Use the SQL Server event probe to create a trail

The SQL Server event Profiler helps database administrators track specific events performed by SQL Server databases, monitor database behavior, and save valuable information to files or tables, in order to analyze and solve database problems in the future, and optimize the database engine performance. This article describes how to use the SQL Server event probe to create the whole process of SQL Server tracking step by step.

Steps for creating a trail:

1. Start from the "Start" menu and point to "all programs" to open SQL Server Management Studio.

2. Select "event probe" from the "Tools" menu ".

3. When the main interface of the "event probe" is opened, select "New Trail" from the "file" menu ".

4. At this time, the SQL Server event probe will prompt you to connect to the SQL Server instance you want to probe the trail. Provide the detailed information required for the connection, and click "Connect" to continue.

5. enter the name of the trail you want to create in the "trail name" text box.

6. Select a template from the "Template Name" drop-down menu for the trail you created. (The following prompt displays information about the usage of common tracking templates ).

7. Select "Save to file" to save the trail you created to a file on the local hard disk. Click the check box and enter a file name and its location in the pop-up "storage as" window.

8. Click the "events" tab to view the events you want to track and monitor in the created tracking plan. Based on the template you selected, the system automatically selects some events, but you can modify these default options. Click the show all events and show all columns check boxes to view other options.

9. Click "run" to start tracking. SQL Server starts to create the trail and displays the detailed information of the trail in the saved file. After running, select "Stop trail" from the "file" menu ".

Tip:

1. The "Standard" template provided by the trace template option is used to capture a large amount of information about SQL Server connections, stored procedures, and Transact-SQL statements.

2. the Tuning template is used to capture information that can be used by the database engine optimization consultant to optimize the performance of SQL Server.

3. The "TSQL_Replay" template is used to capture the details of all the Transact-SQL statements required to re-run the trail in the future.