Applied SQL: Server Side Traces

By Jen McCown, 2011/08/29

It’s time to get your server side trace on, with a little practical application!

I introduce this whole concept in Applied SQL: You Have Homework. Find all assignments on the Applied SQL page.

Prerequisites: basic T-SQL, basic experience with SQL Profiler

Reading:

SQLServerPedia article: The Server-side Trace: What, Why, and How (note that what I wrote about @option is incorrect; you do NOT want to enable “shutdown on error”).
SQL Server Books Online sp_trace_create, sp_trace_setevent, and fn_trace_getinfo articles (just for a general overview, and for later reference).

Level 1 Assignments: Generate the script for a server side trace.

[1-1] Generate the script using these options:

Save to file: c:\temp\Trace
Enable file rollover
Enable trace stop time.
In the events selection, add “DatabaseID” to all selected events.
Add a filter for DatabaseID = 5

[1-2] Open the script and add these queries to the bottom, commented out:

Add a trace stop command.
Add a trace delete command.
Add a query to get information about all existing server-side traces. (This will take just a little research.)

Level 2 Assignment: Edit the script.

[2-1] Open the generated script and make these edits:

Start time should be 30 minutes after the start of the script.
Max file size should be 20 Mb.
Trace output file should be c:\temp\MyTestTraceOutput.
Add the option for trace file rollover.

[2-2] Find and comment out all the code that adds tracing for the “SQL:BatchCompleted” event.

Bonus points: Post your scripts (or a link to them) in the comments below, just to show off that you did it.

Double bonus points: Do you think we should’ve done something more here? Post a related assignment of your own in the comments, and I’ll see how I do