You need to pause replication on all of them beforehand, and restore it cleanly afterward — without opening Admin Client for each one. Or you’re building a deployment tool that adjusts replication priority on dev environments before pushing changes.

Every NSF has exactly one replication configuration. NotesReplication is the LotusScript interface to that configuration — the same settings you see on the Replication Info tab in database properties.

TL;DR

Every NotesDatabase has exactly one NotesReplication object, obtained via db.ReplicationInfo
You must call Save() after every property change — unlike most LotusScript classes, modifications stay in memory until explicitly saved
IsDisabled: pause or resume replication
Priority: replication priority (REPLICATION_PRIORITY_LOW / MED / HIGH)
Abstract: truncate large documents and strip attachments on replication (bandwidth saving)
ClearHistory(): clears replication history, forcing a full resync on the next replication cycle
NotesReplicationEntry: per-server-pair rules (selective replication formulas, etc.)

Getting the NotesReplication object

Dim session As New NotesSession
Dim db As NotesDatabase
Set db = session.CurrentDatabase

' Every database has exactly one replication settings object
Dim repl As NotesReplication
Set repl = db.ReplicationInfo

Print "Replication disabled: " & repl.IsDisabled
Print "Priority: " & repl.Priority

Pausing and resuming replication

' Pause replication on this database
repl.Disabled = True
Call repl.Save()
Print "Replication paused"

' Resume
repl.Disabled = False
Call repl.Save()
Print "Replication resumed"

Save() is mandatory. Unlike most LotusScript property changes that persist automatically, NotesReplication changes only live in memory until you call Save() — skip it and nothing actually changes in the NSF.

Adjusting replication priority

' Set to low priority (common for dev/test environments)
repl.Priority = REPLICATION_PRIORITY_LOW
Call repl.Save()

' Set to high priority (critical databases)
repl.Priority = REPLICATION_PRIORITY_HIGH
Call repl.Save()

Priority constants:

Constant	Meaning
`REPLICATION_PRIORITY_LOW`	Low priority
`REPLICATION_PRIORITY_MED`	Medium (default)
`REPLICATION_PRIORITY_HIGH`	High priority
`REPLICATION_PRIORITY_NOTSET`	Not configured

Abstract — reduce bandwidth by truncating documents

' Enable Abstract: large documents are truncated, attachments stripped
' Useful for bandwidth-constrained replication, not for normal business NSFs
repl.Abstract = True
Call repl.Save()

Abstract tells Domino to truncate large documents and remove attachments during replication. Useful in low-bandwidth scenarios where you need metadata sync but not full document content. Not appropriate for most production business databases.

ClearHistory — force a full resync

' Clear replication history → next replication will be a full scan
Call repl.ClearHistory()
' ClearHistory doesn't need a separate Save() call
Print "Replication history cleared"

Use cases: after database repair following corruption, or when forcing a full resync between two servers after maintenance. Note: the next replication after ClearHistory will scan every document in the database — expensive on large NSFs. See the ClearHistory method documentation for details.

Reset — discard pending changes

' Changed your mind mid-way? Reset reverts all property changes
' back to the last saved state (the opposite of Save)
Call repl.Reset()

NotesReplicationEntry — per-server-pair rules

NotesReplicationEntry manages the rules for replication between a specific pair of servers:

' Get the entry for the SourceServer → TargetServer pair
Dim entry As NotesReplicationEntry
Set entry = repl.GetEntry("SourceServer/ACME", "TargetServer/ACME")

If Not (entry Is Nothing) Then
    Print "Replication enabled to target: " & entry.IsEnabled
    Print "Selective formula: " & entry.Formula
    ' Modify and save
    entry.Formula = "Type = ""Order"""
    Call entry.Save()
End If

' List all entries
Dim entries As Variant
entries = repl.GetEntries()
If IsArray(entries) Then
    Dim i As Integer
    For i = 0 To UBound(entries)
        Print "Entry: " & entries(i).Source & " → " & entries(i).Destination
    Next
End If

In practice: batch-pause replication across a server

Sub PauseAllReplication(serverName As String)
    Dim session As New NotesSession
    Dim dbDir As NotesDbDirectory
    Set dbDir = session.GetDbDirectory(serverName)

    Dim db As NotesDatabase
    Set db = dbDir.GetFirstDatabase(DATABASE)

    Dim count As Integer
    count = 0
    Do Until db Is Nothing
        If db.IsOpen Then
            Dim repl As NotesReplication
            Set repl = db.ReplicationInfo
            If Not repl.IsDisabled Then
                repl.Disabled = True
                Call repl.Save()
                count = count + 1
            End If
        End If
        Set db = dbDir.GetNextDatabase()
    Loop

    Print "Paused replication on " & count & " databases"
End Sub

What about Java and SSJS?

Language	Counterpart
LotusScript	`NotesReplication` / `NotesReplicationEntry`
Java	`lotus.domino.Replication` / `ReplicationEntry` (drop the `Notes` prefix; `.recycle()` when done)
SSJS	No direct equivalent — replication management in XPages is typically done via the Domino REST API or server console commands

Sources

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