Get-DbaDbVirtualLogFile

Want to see the source code for this command? Check out Get-DbaDbVirtualLogFile on GitHub.
Want to see the Bill Of Health for this command? Check out Get-DbaDbVirtualLogFile.

Synopsis

Returns database virtual log file information for database files on a SQL instance.

Description

Having a transaction log file with too many virtual log files (VLFs) can hurt database performance.

Too many VLFs can cause transaction log backups to slow down and can also slow down database recovery and, in extreme cases, even affect insert/update/delete performance.

References:
http://www.sqlskills.com/blogs/kimberly/transaction-log-vlfs-too-many-or-too-few/
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/saponsqlserver/archive/2012/02/22/too-many-virtual-log-files-vlfs-can-cause-slow-database-recovery.aspx

If you've got a high number of VLFs, you can use Expand-DbaDbLogFile to reduce the number.

Syntax

Get-DbaDbVirtualLogFile
    [-SqlInstance] <DbaInstanceParameter[]>
    [[-SqlCredential] <PSCredential>]
    [[-Database] <Object[]>]
    [[-ExcludeDatabase] <Object[]>]
    [-IncludeSystemDBs]
    [-EnableException]
    [<CommonParameters>]

Examples

Example: 1

PS C:\> Get-DbaDbVirtualLogFile -SqlInstance sqlcluster

Returns all user database virtual log file details for the sqlcluster instance.

Example: 2

PS C:\> Get-DbaDbVirtualLogFile -SqlInstance sqlserver | Group-Object -Property Database | Where-Object Count -gt 50

Returns user databases that have 50 or more VLFs.

Example: 3

PS C:\> 'sqlserver','sqlcluster' | Get-DbaDbVirtualLogFile

Returns all VLF information for the sqlserver and sqlcluster SQL Server instances. Processes data via the pipeline.

Example: 4

PS C:\> Get-DbaDbVirtualLogFile -SqlInstance sqlcluster -Database db1, db2

Returns the VLF counts for the db1 and db2 databases on sqlcluster.

Required Parameters

-SqlInstance

The target SQL Server instance or instances.

Optional Parameters

-SqlCredential

Login to the target instance using alternative credentials. Accepts PowerShell credentials (Get-Credential).
Windows Authentication, SQL Server Authentication, Active Directory - Password, and Active Directory - Integrated are all supported.
For MFA support, please use Connect-DbaInstance.

-Database

Specifies the database(s) to process. Options for this list are auto-populated from the server. If unspecified, all databases will be processed.

-ExcludeDatabase

Specifies the database(s) to exclude from processing. Options for this list are auto-populated from the server.

-IncludeSystemDBs

If this switch is enabled, system database information will be displayed.

-EnableException

By default, when something goes wrong we try to catch it, interpret it and give you a friendly warning message.
This avoids overwhelming you with "sea of red" exceptions, but is inconvenient because it basically disables advanced scripting.
Using this switch turns this "nice by default" feature off and enables you to catch exceptions with your own try/catch.