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SQL Server 2008 – Administration, Maintenance

and Job Automation

Agenda today – lots to cover Overview the concepts firstSQL Server AgentManagement TabDemo on Events, Alerts and JobsDatabase Mail configurationMaintenance Plan Demo

Why Automate Admin tasks?Automation frees your time to perform other

administrative functionsAs the tasks are routinely scheduled, they have no

human element which reduces errors and improves consistency

Microsoft SQL Server allows you to automate administrative tasks using SQL Server Agent which runs as a service

To automate administration, you define predictable administrative tasks and then specify the conditions under which each task occurs

The results of these tasks can be delivered to the operators

Events and AlertsEvents are when something typically an

error occurs on the SQL Server e.g. Database log fills up

Alerts would be a message sent to an Operator that an event has occurred e.g. Hey operator, database log is full

By recording specified events, SQL Server can help you troubleshoot performance, audit database activity and gather data for job related issues

More on AlertsAlerts are defined to provide event notificationAlerts have to be user defined as there are none

listed out of the boxAlert can be raised on Error number or Severity

LevelPerformance counters can also be used to define

an alertWith an alert, you execute a job and notify an

operatorCan be created using SQL Server Management

Studio (SSMS) or T-SQLDemo on Alert “AW Log is full” later

OperatorsThe Operator is the person or group

notified about the status of a jobThe methods of notification include

EmailPagerNet Send

Fail-Safe Operator is notified as a last resort

Operator can be created using SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) or T-SQL stored procedures

JobsJobs contain one or more job steps. Each step

contains its own task, for example, backing up a database

Jobs can be created using SSMSMaintenance PlansT-SQL Jobs are owned by the creator

Jobs Types can be TSQL, Active X, CmdExec, Replication, SSIS and PowerShell

Jobs can be run manually but are often scheduled to run on their own

Bringing it all together

SQL Server AgentSQL Server Agent is a Windows service that executes

scheduled administrative tasks, which are called jobsAgent uses either local system account or domain

user account (preferred). Use configuration manager to set it up

SQL Server Agent uses SQL Server to store job information in the system msdb database

SQL Server Agent can run a job on a schedule, in response to a specific event/alert, or on demand, e.g. backup at midnight

More info can be found by RMB (Right Mouse Button)Discuss General and Alert System tabs

SQL Server Agent TabJobsAlertsOperatorsProxies

An alternative security context that can run SQL Server Agent jobs instead of SQL Server Agent service account

Error Logs (Agent Specific)Demo

Management TabIt has the following important items related

to Management Maintenance Plans – Will cover it later SQL Server Logs Database Mail – Will cover is later Legacy Demo

Demo on Log file is FullThe scenario is: AdventureWorks2008 is our

production databaseWe have created a job called “Increase AW Log”

which creates a copy of Customer table and updates data every 5 minutes. This causes the transaction file to be full

In order to fix the issue, we have created an Alert called “AW Log is full” based on Error Number 9002

When SQL Server agent notices this alert, it takes necessary action which is to run Job “Backup AW Log”

This can be monitored using Job Activity Monitor

Database Mail Database Mail is an enterprise solution for

sending e-mail messages from the SQL Server Database Engine

Using Database Mail, your database applications can send e-mail messages to users. The messages can contain query results, and can also include files from any resource on your network

Database Mail is designed for reliability, scalability, security, and supportability

Lets go ahead and configure Database Mail now

Maintenance PlansMaintenance plans create a workflow of the tasks

required to make sure that your database is optimized, is regularly backed up, and is free of inconsistencies.

The Maintenance Plan Wizard also creates core maintenance plans, but creating plans manually gives you much more flexibility

In SQL Server 2008 Database Engine, maintenance plans create an Integration Services package, which is run by a SQL Server Agent job.

These maintenance tasks can be run manually or automatically at scheduled intervals.

Maintenance Plans – ContinuedWizard is easy to use and intuitiveYou can do all of the following tasks;

Data optimizationDatabase integrity checkBackup databases and transaction logsCleanup files and history information

At the end it creates an SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) package that can be edited using BIDS

You can execute it on demand or schedule it for later

I use it as a starting point to get the TSQL I need