MS SQL Server Tools - Sql 2000 Maintenance Plan not deleting old transaction logs

Author

Sql 2000 Maintenance Plan not deleting old transaction logs

Chris Newby

2006-03-07, 11:24 am

I created a maintenance plan using enterprise manager 8 for a sql server
2000 database. In regards to the transaction log, the maintenance plan is
configured to:

- backup the transaction log
- verify the backup's integrity
- use a non-default file system location for storage
- *remove files older than 1 day*
- use TRN as a file extension
- scheduled to run nightly

Everything works fine with one exception: the older transaction log backups
are not being deleted (those that are older than one day).

This same maintenance plan is also configured identically to backup the
database data, and in that case *is* deleting the older data backups. The
plan is also configured to run optimizations once a week on Sundays which
include reorganization and shrinking.

Obviously, I'd rather not have to delete these extra backup files manually
or with an extraneous script. However the setup and configuration of the
maintenance plan is very straight forward ... it simply appears not to work
(on the point of the transaction logs).

Our service packs are all up to date and I checked the maintenance plan
history log which contained entries like "Delete old db backup files" but
did not contain anything like "Delete old transaction backup files" ... so
what gives?

Any ideas are much apreciated!

TIA//

Tibor Karaszi

2006-03-07, 1:23 pm

Did you include any databases in simple recovery in that plan?

Also see

Below KB might help:
http://support.microsoft.com/defaul...2&Product=sql2k

Also, check out below great troubleshooting suggestions from Bill H at MS:

------ Log files don't delete ----
This is likely to be either a permissions problem or a sharing violation
problem. The maintenance plan is run as a job, and jobs are run by the
SQLServerAgent service.

Permissions:
1. Determine the startup account for the SQLServerAgent service
(Start|Programs|Admi
nistrative tools|Services|SQLSe
rverAgent|Startup). This
account is the security context for jobs, and thus the maintenance plan.
2. If SQLServerAgent is started using LocalSystem (as opposed to a domain
account) then skip step 3.
3. On that box, log onto NT as that account. Using Explorer, attempt to
delete an expired backup. If that succeeds then go to Sharing Violation
section.
4. Log onto NT with an account that is an administrator and use Explorer to
look at the Properties|Security of the folder (where the backups reside)
and ensure the SQLServerAgent startup account has Full Control. If the
SQLServerAgent startup account is LocalSystem, then the account to consider
is SYSTEM.
5. In NT, if an account is a member of an NT group, and if that group has
Access is Denied, then that account will have Access is Denied, even if
that account is also a member of the Administrators group. Thus you may
need to check group permissions (if the Startup Account is a member of a
group).
6. Keep in mind that permissions (by default) are inherited from a parent
folder. Thus, if the backups are stored in C:\bak, and if someone had
denied permission to the SQLServerAgent startup account for C:\, then
C:\bak will inherit access is denied.

Sharing violation:
This is likely to be rooted in a timing issue, with the most likely cause
being another scheduled process (such as NT Backup or Anti-Virus software)
having the backup file open at the time when the SQLServerAgent (i.e., the
maintenance plan job) tried to delete it.
1. Download filemon and handle from www.sysinternals.com.
2. I am not sure whether filemon can be scheduled, or you might be able to
use NT scheduling services to start filemon just before the maintenance
plan job is started, but the filemon log can become very large, so it would
be best to start it some short time before the maintenance plan starts.
3. Inspect the filemon log for another process that has that backup file
open (if your lucky enough to have started filemon before this other
process grabs the backup folder), and inspect the log for the results when
the SQLServerAgent agent attempts to open that same file.
4. Schedule the job or that other process to do their work at different
times.
5. You can use the handle utility if you are around at the time when the
job is scheduled to run.

If the backup files are going to a \\share or a mapped drive (as opposed to
local drive), then you will need to modify the above (with respect to where
the tests and utilities are run).

Finally, inspection of the maintenance plan's history report might be
useful.

Thanks,

Bill Hollinshead
Microsoft, SQL Server

--
Tibor Karaszi, SQL Server MVP
http://www.karaszi.com/sqlserver/default.asp
http://www. solidqualitylearning
.com/
Blog: http:// solidqualitylearning
.com/blogs/tibor/

