Use the Maintenance Plan Wizard

Article
06/13/2017

This topic describes how to create a single server or multiserver maintenance plan using the Maintenance Plan Wizard in SQL Server 2014. The Maintenance Plan Wizard creates a maintenance plan that Microsoft SQL Server Agent can run on a regular basis. This allows you to perform various database administration tasks, including backups, database integrity checks, or database statistics updates, at specified intervals.

In This Topic

Before you begin:

Limitations and Restrictions

Security
Creating a maintenance plan using the Maintenance Plan Wizard in SQL Server Management Studio

Before You Begin

Limitations and Restrictions

To create a multiserver maintenance plan, a multiserver environment containing one master server and one or more target servers must be configured. Multiserver maintenance plans must be created and maintained on the master server. These plans can be viewed, but not maintained, on target servers.
Members of the db_ssisadmin and dc_admin roles may be able to elevate their privileges to sysadmin. This elevation of privilege can occur because these roles can modify Integration Services packages; these packages can be executed by SQL Server using the sysadmin security context of SQL Server Agent. To guard against this elevation of privilege when running maintenance plans, data collection sets, and other Integration Services packages, configure SQL Server Agent jobs that run packages to use a proxy account with limited privileges or only add sysadmin members to the db_ssisadmin and dc_admin roles.

Security

Permissions

To create or manage maintenance plans, you must be a member of the sysadmin fixed server role. Object Explorer only displays the Maintenance Plans node for users who are members of the sysadmin fixed server role.

Using Maintenance Plan Wizard

To start the Maintenance Plan Wizard

Expand the server where you want to create your management plan.
Expand the Management folder.
Right-click the Maintenance Plans folder and select Maintenance Plan Wizard.
On the SQL Server Maintenance Plan Wizard page, click Next.
On the Select Plan Properties page:
1. In the Name box, enter the name of the maintenance plan you are creating.
2. In the Description box, briefly describe your maintenance plan.
3. In the Run as list, specify the credential that Microsoft SQL Server Agent uses when executing the maintenance plan.
4. Select either Separate schedules for each task or Single schedule for the entire plan or no schedule to specify the recurring schedule of the maintenance plan.
  
  Note
  
  If you select Separate schedules for each task, you will need to follow the steps in e. below for each task in your maintenance plan.
5. If you selected Single schedule for the entire plan or no schedule, under Schedule, click Change.
  1. In the New Job Schedule dialog box, in the Name box, enter the job schedule's name.
  2. On the Schedule type list, select the type of schedule:
    - Start automatically when SQL Server Agent starts
    - Start whenever the CPUs become idle
    - Recurring. This is the default selection.
    - One time
  3. Select or clear the Enabled check box to enable or disable the schedule.
  4. If you select Recurring:
    1. Under Frequency, on the Occurs list, specify the frequency of occurrence:
      - If you select Daily, in the Recurs every box, enter how often the job schedule repeats in days.
      - If you select Weekly, in the Recurs every box, enter how often the job schedule repeats in weeks. Select the day or days of the week on which the job schedule is run.
      - If you select Monthly, select either Day or The.
        
        If you select Day, enter both the date of the month you want the job schedule to run and how often the job schedule repeats in months. For example, if you want the job schedule to run on the 15th day of the month every other month, select Day and enter "15" in the first box and "2" in the second box. Please note that the largest number allowed in the second box is "99".
        
        If you select The, select the specific day of the week within the month that you want the job schedule to run and how often the job schedule repeats in months. For example, if you want the job schedule to run on the last weekday of the month every other month, select Day, select last from the first list and weekday from the second list, and then enter "2" in the last box. You can also select first, second, third, or fourth, as well as specific weekdays (for example: Sunday or Wednesday) from the first two lists. Please note that the largest number allowed in the last box is "99".
    2. Under Daily frequency, specify how often the job schedule repeats on the day the job schedule runs:
      - If you select Occurs once at, enter the specific time of day when the job schedule should run in the Occurs once at box. Enter the hour, minute, and second of the day, as well as AM or PM.
      - If you select Occurs every, specify how often the job schedule runs during the day chosen under Frequency. For example, if you want the job schedule to repeat every 2 hours during the day that the job schedule is run, select Occurs every, enter "2" in the first box, and then select hour(s) from the list. From this list you can also select minute(s) and second(s). Please note that the largest number allowed in the first box is "100".
        
