ID Number: Q67969
1.10 1.11 4.20
OS/2
Summary:
The following information discusses the behavior of the error log when
SQL Server is run as a stand-alone server.
If SQL Server does not find the old error log when it is started, it
will create a new one. If it does find the old error log, it will
reopen the error log and append to it. It is important to watch the
size of this error log, because it can continually grow to be quite
large if it is never deleted or renamed.
In addition, it is possible that the error log will not be placed in
the \SQL\LOG directory. When SQL Server is started with "sqlservr",
the "/e" option is used to tell it where to place the error log. If
this option is omitted, SQL Server will put the error log in the
default directory when "sqlservr" was started.
One way to keep old copies of the error logs is to write a .CMD file
that will perform this type of functionality. For example:
echo off
cd\<path name where error logs will be kept>
if exist errorlog.6 del errorlog.6
if exist errorlog.5 ren errorlog.5 errorlog.6
if exist errorlog.4 ren errorlog.4 errorlog.5
if exist errorlog.3 ren errorlog.3 errorlog.4
if exist errorlog.2 ren errorlog.2 errorlog.3
if exist errorlog 1 ren errorlog.1 errorlog.2
sqlservr /d <path for master.dat> /e <path for error log>
Note: Instead of using the "/d" and "/e" options, it is also
acceptable to use the "-d" and "-e" options. For example:
sqlservr -d <path for master.dat> -e <path for error log>
Additional reference words: 1.10 1.11 4.20 errorlog log novell