SQL Server Agent Error Log: Log File Viewer displays log information from many different components. When Log File Viewer is open, use the Select logs pane to select the logs you want to display. Each log displays columns appropriate to that kind of log. The logs that are available depend on how Log File Viewer is opened.
Solution
To modify location and name of SQLServer Agent log file. We use following
SP_GET_SQLAGENT_PROPERTIES
SP_SET_SQLAGENT_PROPERTIES
The first stored procedure is used to retrieve the SQL Server Agent properties and the second stored procedure is used to set/change the properties for the SQL Agent service.
I strongly suggest testing any undocumented stored procedures in a lab environment first, before changing your production servers.
Steps to move the SQL Agent log file
Step 1
First check the existing location of the SQL Server Agent log file. Run the below undocumented stored procedure to get the current location. This stored procedure will let us know the SQL Agent properties of a particular server. This stored procedure can be found in the msdb database.
USE MASTER
GO
EXEC msdb..sp_get_sqlagent_properties
GO
We can see below the different settings that are returned when we run this command. We are interested in the errorlog_file column for the change we need to make. Here we can see the current location is the C drive.
Find the current location of sql server agent log file
Step 2
Now we will change the location of the file from the C drive to the G drive.
First we need to create the new destination folders where we want to put the SQLAGENT.OUT file. So, I created the folder "Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\LOG" on the G drive. If you do not create these folders you will have issues when the SQL Server Agent service restarts.
After the new folder has been created, run the below stored procedure to change the location.
USE MASTER
GO
EXEC msdb.dbo.sp_set_sqlagent_properties
@errorlog_file=N'G:\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\LOG\SQLAGENT.OUT'
GO
Change the agent logfile location to different path
Step 3
Now we will verify whether the SQL Server Agent log file path has changed or not. We will be run the same command as in step 1 to get the SQL Server agent properties. We can see in the below screenshot that the path for the SQL Server Agent log file has been changed to the G drive.
Verify the change of agent log file location
Note, this change will not go into effect until you restart your the SQL Agent service. You can verify this by checking the new location to see if the file SQLAGENT.OUT exists or not.
Step 4
Now restart your SQL Server Agent service to bring the changes into effect. If you have any issues or the SQL Server Agent service does not start (you might get an error like below) then you should check the path you have set in step 2. The path has to be valid to successfully start this service.
Reference
Solution
To modify location and name of SQLServer Agent log file. We use following
SP_GET_SQLAGENT_PROPERTIES
SP_SET_SQLAGENT_PROPERTIES
The first stored procedure is used to retrieve the SQL Server Agent properties and the second stored procedure is used to set/change the properties for the SQL Agent service.
I strongly suggest testing any undocumented stored procedures in a lab environment first, before changing your production servers.
Steps to move the SQL Agent log file
Step 1
First check the existing location of the SQL Server Agent log file. Run the below undocumented stored procedure to get the current location. This stored procedure will let us know the SQL Agent properties of a particular server. This stored procedure can be found in the msdb database.
USE MASTER
GO
EXEC msdb..sp_get_sqlagent_properties
GO
We can see below the different settings that are returned when we run this command. We are interested in the errorlog_file column for the change we need to make. Here we can see the current location is the C drive.
Find the current location of sql server agent log file
Step 2
Now we will change the location of the file from the C drive to the G drive.
First we need to create the new destination folders where we want to put the SQLAGENT.OUT file. So, I created the folder "Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\LOG" on the G drive. If you do not create these folders you will have issues when the SQL Server Agent service restarts.
After the new folder has been created, run the below stored procedure to change the location.
USE MASTER
GO
EXEC msdb.dbo.sp_set_sqlagent_properties
@errorlog_file=N'G:\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\LOG\SQLAGENT.OUT'
GO
Change the agent logfile location to different path
Step 3
Now we will verify whether the SQL Server Agent log file path has changed or not. We will be run the same command as in step 1 to get the SQL Server agent properties. We can see in the below screenshot that the path for the SQL Server Agent log file has been changed to the G drive.
Verify the change of agent log file location
Note, this change will not go into effect until you restart your the SQL Agent service. You can verify this by checking the new location to see if the file SQLAGENT.OUT exists or not.
Step 4
Now restart your SQL Server Agent service to bring the changes into effect. If you have any issues or the SQL Server Agent service does not start (you might get an error like below) then you should check the path you have set in step 2. The path has to be valid to successfully start this service.
Reference