        In the Starting at box, enter the time that the job schedule should start running. In the Ending at box, enter the time that the job schedule should stop repeating. Enter the hour, minute, and second of the day, as well as AM or PM.
    3. Under Duration, in Start date, enter the date that you want the job schedule to start running. Select End date or No end date to indicate when the job schedule should stop running. If you select End date, enter the date that you want to job schedule to stop running.
  5. If you select One Time, under One-time occurrence, in the Date box, enter the date that the job schedule will be run. In the Time box, enter the time that the job schedule will be run. Enter the hour, minute, and second of the day, as well as AM or PM.
  6. Under Summary, in Description, verify that all job schedule settings are correct.
  7. Click OK.
6. Click Next.
On the Select Target Servers page, select the servers where you want to run the maintenance plan. This page is only visible on SQL Server instances that are configured as master servers.

Note

To create a multiserver maintenance plan, a multiserver environment containing one master server and one or more target servers must be configured, and the local server should be configured as a master server. In multiserver environments, this page displays the (local) master server and all corresponding target servers.
On the Select Maintenance Tasks page, select one or more maintenance tasks to add to the plan. When you have selected all of the necessary tasks, click Next.

Note

The tasks you select here will determine which pages you will need to complete after the Select Maintenance Task Order page below.
On the Select Maintenance Task Order page, select a task and click either Move Up... or Move Down... to change its order of execution. When finished, or if you are satisfied with the current order of tasks, click Next.

Note

If you selected Separate schedules for each task on the Select Plan Properties page above, you will not be able to change the order of the maintenance tasks on this page.

Define Database Check Integrity (CHECKDB) Tasks

On the Define Database Check Integrity Task page, choose the database or databases where the allocation and structural integrity of user and system tables and indexes will be checked. By running the DBCC CHECKDBTransact-SQL statement, this task ensures that any integrity problems with the database are reported, thereby allowing them to be addressed later by a system administrator or database owner. For more information, see DBCC CHECKDB (Transact-SQL)When complete, click Next.

The following options are available on this page.

Databases list
Specify the databases affected by this task.
- All databases
  
  Generate a maintenance plan that runs this task against all Microsoft SQL Server databases except tempdb.
- System databases
  
  Generate a maintenance plan that runs this task against SQL Server system databases except tempdb and user-created databases.
- All user databases (excluding master, model, msdb, tempdb)
  
  Generate a maintenance plan that runs this task against all user-created databases. No maintenance tasks are run against the SQL Server system databases.
- These databases
  
  Generate a maintenance plan that runs this task against only those databases that are selected. At least one database in the list must be selected if this option is chosen.
Include indexes check box
Check the integrity of all the index pages as well as the table data pages.

Define Database Shrink Tasks

On the Define Shrink Database Task page, create a task that attempts to reduce the size of the selected databases by using the DBCC SHRINKDATABASE statement, with either the NOTRUNCATE or TRUNCATEONLY option. For more information, see DBCC SHRINKDATABASE (Transact-SQL). When complete, click Next.

Warning

Data that is moved to shrink a file can be scattered to any available location in the file. This causes index fragmentation and can slow the performance of queries that search a range of the index. To eliminate the fragmentation, consider rebuilding the indexes on the file after shrinking.

The following options are available on this page.

Databases list
Specify the databases affected by this task. See step 9, above, for more information on the available options on this list.

Shrink database when it grows beyond box
Specify the size in megabytes that causes the task to execute.

Amount of free space to remain after shrink box
Stop shrinking when free space in database files reaches this size (as a percentage).

Retain freed space in database files
The database is condensed to contiguous pages but the pages are not deallocated, and the database files do not shrink. Use this option if you expect the database to expand again, and you do not want to reallocate space. With this option, the database files do not shrink as much as possible. This uses the NOTRUNCATE option.

Return freed space to operating system
The database is condensed to contiguous pages and the pages are released back to the operating system for use by other programs. This database files shrink as much as possible. This uses the TRUNCATEONLY option. This is the default option.

Define the Index Tasks

On the Define Reorganize Index Task page, select the server or servers where you'll be moving index pages into a more efficient search order. This task uses the ALTER INDEX ... REORGANIZE statement. For more information, see ALTER INDEX (Transact-SQL). When complete, click Next.

The following options are available on this page.

