title

SQL Server Agent Error Log | Microsoft Docs

ms.custom

ms.date

06/13/2017

ms.prod

sql-server-2014

ms.reviewer

ms.technology

ssms

ms.topic

conceptual

helpviewer_keywords

logs [SQL Server], SQL Server Agent

messages [SQL Server], SQL Server Agent

errors [SQL Server], logs

SQL Server Agent, errors

ms.assetid

0b2d6e6e-cd2d-4b8b-9fa2-2bbd2fc0da41

author

stevestein

ms.author

sstein

manager

craigg

SQL Server Agent Error Log

[!INCLUDEssNoVersion] Agent creates an error log that records warnings and errors by default. The following warnings and errors are displayed in the log:

Warning messages that provide information about potential problems, such as "Job <job_name> was deleted while it was running."
Error messages that usually require intervention by a system administrator, such as "Unable to start mail session." Error messages can be sent to a specific user or computer by net send.

[!INCLUDEssNoVersion] maintains up to nine [!INCLUDEssNoVersion] Agent error logs. Each archived log has an extension that indicates the relative age of the log. For example, an extension of .1 indicates the newest archived error log and an extension of .9 indicates the oldest archived error log.

By default, execution trace messages are not written to the [!INCLUDEssNoVersion] Agent error log, because they can fill it. When the error log is full, your ability to select and analyze more difficult errors is reduced. Because the log adds to the server's processing load, it is important to consider carefully what value you obtain by capturing execution trace messages to the error log. Generally, it is best to capture all messages only when you are debugging a specific problem.

When [!INCLUDEssNoVersion] Agent is stopped, you can modify the location of the [!INCLUDEssNoVersion] Agent error log. When the error log is empty, the log cannot be opened. You can cycle the [!INCLUDEssNoVersion] Agent log at any time without stopping [!INCLUDEssNoVersion] Agent.

To view the SQL Server Agent error log