SQL Server Profiler - trace data file

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SQL Server Profiler - trace data file

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Chap
Starting Member

30 Posts

Posted - 2011-04-06 : 10:24:04

Can the SQL Server Profiler - trace data files be removed from the C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL\LOG folder? Our company likes to keep minimul space on the C drive and we are running into a space issue.

George

tkizer
Almighty SQL Goddess

38200 Posts

Posted - 2011-04-06 : 12:44:06

There should be very little trace data in that folder. How much space is it taking up?

How about moving the folder to another drive? It's easy enough to move it.

Tara Kizer
Microsoft MVP for Windows Server System - SQL Server
http://weblogs.sqlteam.com/tarad/

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Chap
Starting Member

30 Posts

Posted - 2011-04-06 : 13:30:31

Thanks Tara,

They are actually taking up about 20,480 KB each trace. I was wanting to be sure that moving them would do no harm.

Thanks

George

tkizer
Almighty SQL Goddess

38200 Posts

Posted - 2011-04-06 : 13:32:58

That's only 20MB. You can't possibly have that many on your C drive to worry about disk space.

Moving them would not do harm, but it's got to be done right. Let me know if you want to proceed this. It involves moving the entire directory and not just those files.

But you can just delete those files for now if you need to.

Tara Kizer
Microsoft MVP for Windows Server System - SQL Server
http://weblogs.sqlteam.com/tarad/

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GilaMonster
Master Smack Fu Yak Hacker

4507 Posts

Posted - 2011-04-06 : 16:10:56

Those are the default trace files. There will be no more than 5 files of 20 MB each. They will always go into the error log directory.

Leave them where SQL creates them, otherwise it won't be able to clean them up, and some of the SSMS built-in reports will start breaking.

If you don't want them there, move the error log directory itself. It's very likely that the error log files will be bigger than the default trace is in total.

--
Gail Shaw
SQL Server MVP

Chap
Starting Member

30 Posts

Posted - 2011-04-07 : 09:03:50

Yes move the entire directory. There are mdmp files which I think is where the problem lies. With that said if we move the directory to another dirve will this be ok?

Sorry for the slow response, got tied up and couldn't get back yesterday

Thanks

George

GilaMonster
Master Smack Fu Yak Hacker

4507 Posts

Posted - 2011-04-07 : 09:58:55

If you just move the directory, SQL will break spectacularly.
You need to change where SQL writes the error logs. Have a look in Books Online for details on how to change the error log location.

p.s. Mdmp files mean either data corruption or access violations. Either are serious problems that need to be investigated and resolved, not ignored.

--
Gail Shaw
SQL Server MVP

Chap
Starting Member

30 Posts

Posted - 2011-04-07 : 10:56:21

Thanks Gail and Tara for all your help. I have checked into the Mdmp files and soon realized these are serious. We will be looking into this soon. In the meantime I will check books online about changing the error log location.

Again thanks to you both for your help.

George

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