Problem
Log shipping has been an option for creating a failover server for SQL Server for quite some time. In this tip, we look at different ways that you can monitor the status of your log shipped databases.
Solution
Log Shipping is a basic SQL Server high-availability technology that is part of SQL Server. It is an automated backup/restore process that allows you to create another copy of your database for failover or reporting purposes.
You can use the below items to investigate if there are any issues with your databases that are setup for Log Shipping. We will cover each of these items and how they can be used.
- SQL Server Error Log
- SSMS Built In Report
- System Stored Procedures
- Query the MSDB database
- Application/System EventViewer Log
SQL Server Error Log
Check the SQL Server error log for error messages related to log shipping such as database backup and restore failures using these commands.
-Query to check the Log Shipping related error messages
select * from sys.sysmessages where description like ‘%shipping%’ and msglangid = 1033
–Execute it on Primary/Secondary server
EXEC xp_readerrorlog 0,1,”Error”,Null
–Execute it on Primary/Secondary server
EXEC xp_readerrorlog 0,1,”Shipping”,Null
–Execute it on Primary server
EXEC xp_readerrorlog 0,1,”Backup”,Null
–Execute it on secondary server
EXEC xp_readerrorlog 0,1,”Restore”,Null
SSMS Built In Report
You can use the Log Shipping Status report by right clicking on the Server Name in Management Studio > Reports > Standard Reports > Transaction Log Shipping Status.
Once you click on the Log Shipping Status report, you will get a report as shown below. You can open the status report for the monitoring server, primary server or secondary server. The report will show you the log shipping status (whether it is healthy or not) as well as metadata such as the primary and secondary database names, time since the last backup, last restore file, etc…
System Stored Procedures
You can execute the below Log Shipping System Stored Procedure to monitor log shipping and get detailed information about log shipping.
- sp_help_log_shipping_monitor
- This is the how SQL Server generates the Log Shipping Status report by executing sys.sp_help_log_shipping_monitor procedure. This procedure returns the log shipping status (whether it is healthy or not) as well as metadata such as primary and secondary database names, time since last backup, last backup file, last restore file, etc…
- sp_help_log_shipping_monitor_primary
- returns all columns from the log_shipping_monitor_primary table for the specified primary log shipping database. It returns server name, database name, time of last backup, backup threshold, threshold alert and history retention period.
- sp_help_log_shipping_monitor_secondary
- returns all columns from log_shipping_monitor_secondary table for the specified secondary log shipping database. It will return database name, server name, restore threshold, last copied file, time of last copy / restore and history retention period.
Query the MSDB database
You can monitor the log-shipping jobs and errors from the MSDB tables as well.
–Query to list out the Log Shipping Jobs
SELECT *
FROM msdb.dbo.sysjobs
WHERE category_id = 6
–Query to check the job history error messages if any
SELECT *
FROM [msdb].[dbo].[sysjobhistory]
WHERE [message] like ‘%Operating system error%’
–Query to check the Log Shipping errors
SELECT *
FROM [msdb].[dbo].[log_shipping_monitor_error_detail]
WHERE [message] like ‘%Operating system error%’
Application/System Event Viewer Log
Another option is to check the Application/System Event Viewer Log for any log shipping, backup, restore or system related issues.
Next Steps
- Document your the log shipping configuration information for all servers that are setup for log shipping.
- Create a Job to run the log shipping status report stored procedure and send an email with the details.
Biography
Jugal Shah is the founder of SQLDBPool.com, where he is writes articles on SQL Server Administration and Development. Jugal has 8+ years of extensive experience in SQL Server Database administration and development. Jugal has worked on SQL Server 2000, 2005, 2008 and 2008 R2. In his current assignment, Jugal is managing large critical databases. His expertise is in database security, performance tuning and implementing high availability solutions. He can be contacted at jugal.shah@sqldbpool.com. He has been recognized as a SQL Server MVP since 2010.
- MSSQLTips Awards: Trendsetter (25+ tips) – 2013