Databases list
Specify the databases affected by this task. See step 9, above, for more information on the available options on this list.

Object list
Limit the Selection list to display tables, views, or both. This list is only available if a single database is chosen from the Databases list above.

Selection list
Specify the tables or indexes affected by this task. Not available when Tables and Views is selected in the Object box.

Compact large objects check box
Deallocate space for tables and views when possible. This option uses ALTER INDEX ... LOB_COMPACTION = ON.
On the Define Rebuild Index Task page, select the database or databases where you'll be re-creating multiple indexes. This task uses the ALTER INDEX ... REBUILD PARTITION statement. For more information, see ALTER INDEX (Transact-SQL).) When complete, click Next.

The following options are available on this page.

Databases list
Specify the databases affected by this task. See step 9, above, for more information on the available options on this list.

Object list
Limit the Selection list to display tables, views, or both. This list is only available if a single database is chosen from the Databases list above.

Selection list
Specify the tables or indexes affected by this task. Not available when Tables and Views is selected in the Object box.

Free space options area
Presents options for applying fill factor to indexes and tables.

Default free space per page
Reorganizes the pages with the default amount of free space. This will drop the indexes on the tables in the database and re-create them with the fill factor that was specified when the indexes were created. This is the default option.

Change free space per page to box
Drop the indexes on the tables in the database and re-create them with a new, automatically calculated fill factor, thereby reserving the specified amount of free space on the index pages. The higher the percentage, the more free space is reserved on the index pages, and the larger the index grows. Valid values are from 0 through 100. Uses the FILLFACTOR option.

Advanced options area
Presents additional options for sorting indexes and reindexing.

Sort results in tempdb check box
Uses the SORT_IN_TEMPDB option which determines where the intermediate sort results, generated during index creation, are temporarily stored. If a sort operation is not required, or if the sort can be performed in memory, the SORT_IN_TEMPDB option is ignored.

Keep index online while reindexing check box
Uses the ONLINE option which allows users to access the underlying table or clustered index data and any associated nonclustered indexes during index operations. Selecting this option activates additional options for rebuilding indexes that do not allow for online rebuilds: Do not rebuild indexes and Rebuild indexes offline.

Note

Online index operations are not available in every edition of SQL Server 2014. For more information, see Features Supported by the Editions of SQL Server 2014.

Define the Update Statistics Task

On the Define Update Statistics Task page, define the database or databases on which table and index statistics will be updated. This task uses the UPDATE STATISTICS statement. For more information, see UPDATE STATISTICS (Transact-SQL) When finished, click Next

The following options are available on this page.

Databases list
Specify the databases affected by this task. See step 9, above, for more information on the available options on this list.

Object list
Limit the Selection list to display tables, views, or both. This list is only available if a single database is chosen from the Databases list above.

Selection list
Specify the tables or indexes affected by this task. Not available when Tables and Views is selected in the Object box.

All existing statistics
Update statistics for both columns and indexes.

Column statistics only
Only update column statistics. Uses the WITH COLUMNS option.

Index statistics only
Only update index statistics. Uses the WITH INDEX option.

Scan type
Type of scan used to gather updated statistics.

Full scan
Read all rows in the table or view to gather the statistics.

Sample by
Specify the percentage of the table or indexed view, or the number of rows to sample when collecting statistics for larger tables or views.

Define the History Cleanup Task

On the Define History Cleanup Task page, define the database or databases where you want to discard old task history. This task uses the EXEC sp_purge_jobhistory, EXEC sp_maintplan_delete_log, and EXEC sp_delete_backuphistory statements to remove history information from the msdb tables. When finished, click Next.

The following options are available on this page.

Select the historical data to delete
Chose the type of task data to delete/

Backup and restore history
Retaining records of when recent backups were created can help SQL Server create a recovery plan when you want to restore a database. The retention period should be at least the frequency of full database backups.

SQL Server Agent Job history
This history can help you troubleshoot failed jobs, or determine why database actions occurred.

Maintenance Plan history
This history can help you troubleshoot failed maintenance plan jobs, or determine why database actions occurred.

Remove historical data older than
Specify age of items that you want to delete. You can specify Hour(s), Day(s), Week(s) (the default), Month(s), or Year(s)

Define the Execute Agent Job Task

On the Define Execute Agent Job Task page, under Available SQL Server Agent jobs, choose the job or jobs to run. This option will not be available if you have no SQL Agent jobs. This task uses the EXEC sp_start_job statement. For more information, see sp_start_job (Transact-SQL)When finished, click Next.

