IBM Support

How to *manually* shrink a Microsoft SQL database transaction log to free up disk space

Troubleshooting


Problem

Customer would like advice on how to reduce their SQL database's transaction log (*.ldf) file, because it is getting very large (for example 10Gb+)

Symptom

If the transaction log file cannot grow (in other words, the transaction log file is full, or the hard drive where it is located is full) then the user may receive error messages. For examples, see separate IBM Technotes.

  • As an example, the following message could be found in the log file of the batch job:

Error: The log file for database 'dbname' is full. Back up the transaction log for the database to free up some log space.
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Historical Number

1041720

Document Information

More support for:
IBM Cognos Controller

Software version:
10.2.1, 10.2.0, 10.1.1, 10.1

Operating system(s):
Windows

Document number:
386503

Modified date:
08 May 2025

UID

swg21367388

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