MSSQL on Windows: The agent is suspect. No response within last minutes

Microsoft.SQLServer.Windows.CollectionRule.Agent.The_agent_is_suspect._No_response_within_last_minutes_1_5_Rule (Rule)

This behavior occurs because the replication agent is too busy to respond when SQL Server Enterprise Manager polls the replication agent; therefore, SQL Server Enterprise Manager does not know the status of the replication agent and it cannot report whether the replication agent is functioning or not.

Knowledge Base article:

Summary

If the replication agent fails, you receive the following error message:

Message 20536 Severity 10 "Replication: Agent failure."

There are many reasons why the replication agent is busy: There may be a lot of data that is being replicated, or there may be configuration or replication design issues that cause processes to run for a long time.

Resolutions

To reduce the frequency of the message, increase the inactivity threshold.

Changing this value does not fix anything. Instead, it changes how frequently the replication agent is polled for its current status. To change the value of the inactivity threshold:

In SQL Server Enterprise Manager, under Replication Monitor, right-click the replication agent folder, and then click "Refresh Rate and Settings."
Set the value to the number of minutes for the Replication Monitor to wait between the polling of the replication agent.

Unless you receive additional error messages that indicate that there is a problem with the replication agent, the "agent is suspect" message is only an informational message. When you receive this message, do not stop the replication agent if there are no additional related errors. If you stop the replication agent, it rolls back the process in which it is engaged, and then you must restart the process; instead, wait for the process to complete.

Overrideable Parameters

Name	Description	Default Value
Enabled	Enables or disables the workflow.	Yes
AllowProxying	Allows collecting events from a remote event log. Note that enabling this parameter may lead to a security exposure.	No
Priority	Defines Alert Priority.	1
Severity	Defines Alert Severity.	2

Element properties:

Target

Microsoft.SQLServer.Windows.Agent

Category

EventCollection

Enabled

True

Alert Generate

True

Alert Severity

Error

Alert Priority

Normal

Remotable

True

Alert Message

MSSQL on Windows: The agent is suspect. No response within last minutes

Event ID: {0}. The replication agent has not logged a progess message in {1} minutes. This might indicate an unresponsive agent or high system activity. Verify that records are being replicated to the destination and that connections to the Subscriber, Publisher, and Distributor are still alive.

Comment

Mom2017ID='{C65DF52B-B877-48C3-B546-67D69C494E84}';MOM2017GroupID={467ECC75-C5DA-42BD-955C-A73BBB51AF74}

Member Modules:

ID	Module Type	TypeId	RunAs
_F6DA1507_12AF_11D3_AB21_00A0C98620CE_	DataSource	Microsoft.SQLServer.Windows.EventProvider	Default
GenerateAlert	WriteAction	System.Health.GenerateAlert	Default

Source Code:

<Rule ID="Microsoft.SQLServer.Windows.CollectionRule.Agent.The_agent_is_suspect._No_response_within_last_minutes_1_5_Rule" Target="SqlDiscW!Microsoft.SQLServer.Windows.Agent" Enabled="true" ConfirmDelivery="true" Remotable="true" Comment="Mom2017ID='{C65DF52B-B877-48C3-B546-67D69C494E84}';MOM2017GroupID={467ECC75-C5DA-42BD-955C-A73BBB51AF74}">

  <Category>EventCollection</Category>

  <DataSources>

    <DataSource ID="_F6DA1507_12AF_11D3_AB21_00A0C98620CE_" Comment="{F6DA1507-12AF-11D3-AB21-00A0C98620CE}" TypeID="Microsoft.SQLServer.Windows.EventProvider">

      <ComputerName>$Target/Property[Type="SqlDiscW!Microsoft.SQLServer.Windows.Agent"]/ComputerName$</ComputerName>

      <LogName>Application</LogName>

      <AllowProxying>false</AllowProxying>

      <Expression>

        <And>

          <Expression>

            <SimpleExpression>

              <ValueExpression>

                <XPathQuery>PublisherName</XPathQuery>

              </ValueExpression>

              <Operator>Equal</Operator>

              <ValueExpression>

                <Value>$Target/Host/Property[Type="SqlCoreLib!Microsoft.SQLServer.Core.DBEngine"]/ServiceName$</Value>

              </ValueExpression>

            </SimpleExpression>

          </Expression>

          <Expression>

            <SimpleExpression>

              <ValueExpression>

                <XPathQuery>EventDisplayNumber</XPathQuery>

              </ValueExpression>

              <Operator>Equal</Operator>

              <ValueExpression>

                <Value>20554</Value>

              </ValueExpression>

            </SimpleExpression>

          </Expression>

        </And>

      </Expression>

    </DataSource>

  </DataSources>

  <WriteActions>

    <WriteAction ID="GenerateAlert" TypeID="Health!System.Health.GenerateAlert">

      <Priority>1</Priority>

      <Severity>2</Severity>

      <AlertMessageId>$MPElement[Name="Microsoft.SQLServer.Windows.CollectionRule.Agent.The_agent_is_suspect._No_response_within_last_minutes_1_5_Rule.AlertMessage"]$</AlertMessageId>

      <AlertParameters>

        <AlertParameter1>$Data/EventDisplayNumber$</AlertParameter1>

        <AlertParameter2>$Data/Params/Param[1]$</AlertParameter2>

      </AlertParameters>

      <Suppression>

        <SuppressionValue/>

      </Suppression>

    </WriteAction>

  </WriteActions>

</Rule>