dbcc user error alert

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dbcc user error alert

Leonard Rutkowski

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August 15, 2013 at 2:41 pm

#148302

Last night we ran into an issue with our dbcc's. On a SQL Server 2005, 9.00.4035.00, we were running our normal dbcc's. We started getting User error alerts emails. By the time I could get in, disable the alert, and discover it was the dbcc's causing it, we had over 8000 emails from the alert. I know why i got the alert (space issues), I just don't know why I got 8000 alerts. The alert is defaulted to 0 for the delay between response, so I get why it kept sending. This was the error from the alerts: DESCRIPTION:D:\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\DATA\IM_AUSTORE.mdf:MSSQL_DBCC19: Operating system error 112(There is not enough space on the disk.) encountered.
What I don't get, is why dbcc continued, and didn't stop, with some kind of error. It seemed like the dbcc kept retrying. It wasn't until I stopped the job, in SQL Server Agent, that it stopped. We use Ola Hallengren's script to run the dbcc's, but i don't think it has a retry, at least i didn't see anything like that in the code. The error log shows some of the alerts, but not all, and I didn't see anything in the event viewer that would give me a clue.
Does dbcc keep retrying, in this particular situation, and if so, why?
We have disabled the alert and the dbcc job for now, until we can solve the space issue, and we will probably change the default delay between responses, but we would like to know what happened so we can avoid this in the future.
Thanks,
Leonard

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eccentricDBA SSCarpal Tunnel Points: 4844 More actions · Answer 1

lrutkowski (8/15/2013)
Last night we ran into an issue with our dbcc's. On a SQL Server 2005, 9.00.4035.00, we were running our normal dbcc's. We started getting User error alerts emails. By the time I could get in, disable the alert, and discover it was the dbcc's causing it, we had over 8000 emails from the alert. I know why i got the alert (space issues), I just don't know why I got 8000 alerts. The alert is defaulted to 0 for the delay between response, so I get why it kept sending. This was the error from the alerts: DESCRIPTION:D:\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\DATA\IM_AUSTORE.mdf:MSSQL_DBCC19: Operating system error 112(There is not enough space on the disk.) encountered.
What I don't get, is why dbcc continued, and didn't stop, with some kind of error. It seemed like the dbcc kept retrying. It wasn't until I stopped the job, in SQL Server Agent, that it stopped. We use Ola Hallengren's script to run the dbcc's, but i don't think it has a retry, at least i didn't see anything like that in the code. The error log shows some of the alerts, but not all, and I didn't see anything in the event viewer that would give me a clue.
Does dbcc keep retrying, in this particular situation, and if so, why?
We have disabled the alert and the dbcc job for now, until we can solve the space issue, and we will probably change the default delay between responses, but we would like to know what happened so we can avoid this in the future.
Thanks,
Leonard

I can give you a partial anwer on this. The low disk space condition was caused by the Intergrity Check creating a hidden snapshot. "D:\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\DATA\IM_AUSTORE.mdf[highlight=#ffff11]:MSSQL_DBCC19[/highlight]"

This article talks about that issue:

http://www.sqlskills.com/blogs/paul/issues-around-dbcc-checkdb-and-the-use-of-hidden-database-snapshots/

I scanned it quickly and didn't see anything that talks about how the database snapshot process works.

Leonard Rutkowski SSCrazy Points: 2668 More actions · Answer 2

thanks. yes, i knew it created a snapshot, and needs extra space to do that. My concern is why it didn't stop, after the first alert went out. The dbcc kept trying, or at least the part that was doing the snapshot, looking for space.