Define Backup Tasks

On the Define Backup Database (Full) Task page, select the database or databases on which to run a full backup. This task uses the BACKUP DATABASE statement. For more information, see BACKUP (Transact-SQL). When finished, click Next.

The following options are available on this page.

Backup type list
Displays the type of backup to be performed. This is read-only.

Databases list
Specify the databases affected by this task. See step 9, above, for more information on the available options on this list.

Backup component
Select Database to back up the entire database. Select File and filegroups to back up only a portion of the database. If selected, provide the file or filegroup name. When multiple databases are selected in the Databases box, only specify Databases for the Backup components. To perform file or filegroup backups, create a task for each database. These options are only available if a single database is chosen from the Databases list above.

Backup set will expire check box
Specifies when the backup set for this backup can be overwritten. Select After and enter a number of days to expiration, or select On and enter a date of expiration. This option is disabled if URL is selected as the backup destination.

Back up to
Specifies the medium on which to back up the database. Select Disk, Tape, or URL. Only tape devices attached to the computer containing the database are available.

Back up database(s) across one or more files
Click Add to open the Select Backup Destination dialog box. This option is disabled if you selected URL as the backup destination.

Click Remove to remove a file from the box.

Click Contents to read the file header and display the current backup contents of the file.

Select Backup Destination dialog box
Select the file, tape drive, or backup device for the backup destination. This option is disabled if you selected URL as the backup destination.

If backup files exist list
Specify how to handle existing backups. Select Append to add the new backups after any existing backups in the file or on the tape. Select Overwrite to remove the old content of a file or tape, and replace it with this new backup.

Create a backup file for every database
Create a backup file in the location specified in the folder box. One file is created for each database selected. This option is disabled if you selected URL as the backup destination.

Create a sub-directory for each database check box
Create a sub-directory under the specified disk directory that contains the database backup for each database being backed up as part of the maintenance plan.

Important

The sub-directory will inherit permissions from the parent directory. Restrict permissions to avoid unauthorized access.

Folder box
Specify the folder to contain the automatically created database files. This option is disabled if you selected URL as the backup destination.

SQL Credential
Select a SQL Credential used to authenticate to Azure Storage. If you do not have an existing SQL Credential you can use, click the Create button to create a new SQL Credential.

Important

The dialog that opens when you click Create requires a management certificate or the publishing profile for the subscription. If you do not have access to the management certificate or publishing profile, you can create a SQL Credential by specifying the storage account name and access key information using Transact-SQL or SQL Server Management Studio. See the sample code in the To create a credential topic to create a credential using Transact-SQL. Alternatively, using SQL Server Management Studio, from the database engine instance, right click Security, select New, and select Credential. Specify the storage account name for Identity and the access key in the Password field.

Azure storage container
Specify the name of the Azure storage container

URL prefix:
This is automatically generated based on the storage account information stored in the SQL Credential, and Azure storage container name you specified. We recommend that you do not edit the information in this field unless you are using a domain that uses a format other than <storage account>.blob.core.windows.net.

Backup file extension box
Specify the extension to use for the backup files. The default is .bak.

Verify backup integrity check box
Verify that the backup set is complete and that all volumes are readable.

Backup Encryption
To create an encrypted backup, check the Encrypt backup check box. Select an encryption algorithm to use for the encryption step, and provide a Certificate or Asymmetric key from a list of existing certificates or asymmetric keys. The available algorithms for encryption are:

AES 128
AES 192
AES 256
Triple DES

The encryption option is disabled if you selected to append to existing backup set.

It is recommended practice to back up your certificate or keys and store them in a different location than the backup you encrypted.

Only keys residing in the Extensible Key Management (EKM) are supported.

Set backup compression list
In SQL Server 2008 Enterprise (or later versions), select one the following backup compression values:


Use the default server setting	Click to use the server-level default. This default is set by the backup compression default server-configuration option. For information about how to view the current setting of this option, see View or Configure the backup compression default Server Configuration Option.
Compress backup	Click to compress the backup, regardless of the server-level default. Important By default, compression significantly increases CPU usage, and the additional CPU consumed by the compression process might adversely affect concurrent operations. Therefore, you might want to create low-priority compressed backups in a session whose CPU usage is limited by the Resource Governor. For more information, see Use Resource Governor to Limit CPU Usage by Backup Compression (Transact-SQL).
Do not compress backup	Click to create an uncompressed backup, regardless of the server-level default.

