Transaction Log Free Space (\%)

Microsoft.SQLServer.2012.Database.TransactionLogSpaceFreePercentMonitor (UnitMonitor)

Transaction Log Free Space (\%) monitor for 2012 DBs

Knowledge Base article:

Summary

Transaction Log Free Space (%) monitor for SQL 2012 DB

Causes

Unhealthy state is caused by low space free space across all log files. Low free space can be caused by:

Inadequate file configuration settings (size, max size, autogrowth, etc.)
Inadequate space left on the media
Lack of periodic regular backups
Log not truncating
“Include Disk Space” setting for this monitor is set to FALSE for workloads that expect their files to grow.

Use the following link to view the performance data:

Database Performance Data

This monitor aggregates the space available for each log file within a database depending on each file configuration:

No Autogrowth

For a file that has no autogrowth, free space would be the difference between the initial size for a file and the used space.

Autogrowth Enabled

In addition to the difference between the file size and the used space, the free space for files with autogrowth enabled would be the minimum of either the difference between the max size and the file size and the free space left on disk.

Low free space for database log files that have autogrowth could mean that the file is approaching the limits of the hosting logical drive. For files with autogrowth enabled with a max size, low free space could also mean that the file is approaching the max size specified for a file.

The free space calculations also take into account that the file can also fail to grow if the growth amount of the file is greater than the amount left on disk, and that the file cannot grow if the difference between the max size and the current file size is less than the growth amount. In these situations, available free space left on disk is not included as a part of the free space, because we cannot grow any longer.

Resolutions

This issue may be resolved by either:

Increasing the allocated size for log files if autogrowth is disabled
Increasing the max size value for a log file if autogrowth is enabled
Enabling autogrowth for at least one file
Moving log files to another drive with more free space if growth space is limited
Performing regular backups of log files for FULL and BULK-LOGGED recovery modes
Investigate why the log is not getting truncated:
- Long open running active transactions
- Long running backup operations
- Replicated transaction open for a long time (Transactional Replication)
- Mirror lagging behind principal server (Database Mirroring)
Set “Include Disk Space” setting for this monitor to TRUE for workloads that expect their files to grow
Modifying the thresholds for this monitor to suit the workload
Alternatively, if log file free space is not a concern for the database:
- Disable this monitor for this specific database or all databases

See SQL Server Books Online: Files and Filegroups Architecture

Overrideable Parameters

Name	Description	Default Value
Alert Priority	Defines Alert Priority.	Normal
Alert Severity	Defines Alert Severity.	Error
Enabled	Enables or disables the workflow.	No
Generates Alerts	Defines whether the workflow generates an Alert.	Yes
Interval (seconds)	The recurring interval of time in seconds in which to run the workflow.	900
Threshold	Alert threshold value	10
Timeout (seconds)	Specifies the time the workflow is allowed to run before being closed and marked as failed.	300

Element properties:

Target

Microsoft.SQLServer.2012.Database

Parent Monitor

Microsoft.SQLServer.2012.Database.DBSpaceMonitor

Category

PerformanceHealth

Enabled

False

Alert Generate

True

Alert Severity

Error

Alert Priority

Normal

Alert Auto Resolve

True

Monitor Type

Microsoft.SQLServer.2012.Database.TransactionLogSpaceFreePercent.MonitorType

Remotable

True

Accessibility

Public

Alert Message

SQL DB 2012 Transaction Log Free Space (\%) is too low

Transaction Log Free Space (\%) of the database "{0}" in SQL instance "{1}" on computer "{2}" is too low. See "alert context" tab for more details.

RunAs

Default

Source Code:

<UnitMonitor ID="Microsoft.SQLServer.2012.Database.TransactionLogSpaceFreePercentMonitor" Accessibility="Public" Enabled="false" Target="SQL2012Core!Microsoft.SQLServer.2012.Database" ParentMonitorID="Microsoft.SQLServer.2012.Database.DBSpaceMonitor" Remotable="true" Priority="Normal" TypeID="Microsoft.SQLServer.2012.Database.TransactionLogSpaceFreePercent.MonitorType" ConfirmDelivery="false">

  <Category>PerformanceHealth</Category>

  <AlertSettings AlertMessage="Microsoft.SQLServer.2012.Database.TransactionLogSpaceFreePercentMonitor.AlertMessage">

    <AlertOnState>Error</AlertOnState>

    <AutoResolve>true</AutoResolve>

    <AlertPriority>Normal</AlertPriority>

    <AlertSeverity>Error</AlertSeverity>

    <AlertParameters>

      <AlertParameter1>$Target/Property[Type="SQL!Microsoft.SQLServer.Database"]/DatabaseName$</AlertParameter1>

      <AlertParameter2>$Target/Host/Property[Type="SQL!Microsoft.SQLServer.ServerRole"]/InstanceName$</AlertParameter2>

      <AlertParameter3>$Target/Host/Host/Property[Type="Windows!Microsoft.Windows.Computer"]/NetworkName$</AlertParameter3>

    </AlertParameters>

  </AlertSettings>

  <OperationalStates>

    <OperationalState ID="Normal" MonitorTypeStateID="Normal" HealthState="Success"/>

    <OperationalState ID="Error" MonitorTypeStateID="Error" HealthState="Error"/>

  </OperationalStates>

  <Configuration>

    <IntervalSeconds>900</IntervalSeconds>

    <TimeoutSeconds>300</TimeoutSeconds>

    <Threshold>10</Threshold>

    <ConnectionString>$Target/Host/Property[Type="SQL!Microsoft.SQLServer.DBEngine"]/ConnectionString$</ConnectionString>

    <ServerName>$Target/Host/Host/Property[Type="Windows!Microsoft.Windows.Computer"]/NetworkName$</ServerName>

    <SqlInstanceName>$Target/Host/Property[Type="SQL!Microsoft.SQLServer.ServerRole"]/InstanceName$</SqlInstanceName>

    <ObjectName>$Target/Host/Property[Type="SQL!Microsoft.SQLServer.DBEngine"]/PerformanceCounterObject$:TransactionLog</ObjectName>

    <CounterName>Log Free Space (%)</CounterName>

    <InstanceName/>

    <DatabaseName>$Target/Property[Type="SQL!Microsoft.SQLServer.Database"]/DatabaseName$</DatabaseName>

    <Value>$Data/Property[@Name='DBLogFreeSpacePercent']$</Value>

  </Configuration>

</UnitMonitor>