Suppressing Unnecessary Successful Backup Messages

By default, SQL Server logs every successful backup operation in both the SQL Server error log and the system event log. While this might seem useful, it can quickly lead to large and cluttered logs, especially in environments where frequent log backups occur. This makes finding other, more critical messages difficult.

SQL Server provides a solution through Trace Flag 3226, which suppresses these successful backup log entries. Enabling this trace flag helps reduce the size of error logs, making it easier to locate important warnings or errors while still maintaining backup functionality.

Why Suppressing Backup Messages Can Be Helpful

  1. Smaller Log Files: Frequent successful backup messages cause the error log to grow unnecessarily, making it harder to locate other critical events.
  2. Improved Log Clarity: By removing these entries, the log becomes less cluttered and easier to parse for important error messages or warnings.
  3. Better System Performance: Large error logs can affect SQL Server's performance when querying or analyzing the logs.

Suggested Action

To suppress these successful backup messages, enable Trace Flag 3226. This can be configured in SQL Server startup parameters, so the trace flag is automatically enabled when SQL Server starts.

How to Enable Trace Flag 3226 on SQL Server Startup

To suppress successful backup messages, you can enable Trace Flag 3226 either temporarily or permanently:

Temporarily (Until SQL Server Restarts)

You can enable Trace Flag 3226 for the current session with the following command:

DBCC TRACEON(3226, -1);

This enables the trace flag globally but will only remain active until SQL Server restarts. If SQL Server is restarted, this setting will be lost.

Permanently (Across Restarts)

To ensure that Trace Flag 3226 is enabled permanently, you need to add it to the SQL Server startup parameters. Follow these steps:

  1. Open SQL Server Configuration Manager.
  2. Right-click the SQL Server instance and select Properties.
  3. In the Startup Parameters tab, add -T3226 to the list of parameters.
  4. Restart the SQL Server instance for the changes to take effect.

This method ensures that the trace flag remains active even after server restarts.

How Aireforge Detects Trace Flag 3226

Aireforge checks whether Trace Flag 3226 is enabled on the SQL Server instance. If this trace flag is not active, Aireforge flags the instance, recommending enabling the trace flag to reduce error log clutter from successful backup messages. This helps ensure logs remain manageable, particularly in high-backup-frequency environments.