Errors generated by Log Shipping

  • Greetings, I am running Sql Server 2000 SP4 Enterprise Edition on Windows 2003. I have configured log shipping and it appears to be functioning correctly. I have compared data in the primary database and in the standby database and everything seems to be in synch. However, on the standby server I am seeing errors and warnings in the event viewer application log being generated consistently every two minutes and I don't know what they mean.

    The warning shows evenit id 208 and the description says SQL server scheduled job 'Log Shipping Alert Log - Backup' failed....the job was invoked by schedule 93 and other text indicating the job has to do with 'Log Shipping Alert Log - Backup'. I have not configured alerts for this job so I don't know if that is all it is telling me or if something else is going on which I must worry about. I found KB article 902388 but am not clear as to whether or not it refers to my situation.

    The error shows Event ID 17052 and the description says the log shipping source has not backed up for xxxxx minutes which translates to the number of days since the standby database was created. Why is it telling me this? Do I need to do something?

    Every 15 minutes there are 2 informational messages, both list event id 17055 and the description of the first indicates the log was restored and the second indicates the database was checkpointed.

    My question relates to the meaning of these messages. Why is event 208 an error and why I am being warned about alerts. Is it possible to turn these off or would I be creating problems for myself by doing that?

    Thanks.

  • Hi, Bill,

    'Been there, done that!'

    This error comes from the log shipping monitor job that was probably set up automatically when you set up log shipping. Basically, the primary server (of the log shipping pair) is supposed to post the most recent transaction log backed up, while the secondary server posts the most recent transaction log copied and restored. It's the monitor that reports "xxx minutes...." This is meant to alert you if the log shipping fails catastrophically and can't message you to that effect.

    You run into problems when the owner of the job or the account the SQL Server Agent runs under does not have select and update access to the appropriate tables in msdb on the monitoring server (most likely the primary server).

    This is a failure of the log shipping monitoring, not the log shipping itself.

    If you need more info, let me know.

    Peter

    hpk@peoplepc.com

  • Peter, thank you for the response. I don't believe it is a permissions problem as both the log_shipping_primaries and log_shipping_secodaries tables on the monitor server have been updated with the correct information, all is current. BTW, the monitor is on the secondary server, you allude to the fact that it might best be places on the primary, comments?

    Looking at KB article 329133 it appears that the errors are due to difference in the time stamp between the current time, the last_loaded_filename in the log_shipping_secondaries table and the last_backup_filename in the log_shipping_primaries table. The last_loaded_filename in the log_shipping_primaries table is the original backup I made of the database when I created the maintenance plan. That is how I created the standby database. Since that time stamp of that iwll not change then those errors are going to continue to occur if I understand this correctly. That is where I am confused and begin to wonder if I have congigured something incorrectly. Any inout you con provide would be greatly appreciated.

    Thank you.

  • If you are referring to the Job "Log Shipping Alert Job - Backup" on the secondary this job should be disabled.  This job is only to be enabled on the secondary after a role change where the secondary is now a primary.

    The only alert job enabled on the secondary should be "Log Shipping Alert Job - Restore"

  • Greetings, how do I disable this job? Thanks.

  • This is handled outside of the database maintenance plan you used to establish log shipping.  You disable this at the Job level on the secondary server.  Just right click -properties on the job and uncheck the enabled box.  Just like you would with any other job.

     

  • Elliot, thank you for the help, things are getting clearer. Hopefully I can impose upon you to answer one additional question. In Enterprise Manager when I check the log shipping monitor the log shipping pair appears to be disabled, a red 'X' over it. WHen I look at properties -> status I see the following: the status is 'Backup not occurring', the name of the last backup file is first_file_000000000000.trn which, as I understand it indicates that it is not aware of the backups being done and the backup delta is 41909 (at this moment) which translates to the date on which I created the maintenance plan. This implies to me that something else is improperly configired leading to the errors mentioned previously. Disabling the Log Shipping Alert Job - Backup did indeed eliminate erros being written to the application log but I suspect I have something else configured incorrectly which, If I fixed it I wouldn't have to do that. Any suggestions you, or anyone else, might have would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

  • Hey Bill, I'm in the same situation as you were...Were you able to fix this issue.

    I have exact same settings as yours where the monitor server is the secondary server. when I go to the properties of the logshipping monitor the status shows 'Backup not occuring' and the name of the last backup file is first_file_000000000000.trn.

    If Bill or anyone can help on this, I would be really grateful to you guys.

  • Greetings, no, I never did receive a definitive answer to this question and I still see it happening. I check the data on both servers and things appear to be in synch. I think the database not backed up for xxxx minutes is ok because the database only gets backed up the first time you configure log shipping and it needs that information should you have to go back and resotre. But no, I never did recevie a definitive answer. If you do, please post it.

    Thanks.

  • Did you have to reverse the role after setting up the logshipping? If so, did you get any problems (particularly because of the issue described above?

    Sure, I'll post here if I find solution to the problem as I'm searching for it.

    Thanks

  • I did switch once and it worked fine.

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