Deadlocks not being captured

ScottHerbert

I'm running SQL Monitor against several environments.

In our test/dev envs, I'm getting alerts when deadlocks occur.

However in prod, I can see deadlocks in the SQL Logs, but no alert in SQL Mon.

Chris Spencer

Hi

Are there any warnings/errors in the 'Show Log' page linked from the Monitored Servers page for each server? As SQL Monitor gets its deadlock information from the SQL error logs, and deadlocks are definitely appearing there, it suggests that the software might be having problems accessing the logs. Maybe due to a permission issue as we use remote file access to read the SQL Logs. If errors do exist we have a troubleshooting page that includes details on testing remote file access:
http://www.red-gate.com/supportcenter/C ... 469857.htm

Another possibility - is the 1204 trace flag enabled for the servers in question? This is a necessity for deadlock alerting and SQL Monitor will attempt to enable it automatically and send an alert if it is unable to do so. Currently we only use trace flag 1204 but it might be trace flag 1222 that is creating the SQL Log entries on your servers? The DBCC TRACESTATUS command can be used to find the status of any trace flag
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms187809.aspx

Regards
Chris

ScottHerbert

Are there any warnings/errors in the 'Show Log' page linked from the Monitored Servers page for each server?

I forced a deadlock, and there are no errors shown in the Show log page at all for that server. However I do note in the SQL Log itself that amongst the many lines of info for the deadlock that occurred, there's an entry that says "Log viewer could not read information for this log entry. Cause: Data is Null. This method or property cannot be called on Null Values.. Content:"

As SQL Monitor gets its deadlock information from the SQL error logs, and deadlocks are definitely appearing there, it suggests that the software might be having problems accessing the logs. Maybe due to a permission issue as we use remote file access to read the SQL Logs. If errors do exist we have a troubleshooting page that includes details on testing remote file access:

I think a permissions issue is unlikely as the the SQL Monitor service account is a member of the Administrators group on the monitored server. Also, I've not noticed any other alerts not appearing; for example high processor usage alerts are popping up as expected.

Another possibility - is the 1204 trace flag enabled for the servers in question?

Yes, it's enabled.

Chris Spencer

"Log viewer could not read information for this log entry. Cause: Data is Null. This method or property cannot be called on Null Values.. Content:"

I can't find any good information about this error online but I'd be surprised if it was related to SQL Monitor not creating deadlock alerts.

Are deadlock alerts are definitely enabled for this specific server in the Alert Settings page?

Also could we have a few details of the server in question so that I can run some tests? For example, sql server version, clustered or standalone etc.

Regards
Chris

ScottHerbert

I can't find any good information about this error online but I'd be surprised if it was related to SQL Monitor not creating deadlock alerts.

Unfortunately I think it's barking up the wrong tree, as I just forced a deadlock on my LAB box, got the same weird message in the LAB SQL Log, but happily rec'd an alert in SQL Monitor.

Are deadlock alerts are definitely enabled for this specific server in the Alert Settings page?

Deadlock alerts are definitely enabled: we haven't really played at all with alert levels or en/disabling.

Also could we have a few details of the server in question so that I can run some tests? For example, sql server version, clustered or standalone etc.

SQL Server 2008 R2, Clustered active/active with 3 instances.
The SQL Monitor service account is admin on the machine and has sysadmin in SQL.

I've also noticed the lack of all other alerts for one of the instances on the cluster.

ScottHerbert

Interestingly, when i removed and re-added the server in SQL Monitor, then forced a deadlock, the alert started appearing.

So it looks to me to be a bug with SQL monitor.

Chris Spencer

I'm going to do some cluster-specific testing and will let you know if I find anything.

Would it be possible for you to email the SQL Monitor log files to chris.spencer@red-gate.com? - specifically the files that start with "Base Deployment".

Please see the following article on where to find your log files:
http://www.red-gate.com/supportcenter/c ... LogFilesKB

Regards
Chris

ScottHerbert

Hi Chris,

I've emailed you the logs.

Thanks,
Scott

Chris Spencer

ScottHerbert wrote:

Hi Chris,

I've emailed you the logs.

Thanks,
Scott

Hi Scott

Unfortunately I don't seemed to have received these log files. Is it possible to try sending them again?

To chris.spencer@red-gate.com

Thanks
Chris

ScottHerbert

I've re-emailed, from Scott dot Herbert at arc dot gov dot au