On the Define Backup Database (Differential) Task page, select the database or databases on which to run a partial backup. See the definition list in step 16, above, for more information about the available options on this page. This task uses the BACKUP DATABASE ... WITH DIFFERENTIAL statement. For more information, see BACKUP (Transact-SQL). When finished, click Next.
On the Define Backup Database (Transaction Log) Task page, select the database or databases on which to run a backup for a transaction log. See the definition list in step 16, above, for more information about the available options on this page. This task uses the BACKUP LOG statement. For more information, see BACKUP (Transact-SQL). When finished, click Next.

Define Maintenance Cleanup Tasks

On the Define Maintenance Cleanup Task page, specify the types of files to delete as part of the maintenance plan, including text reports created by maintenance plans and database backup files. This task uses the EXEC xp_delete_file statement. When finished, click Next.

Important

This task does not automatically delete files in the subfolders of the specified directory. This precaution reduces the possibility of a malicious attack that uses the Maintenance Cleanup task to delete files. If you want to delete files in first-level subfolders, you must select Include first-level subfolders.

The following options are available on this page.

Delete files of the following type
Specify the type of files to be deleted.

Backup files
Delete database backup files.

Maintenance Plan text reports
Delete text reports of previously run maintenance plans.

File location
Specify path to files to be deleted.

Delete specific file
Delete the specific file provided in the File name text box.

Search folder and delete files based on an extension
Delete all files with the specified extension in the specified folder. Use this to delete multiple files at once, such as all backup files in the Tuesday folder with the .bak extension.

Folder box
Path and name of the folder containing the files to be deleted.

File extension box
Provide the file extension of the files to be deleted. To delete multiple files at one time, like all backup files with the .bak extension in the Tuesday folder, specify .bak.

Include first-level subfolders check box
Delete files with the extension specified for File extension from first-level subfolders under the folder specified in Folder.

Delete files based on the age of the file at task run time check box
Specify the minimum age of the files that you want to delete by providing a number, and unit of time in the Delete files older than the following box.

Delete files older than the following
Specify the minimum age of the files that you want to delete by providing a number, and unit of time (Hour, Day, Week, Month, or Year). Files older than the time frame specified will be deleted.

Select Report Options

On the Select Report Options page, select options for saving or distributing a report of the maintenance plan actions. This task uses the EXEC sp_notify_operator statement. For more information, see sp_notify_operator (Transact-SQL).When finished, click Next.

The following options are available on this page.

Write a report to a text file check box
Save the report in a file.

Folder location box
Specify the location of the file that will contain the report.

E-mail report check box
Send an e-mail when a task fails. To use this task you must have Database Mail enabled and correctly configured with MSDB as a Mail Host Database, and have a MicrosoftSQL Server Agent operator with a valid e-mail address.

Agent operator
Specify the recipient of the e-mail.

Mail profile
Specify the profile that defines the sender of the e-mail.

Complete the Wizard

On the Complete the Wizard page, verify the choices made on the previous pages, and click Finish.
On the Maintenance Wizard Progress page, monitor status information about the actions of the Maintenance Plan Wizard. Depending on the options that you selected in the wizard, the progress page might contain one or more actions. The top box displays the overall status of the wizard and the number of status, error, and warning messages that the wizard has received.

The following options are available on the Maintenance Wizard Progress page:

Details
Provides the action, status, and any messages that are returned from action taken by the wizard.

Action
Specifies the type and name of each action.

Status
Indicates whether the wizard action as a whole returned the value of Success or Failure.

Message
Provides any error or warning messages that are returned from the process.

Report
Creates a report that contains the results of the Create Partition Wizard. The options are View Report, Save Report to File, Copy Report to Clipboard, and Send Report as Email.

View Report
Opens the View Report dialog box, which contains a text report of the progress of the Create Partition Wizard.

Save Report to File
Opens the Save Report As dialog box.

Copy Report to Clipboard
Copies the results of the wizard's progress report to the Clipboard.

Send Report as Email
Copies the results of the wizard's progress report into an email message.

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