How to Change the SQL Server Agent Log File Path

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

What Is Filling Up The Transaction Log

SELECT db.[name] AS [Database Name] ,
 db.recovery_model_desc AS [Recovery Model] ,
 db.log_reuse_wait_desc AS [Log Reuse Wait Description] ,
 ls.cntr_value AS [Log Size (KB)] ,
 lu.cntr_value AS [Log Used (KB)] ,
 CAST(CAST(lu.cntr_value AS FLOAT) / CAST(ls.cntr_value AS FLOAT)
 AS DECIMAL(18,2)) * 100 AS [Log Used %] ,
 db.[compatibility_level] AS [DB Compatibility Level] ,
 db.page_verify_option_desc AS [Page Verify Option]
FROM sys.databases AS db
 INNER JOIN sys.dm_os_performance_counters AS lu
 ON db.name = lu.instance_name
 INNER JOIN sys.dm_os_performance_counters AS ls
 ON db.name = ls.instance_name
WHERE lu.counter_name LIKE 'Log File(s) Used Size (KB)%'
 AND ls.counter_name LIKE 'Log File(s) Size (KB)%' ;


Reference: http://www.sqlservercentral.com/scripts/DMV/71997/

The MSSQLServer service terminated unexpectedly. Check the SQL Server error log and Windows System and Application event logs for possible causes.

Solution: 

Oops! You might be running a very old build of SQL Server. Immediately check for new release of Service Packs, I would recommend installing recent service pack and then the latest cumulative update package.


If the Service pack installation didn't solve your Issue

For additional help, Open a case with Microsoft immediately.

Script to delete millions of records without increasing your log size in SQL Server

DECLARE @continue INT
DECLARE @rowcount INT

SET @continue = 1

WHILE @continue = 1
BEGIN
 PRINT GETDATE()

 SET ROWCOUNT 10000     --Replace 10000 as required


 BEGIN TRANSACTION

 DELETE
 FROM dbo.Transactions
 WHERE TranDate IS NULL --Replace your delete script here

 SET @rowcount = @@rowcount

 COMMIT

 PRINT GETDATE()

 IF @rowcount = 0
 BEGIN
  SET @continue = 0
 END
END

Checking Email log in SQL Server

--SENT MESSAGES LOG
SELECT TOP 20 *
FROM [msdb].[dbo].[sysmail_sentitems]
ORDER BY [send_request_date] DESC

--FAILED MESSAGES LOG
SELECT TOP 20 *
FROM [msdb].[dbo].[sysmail_faileditems]
ORDER BY [send_request_date] DESC

--ALL MESSAGES – REGARDLESS OF STATUS
SELECT TOP 20 *
FROM [msdb].[dbo].[sysmail_allitems]
ORDER BY [send_request_date] DESC