| title | description | author | ms.author | ms.reviewer | ms.date | ms.service | ms.subservice | ms.topic | ms.collection | helpviewer_keywords | monikerRange | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Viewing the SQL Server Error Log |
Get help detecting problems in SQL Server by viewing the current error log, or backups of previous logs, to check whether processes finished successfully. |
rwestMSFT |
randolphwest |
randolphwest |
02/13/2025 |
sql |
tools-other |
conceptual |
|
|
>=sql-server-2016 |
[!INCLUDE SQL Server Windows Only]
View the [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] error log to ensure that processes complete successfully (for example, backup and restore operations, batch commands, or other scripts and processes). This procedure can be helpful to detect any current or potential problem areas, including automatic recovery messages (particularly if an instance of [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] stopped and restarted), kernel messages, or other server-level error messages.
You can view the [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] error log with [!INCLUDE ssManStudioFull] or any text editor. For more information about how to view the error log, see Open Log File Viewer.
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On Windows, the default location for the error log is
<drive>:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.<n>\MSSQL\LOG\ERRORLOG. -
On Linux, the default location for the error log is
/var/opt/mssql/log.
Note
The files are called ERRORLOG.<n>, where <n> is an integer. The current error log has no extension.
A new error log is created each time an instance of [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] is started, although the sp_cycle_errorlog system stored procedure can be used to cycle the error log files without having to restart the instance of [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion]. Typically, [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] retains backups of the previous six logs, and gives the most recent log backup the extension .1, the second most recent the extension .2, and so on. The current error log has no extension.
You can also view the [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] error log on instances of [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] that are offline or can't start. For more information, see View Offline Log Files.