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Server configuration: nested triggers

  • Article

Applies to: SQL Server

This article describes how to configure the nested triggers server configuration option in SQL Server by using SQL Server Management Studio or Transact-SQL. The nested triggers option controls whether an AFTER trigger can cascade. That is, perform an action that initiates another trigger, which initiates another trigger, and so on. When nested triggers is set to 0, AFTER triggers can't cascade. When nested triggers is set to 1 (the default), AFTER triggers can cascade to as many as 32 levels. INSTEAD OF triggers can be nested regardless of the setting of this option.

Permissions

Execute permissions on sp_configure with no parameters or with only the first parameter are granted to all users by default. To execute sp_configure with both parameters to change a configuration option or to run the RECONFIGURE statement, a user must be granted the ALTER SETTINGS server-level permission. The ALTER SETTINGS permission is implicitly held by the sysadmin and serveradmin fixed server roles.

Use SQL Server Management Studio

  1. In Object Explorer, right-click a server, and then select Properties.

  2. On the Advanced page, set the Allow Triggers to Fire Others option to True (the default) or False.

Use Transact-SQL

  1. Connect to the Database Engine.

  2. From the Standard bar, select New Query.

  3. Copy and paste the following example into the query window and select Execute. This example shows how to use sp_configure to set the value of the nested triggers option to 0.

    SQL 
    USE master;
GO

EXECUTE sp_configure 'show advanced options', 1;
GO

RECONFIGURE;
GO

EXECUTE sp_configure 'nested triggers', 0;
GO

RECONFIGURE;
GO

EXECUTE sp_configure 'show advanced options', 0;
GO

RECONFIGURE;
GO

For more information, see Server configuration options.

Follow up: After you configure the nested triggers option

The setting takes effect immediately without restarting the server.

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