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Scheduling Traces

There are two ways to schedule tracing in Microsoft SQL Server. You can:

  • Enable a trace stop time.

  • Use SQL Server Agent to schedule a trace.

Specifying a Stop Time

You can specify a trace stop time if you use Transact-SQL stored procedures or if you use SQL Server Profiler. The stop time must be set when the trace is originally configured.

Scheduling Traces by Using SQL Server Agent

The best way to schedule traces is to use SQL Server Agent to start the trace and then specify a trace stop time by using the Transact-SQL stored procedure sp_trace_setstatus, or SQL Server Profiler.