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Responsible Log Growth with dbatools

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I love dbatools, and I’ve been trying to explore the various cmdlets over time, both to practice my PoSh and see if there are easier ways of accomplishing some tasks.

Recently I was browsing the dbatools.io site to see what’s changed and noticed a new cmdlet, Expand-DbaLogResponsibly and just had to check this one out.

Often I’ve considered proactive space management a part of my DBA responsibilities that is core to a well run system. I don’t look at storage every day, but I usually try to look monthly, with an eye towards keeping about 3 months worth of data growth as a pad in most systems. That’s a general guideline that varies by system.

However, logs can be different. They are sized based on workload and backup schedule, which usually works. However, sometimes there are issues and I want to grow my log quickly. If you’ve read about growing log space (like this piece), you’ll realize that there are a variety of things to consider. And the rules change by version, or even patch level, of SQL Server. A lot to consider.

Fortunately, this cmdlet wraps those things up into a command. Just call it with the server, database, target size, and optionally log FileID. It will capture the rules for growth and take appropriate actions.

NOTE: This does not look at the current number of VLFs. You need to be sure you’ve managed your log file.

If you wonder how this works, or if the rules are appropriate for your system, check out the code at Github. I’m sure you’ll find that this is the easiest way to manage a log file.

Filed under: Blog Tagged: dbatools, powershell, syndicated

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