We have 3 SQL servers running SQL Server 2008 R2. There is a primary server that has bi-directional synchronization with two child servers. Our alerting is set up to alert on A. replication connection issues and B. long running merges that last more than 5 minutes. The problem is that the long running merges are not generating Windows events and thus not alerting. When someone connects via SQL Management Studio, opens Replication Monitor, and expands the publication the events are generated and alerts begin firing.
Is this expected behavior and if not what settings can I check for issues?