Where is the 'Backup Application Log'?
Question
Tuesday, April 20, 2010 7:56 AM
Hi,
I keep getting backup failure messages on the Event Viewer under Application (Computer Management > Event Viewer > Application) saying the following:
BACKUP failed to complete the command BACKUP DATABASE xxxxx. Check the backup application log for detailed messages.
Does anyone know where I can find this 'backup application log'?
Thanks
All replies (13)
Tuesday, April 20, 2010 8:41 AM ✅Answered
Yes Zoe, I think that.
Couple of years back, I was supporting an application, which has an option to initiate the db backup. The application also contains an error tables which describes some error info along with the reasons.
It's purely depends on how the application is writing its log? You can check the log for the application.
Good Luck.
SKG: Please Marked as Answered, if it resolves your issue.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010 8:05 AM
The database backup can be initiated using a custom application using ADO.net /odbc connection. I think this message means to check the log of the custom application to find out other specific details.
Its just a thought, however, I am also looking for a proper reason behind this.
SKG: Please Marked as Answered, if it resolves your issue.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010 8:15 AM
Hi,
Are u using any third party or custom built application for backing up databases??
Apps Dev
Tuesday, April 20, 2010 8:18 AM
You may be right - This uses an application called 'Networker User for SQL Server' to handle the backups. Ive never seen this before - You think it might have its own log somewhere?
Thanks for the help,
Zoe
Tuesday, April 20, 2010 8:21 AM
Zoe,
You can look into SQL Server error logs also to find additional information. Although I would prefer to use T-SQL for this, others may prefer using UI.
T-SQL:
--Look for the current time period
EXEC xp_readerrorlog 0, 1, null, null, '2010-04-15', '2010-04-17', 'asc'
UI:
Using Object Explorer -> Management -> SQL Server Logs -> Look for the current file and move on to older files if you can’t find in the current file.
You need to look for the error message and the error number to figure out the exact reason.
Sankar Reddy http://sankarreddy.com/
Tuesday, April 20, 2010 8:30 AM
Thanks - I checked the SQL Error Log and it has the exact same message as the log in the event viewer (Is this normally called the Application Log?).
Ive been through the 'Networker User for SQL Server' and there doesnt seem to be any kind of error log. Im not sure if its bespoke or not - it seems like a very simple package though.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010 8:51 AM
Yep - your right - keeps a wee record of its errors in a datatable.
Thanks for all your help!!
Monday, January 24, 2011 1:07 AM
Hi Zoe,
Just reading this thread, I have the same problem and can't quite decied which one of the repsonses provided you with the answer. Was it
EXEC xp_readerrorlog 0, 1, null, null, '2010-04-15', '2010-04-17', 'asc' ????
My backup is just using the standard SQL server BACKUP LOG and it sometimes gets this error about looking at the backup application log.
Steve
Monday, January 24, 2011 7:26 AM | 1 vote
Hello Steve,
If a backup job failed, then the error message generally written to SQL Server Error Log along with the Windows Application Log. You need to check some of the previous SQL error log messages reported prior to the same error message. Then you may find some additional information, why the backup was failed. Some of the common reasons could be, Network issue, the recovery model of the database changed, the database was recently restored from a previous backup, etc.
Hope, this may help.
SKG: Please Marked as Answered, if it resolves your issue.
Monday, January 24, 2011 9:24 PM
I would generate log file in txt file for the job under afvance option in SQL job rather then depend on SQL errorlog and App log from event view. So I should know the steps and error message if it occure.Manu Please click the Mark as Answer if my post solves your issue.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012 1:40 PM | 1 vote
I think you see this when additional reporting options are chosen in the advanced properties of the job. For instance when I received this message; I had enabled "report to file" on the job. There was a text file that had further details.
nm
Thursday, December 14, 2017 3:08 AM
Why are some of the (or, most of the ...) error messages are still the same since 1995?
Why is it so difficult to "reword" the text portion of the error messages so that people will find stuff faster and easier when there is an error.
Wednesday, February 27, 2019 2:11 PM
I think you see this when additional reporting options are chosen in the advanced properties of the job. For instance when I received this message; I had enabled "report to file" on the job. There was a text file that had further details.
nm
Imho, this is completing what was marked as answer.
I would add, that in SMMS you can go to SQL Server Agant Node -> Jobs, then right click on the backup job, select Proporties, select Steps page, click on Edit button, select Advanced page, and you'll see the 2 options given by nm and Zoe.Ohara.
- Output file
- Log to table