In SQL2005 a new merge trace log is automatically maintained by SQL server. This is primarily of use when you have a problem, as it shows the internal workings of synchronisation. If you do run into problems, it’s well worth taking a look into here. There appear to be 3 files, a current log called replmerg.log, and 2 previous 10 meg log files named replmerg.log.1 and replmerg.log.2. These log files continually roll over so there are never more than 3 files.

I suspect MS added this auto logging as it would take considerable time for PSS to talk someone who knew little about replication to create a log file in SQL2000 by running the merge agent from the command line or modifying the job steps . These ready made files are always ready to go once the synchronisation has completed.

The log files will be found typically in the folder:

C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\90\COM\