"Chris Newby" <Chris. Newby@Rockcreekgloba
l.com> wrote in message
news:Ou1TQ1fQGHA.2040@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
>I created a maintenance plan using enterprise manager 8 for a sql server 2000 database. In regards
>to the transaction log, the maintenance plan is configured to:
>
> - backup the transaction log
> - verify the backup's integrity
> - use a non-default file system location for storage
> - *remove files older than 1 day*
> - use TRN as a file extension
> - scheduled to run nightly
>
> Everything works fine with one exception: the older transaction log backups are not being deleted
> (those that are older than one day).
>
> This same maintenance plan is also configured identically to backup the database data, and in that
> case *is* deleting the older data backups. The plan is also configured to run optimizations once a
> week on Sundays which include reorganization and shrinking.
>
> Obviously, I'd rather not have to delete these extra backup files manually or with an extraneous
> script. However the setup and configuration of the maintenance plan is very straight forward ...
> it simply appears not to work (on the point of the transaction logs).
>
> Our service packs are all up to date and I checked the maintenance plan history log which
> contained entries like "Delete old db backup files" but did not contain anything like "Delete old
> transaction backup files" ... so what gives?
>
> Any ideas are much apreciated!
>
> TIA//
>
>

Chris Newby

2006-03-07, 1:23 pm

Yeah ... I had actually chosen the "All Databases" option in the General Tab
of the Maintenance properties dialog. So that would mean the system
databases are inculded which use simple recovery. And that is definately
what is causing the problem.

I used the "All Databases" option because we have several DBs and I figured
this was simply the most comprehensive backup we could make. So my reasoning
was more "why not" as opposed to "why" if you know what I mean.

Anyway, that makes things a little more complicated, but it's not too bad
....

That was very helpful, thank you Tibor.

"Tibor Karaszi" <tibor_please.no. email_karaszi@hotmai
l.nomail.com> wrote in
message news:u$gg71gQGHA.4900@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> Did you include any databases in simple recovery in that plan?
>
> Also see
>
> Below KB might help:
> http://support.microsoft.com/defaul...2&Product=sql2k
>
>
> Also, check out below great troubleshooting suggestions from Bill H at MS:
>
>
> ------ Log files don't delete ----
> This is likely to be either a permissions problem or a sharing violation
> problem. The maintenance plan is run as a job, and jobs are run by the
> SQLServerAgent service.
>
> Permissions:
> 1. Determine the startup account for the SQLServerAgent service
> (Start|Programs|Admi
nistrative tools|Services|SQLSe
rverAgent|Startup).
> This
> account is the security context for jobs, and thus the maintenance plan.
> 2. If SQLServerAgent is started using LocalSystem (as opposed to a domain
> account) then skip step 3.
> 3. On that box, log onto NT as that account. Using Explorer, attempt to
> delete an expired backup. If that succeeds then go to Sharing Violation
> section.
> 4. Log onto NT with an account that is an administrator and use Explorer
> to
> look at the Properties|Security of the folder (where the backups reside)
> and ensure the SQLServerAgent startup account has Full Control. If the
> SQLServerAgent startup account is LocalSystem, then the account to
> consider
> is SYSTEM.
> 5. In NT, if an account is a member of an NT group, and if that group has
> Access is Denied, then that account will have Access is Denied, even if
> that account is also a member of the Administrators group. Thus you may
> need to check group permissions (if the Startup Account is a member of a
> group).
> 6. Keep in mind that permissions (by default) are inherited from a parent
> folder. Thus, if the backups are stored in C:\bak, and if someone had
> denied permission to the SQLServerAgent startup account for C:\, then
> C:\bak will inherit access is denied.
>
> Sharing violation:
> This is likely to be rooted in a timing issue, with the most likely cause
> being another scheduled process (such as NT Backup or Anti-Virus software)
> having the backup file open at the time when the SQLServerAgent (i.e., the
> maintenance plan job) tried to delete it.
> 1. Download filemon and handle from www.sysinternals.com.
> 2. I am not sure whether filemon can be scheduled, or you might be able to
> use NT scheduling services to start filemon just before the maintenance
> plan job is started, but the filemon log can become very large, so it
> would
> be best to start it some short time before the maintenance plan starts.
> 3. Inspect the filemon log for another process that has that backup file
> open (if your lucky enough to have started filemon before this other
> process grabs the backup folder), and inspect the log for the results when
> the SQLServerAgent agent attempts to open that same file.
> 4. Schedule the job or that other process to do their work at different
> times.
> 5. You can use the handle utility if you are around at the time when the
> job is scheduled to run.
>
> If the backup files are going to a \\share or a mapped drive (as opposed
> to
> local drive), then you will need to modify the above (with respect to
> where
> the tests and utilities are run).
>
> Finally, inspection of the maintenance plan's history report might be
> useful.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Bill Hollinshead
> Microsoft, SQL Server
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Tibor Karaszi, SQL Server MVP
> http://www.karaszi.com/sqlserver/default.asp
> http://www. solidqualitylearning
.com/
> Blog: http:// solidqualitylearning
.com/blogs/tibor/
>
>
> "Chris Newby" <Chris. Newby@Rockcreekgloba
l.com> wrote in message
> news:Ou1TQ1fQGHA.2040@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
>

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