Shrink log files

Question

IS it safe to shrink log files when the logshipping is enabled?

Answer 1

Yes it is and instructions to perform a shrink can be found here http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms189493.aspx or http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms190757.aspx

It is not safe though to change the recovery model of a log shipped database to simple mode as that will break log shipping.

Answer 2

Yep, also see this great link http://www.sqlskills.com/blogs/kimberly/post/8-Steps-to-better-Transaction-Log-throughput.aspx

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Best Regards, Uri Dimant SQL Server MVP http://dimantdatabasesolutions.blogspot.com/ http://sqlblog.com/blogs/uri_dimant/

Answer 3

On Mon, 5 Mar 2012 16:18:09 +0000, Amydom wrote:

IS it safe to shrink log files when the logshipping is enabled?

Safe: Yes.
Smart: No. Unless the log file has seriously ballooned due to a
one-time issue and will never grow that big again, AND you really need
the disk space back. See
http://www.karaszi.com/SQLServer/info_dont_shrink.asp for more info,

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Hugo Kornelis, SQL Server MVP
My SQL Server blog: http://sqlblog.com/blogs/hugo_kornelis

Answer 4

Thanks all for the replies. My concern is, I see more than 600 VLFs.

Answer 5

>Thanks all for the replies. My concern is, I see more than 600 VLFs.

That is a lot indeed. And actually, shrinking the log file is the most
probable cause of this issue. (Or else, the log was allocated to
small, and autogrow was set to a small increment).

The best way to correct this does indeed involve shrinking the log
file, as a one-time operation. It should be done during an inactive
part of the day, and immediately after a log backup. And right after
that, you have to manually grow back the transaction log to the
desired size.

After that, make sure to monitor usage of the transaction log and grow
it manually (by a large amount at once) at appropriate times. Autogrow
is a great way to prevent being pages at night, but it should not be
used as the standard groth mechanism; it's a failsafe mechanism only!

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Hugo Kornelis, SQL Server MVP
My SQL Server blog: http://sqlblog.com/blogs/hugo_kornelis