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SQL Server Analysis Services Troubleshooting: Event ID 4 - An error occurred while starting the flight recorder

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An error occurred while starting the flight recorder.

Event Details

Applies to:

SQL Server Analysis Services

Version:

SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 R2, SQL Server 2012

Source:

MSSQLServerOLAPService

Event ID:

4

Not enough disk space

Flight Recorder is used to investigate query or server performance problems. It writes traces to disk. Low disk space will cause this error to occur.

To resolve this error, do one or more of the following:

  •   Delete unused files to make room for data collection.
  •   Move the databases you are monitoring to a system that has more disk space.

To verify this error is resolved, restart flight recorder:

  •   Verify that Log\FlightRecorder\Enabled property to True.
  •   Optionally, check the Log\File property to see which file contains flight recorder data. By default, it is the msmdsrv.log file.
  •   Restart the SSAS service to start Flight Recorder.

Flight Recorder is memory intensive and should be turned off when it is no longer needed. It is enabled by default, but typically turned off on production servers. To use Flight Recorder, set server properties and restart the service.

See http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc304417.aspx for additional instructions on how to enable or disable flight recorder.

Service account has insufficient permissions

The service account used to run MSSQLServerOlapService must have permissions to write to disk. If you used Setup or the SQL Server Configuration Manager to set the account, the correct permissions should be in place. Using other tools or scripts might not include steps for granting the necessary file permissions for writing to the LOG folder.

To resolve this error, do one or more of the following:

  • Check permissions on \Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSAS11.MSSQLSERVER\OLAP\Log folder. Members of the SQLServerMSASUser$<servername>$<instancename> group on the local computer should have full permission on the folder, including Full Control, Modify, Read & Execute, and so on.
  • Re-enter the service account and passwords in SQL Server Configuration Manager to ensure that the service account is a member of the local security group.

Resources

The following links also reference this error:

 

For more information about flight recorder, see the following resources: