SQL Log File Growing Rapidly: How to Fix Growing Transaction Logs Files logs

Published On

June 26th, 2024

Reading Time

6 Minutes Reading

Users Problem
Recently, many users have started facing problems with the SQL transaction log file. Their SQL log file growing rapidly, fills up the complete drive and soon runs out of memory space.
The error message I got was: “The transaction log for database ‘MyDB’ is full. To find out why space in the log cannot be reused, see the log_reuse_wait_desc column in sys.databases.”
The operation timeout session takes too much time, or the SQL Server isn’t responding. Users are not sure how to proceed with this situation.

Potential Reasons Why SQL Log File Grows Too Fast

There are several potential reasons why an SQL transaction log file is large

Transaction Log Files Corruption: Sometimes corrupted SQL log files take up too much space and cause the transaction log file to grow rapidly without any hindrance. Therefore, SQL users must repair LDF files quickly.
Poor SQL Synchronisation: SQL log file growing rapidly because of the availability of groups and incomplete replication of transaction log files in Synchronisation.
Large SQL DB Transaction: Large database transactions, such as data recovery, importing large amounts of SQL data, migration, etc. Can lead users to large-size SQL log files in the databases.
SQL DB Full Recovery Mode: Configuring the SQL database in full recovery mode, means a SQL database could be restored to a specific point. So in that way, it’s increasing the of transaction log files.
Unrtuncated SQL Log Files: This occurs when the SQL transactional log backups are not regularly performed on the user SQL database, specifically when the database is not full or bulk-logged recovery modes.
Index Restore and Change: Restoring or changing the SQL indexes of the SQL server can also be responsible for the increase in the SQL transactions log files, which can create more trouble for the user.
Infrequent SQL Log Backups: SQL log files increase rapidly because of delays in creating SQL log backups, causing SQL users to face errors related to size.

How to Stop SQL Log File Growing Rapidly Manually?

In this section, users can learn six different manual methods to troubleshoot the log file growing rapidly scenario.

Method 1 Backup SQL Transaction Log File:

To address the problem of an SQL log file expands rapidly, the user must opt for a full or bulk-logged SQL database recovery option, including the backup of the entire database and log files. This action stops the user from filling the SQL database log files and allows log truncation. It also allows users to use inactive unused space to be reused for new, fresh data.

Method 2 Use the Auto Growth Option Wisely:

This method enables the MS SQL Server to increase its file size limit when it runs out of memory space completely. Data files can expand to any specific size. But sometimes this feature can also cause a lot of trouble to the user.

Users can follow these steps to grow the size of the SQL log file.

First, launch SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
Now, navigate to the SQL database and right-click on it.
Select the Properties option to change the settings.
Lastly, manage the Auto-Growth settings for SQL log data files.

Method 3 Monitor SQL Transaction Log Files

Constant monitoring of SQL transaction log files is quite important. Hence, if the SQL log file growing rapidly, users can follow the vitals like speed, reasons, & timestamps. It helps users monitor database health, viruses, malware, or any other problem with log files. Users can tool like System Center Operations Manager (SCOM).

Using the sys.dm_db_log_space_usage command is very helpful in monitoring the disk space of the SQL database log file.

Method 4 Free Storage in Disk for Log Files

Sometimes, the SQL transaction logs file fills up & there is no storage space left in the main disk to accommodate more new data. Users can free up disk space or move the log file data to a different storage disk to resolve the issue.

Method 5 Shrink SQL Log File Size Option

When the SQL transaction logs file has some unused space, the user can shrink a log file to create some storage space.

Method 6 Increase SQL Log Size Option

Users can increase the SQL log file size according to their requirements. The maximum size limit of a log file is two terabytes.

In the upcoming section, we will discuss a smart solution to reduce the Log file growing rapidly in SQL Server.

Fix SQL Log File Growing Rapidly Using Smart Solution

If all the manual methods such as frequent backups of log files, monitoring log files, and executing several other methods fail to fix SQL log file grows too fast. Then, users can opt for a smart solution called the Log Analyzer Tool to resolve all the errors related to the size of log files.

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Follow these steps to fix issues in the log file SQL Server

Download, install, and run the software application on your computer.
Now, click open and add the log files.
Select the file-adding option, such as Online DB or Offline DB.
Preview all the scan details like No. of Records, No. of Inserts, etc.
Choose the export option such as CSV, SQL Server Database, and SQL Server Compatible Scripts.
Lastly, start the export option and set the path of scanned files.

Tools Features to Fix Log Files Growing Rapidly in SQL Server

The software analyses the entire SQL transaction log (.ldf) file to detect all vital changes in the SQL records.
The tool is also used for forensic analysis of LDF files to track all the transactions of the user SQL database.
It comes with dynamic filters to export only specific transaction records after complete analyses of log files.
The application opens, analyses, and reads all the MS SQL transactions such as Insert, Delete, and Update.
It provides three different options to export SQL log files like CSV File Format, SQL Server Database, and SQL Server Compatible Scripts.
The tool supports all versions of MS SQL Server (2022, 2019, 2017, 2016, 2014, 2012, 2008, 2005) LDF versions.
The program supports advanced data types like geography, sql_variant, geometry, hierarchyid, Datetime2, etc for all the versions of MS SQL Server.
It works on Online and Offline SQL database environments and fetches & views SQL records from a Live SQL Server.
The software supports all Windows Operating Systems (11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7, XP) with both 64-bit and 32-bit versions.
The tool easily exports all MS SQL records in CSV file format in a hassle-free way. It also comes in demo versions.

Also Read: How to Check Who Dropped the Table in SQL Server Database?

Final Conclusion

In this article, we discuss some potential reasons for SQL log file growing rapidly. Additionally, we also discuss six different manual methods such as monitoring transaction log files, backup transaction log files, etc. In the last section, we discuss the smart solution to fix log file growing rapidly in SQL Server. The user can use a smart solution to resolve all errors in one shot.