Replay Traces
Applies to: 
SQL Server
Azure SQL Managed Instance
Replay is the ability to reproduce activity that has been captured in a trace. When you create or edit a trace, you can save the trace to a file and replay it later. You can use SQL Server Profiler to replay trace activity from a single computer. For large workloads, use the Distributed Replay Utility to replay trace data from multiple computers.
This section describes how to use the replay features of SQL Server Profiler. For more information about the Distributed Replay Utility, see SQL Server Distributed Replay.
SQL Server Profiler features a multithreaded playback engine that can simulate user connections and SQL Server Authentication. Replay is useful to troubleshoot an application or process problem. When you have identified the problem and implemented corrections, run the trace that found the potential problem against the corrected application or process. Then, replay the original trace and compare results.
Trace replay supports debugging by using the Toggle Breakpoint and the Run to Cursor options on the SQL Server Profiler Replay menu. These options especially improve the analysis of long scripts because they can break the replay of the trace into short segments so they can be analyzed incrementally.
For information about the permissions required to replay traces, see Permissions Required to Run SQL Server Profiler.
In This Section
| Topic | Description |
|---|---|
| Replay Requirements | Describes the events that must be included in a trace definition so that it can be replayed with SQL Server Profiler. |
| Replay Options (SQL Server Profiler) | Describes the options you can set in the Replay Configuration dialog box of SQL Server Profiler. |
| Considerations for Replaying Traces (SQL Server Profiler) | Describes trace events that can not be replayed with SQL Server Profiler and the effects on server performance of replaying traces. |