The script below will create a job to pull an hourly Profiler trace. Use similar code to have the SQL Snap pull a point in time trace or create a job to capture the actual XML plans every 5 minutes to gather the SQL plans when troubleshooting and not have long traces running on production systems. USE [msdb] GO /****** Object: Job [_MSSQLTIPS Profiler Trace] Script Date: 09/11/2009 11:19:00 ******/ BEGIN TRANSACTION DECLARE @ReturnCode INT SELECT @ReturnCode = 0 /****** Object: JobCategory [[Uncategorized (Local)]]] Script Date: 09/11/2009 11:19:00 ******/ IF NOT EXISTS (SELECT name FROM msdb.dbo.syscategories WHERE name=N'[Uncategorized (Local)]' AND category_class=1) BEGIN EXEC @ReturnCode = msdb.dbo.sp_add_category @class=N'JOB', @type=N'LOCAL', @name=N'[Uncategorized (Local)]' IF (@@ERROR <> 0 OR @ReturnCode <> 0) GOTO QuitWithRollback END DECLARE @jobId BINARY(16) EXEC @ReturnCode = msdb.dbo.sp_add_job @job_name=N'_MSSQLTIPS Profiler Trace', @enabled=1, @notify_level_eventlog=0, @notify_level_email=0, @notify_level_netsend=0, @notify_level_page=0, @delete_level=0, @description=N'Descrition: Trace to provide TSQL_Replay data for analysis Author: Alan Cranfield - MSSQLTIPS.com', @category_name=N'[Uncategorized (Local)]', @owner_login_name=N'sa', @job_id = @jobId OUTPUT IF (@@ERROR <> 0 OR @ReturnCode <> 0) GOTO QuitWithRollback /****** Object: Step [delete old trace files] Script Date: 09/11/2009 11:19:00 ******/ EXEC @ReturnCode = msdb.dbo.sp_add_jobstep @job_id=@jobId, @step_name=N'delete old trace files', @step_id=1, @cmdexec_success_code=0, @on_success_action=3, @on_success_step_id=0, @on_fail_action=3, @on_fail_step_id=0, @retry_attempts=0, @retry_interval=0, @os_run_priority=0, @subsystem=N'TSQL', @command=N'xp_cmdshell ''forfiles /P c:\mssql\trace\archive /M *.* /D -2 /C "cmd /C echo @FILE|DEL @FILE''', @database_name=N'master', @flags=0 IF (@@ERROR <> 0 OR @ReturnCode <> 0) GOTO QuitWithRollback /****** Object: Step [stop current trace] Script Date: 09/11/2009 11:19:00 ******/ EXEC @ReturnCode = msdb.dbo.sp_add_jobstep @job_id=@jobId, @step_name=N'stop current trace', @step_id=2, @cmdexec_success_code=0, @on_success_action=3, @on_success_step_id=0, @on_fail_action=2, @on_fail_step_id=0, @retry_attempts=0, @retry_interval=0, @os_run_priority=0, @subsystem=N'TSQL', @command=N'-- get trace_id declare @trace_id INT select @trace_id = 0 select @trace_id = traceid from ::fn_trace_getinfo (NULL) where value = ''c:\MSSQL\trace\Profiler.trc'' IF @trace_id <> 0 BEGIN -- Stops the specified trace. EXEC master..sp_trace_setstatus @traceid = @trace_id ,@status = 0 -- Closes the specified trace and deletes its definition from the server. EXEC master..sp_trace_setstatus @traceid = @trace_id ,@status = 2 END', @database_name=N'master', @flags=0 IF (@@ERROR <> 0 OR @ReturnCode <> 0) GOTO QuitWithRollback /****** Object: Step [rename trace file and move to \archive folder] Script Date: 09/11/2009 11:19:00 ******/ EXEC @ReturnCode = msdb.dbo.sp_add_jobstep @job_id=@jobId, @step_name=N'rename trace file and move to \archive folder', @step_id=3, @cmdexec_success_code=0, @on_success_action=3, @on_success_step_id=0, @on_fail_action=2, @on_fail_step_id=0, @retry_attempts=0, @retry_interval=0, @os_run_priority=0, @subsystem=N'TSQL', @command=N'-- declare variables declare @server varchar(30), @date char(14), @file char(100), @cmd varchar(250) select @server = REPLACE(UPPER(@@servername),''\'',''_'') select @date = replace(replace(replace(convert(char(19),getdate(),120),'':'',''''),''-'',''''),'' '','''') select @file = @server+''_''+@date+''.trc'' -- change trace file name select @cmd = ''RENAME c:\MSSQL\Trace\Profiler.trc ''+ @file exec master..xp_cmdshell @cmd -- move trace file to \archive select @cmd = ''MOVE c:\MSSQL\Trace\''+@file+'' c:\MSSQL\Trace\archive'' exec master..xp_cmdshell @cmd', @database_name=N'master', @flags=0 IF (@@ERROR <> 0 OR @ReturnCode <> 0) GOTO QuitWithRollback /****** Object: Step [start trace again] Script Date: 09/11/2009 11:19:00 ******/ EXEC @ReturnCode = msdb.dbo.sp_add_jobstep @job_id=@jobId, @step_name=N'start trace again', @step_id=4, @cmdexec_success_code=0, @on_success_action=1, @on_success_step_id=0, @on_fail_action=3, @on_fail_step_id=0, @retry_attempts=0, @retry_interval=0, @os_run_priority=0, @subsystem=N'TSQL', @command=N'-- this code generated by Profiler GUI -- Create a Queue declare @rc int ,@TraceID int ,@maxfilesize bigint ,@filecount bigint set @maxfilesize = 5000 -- Mbytes set @filecount = 10 -- max number of file rollovers exec @rc = sp_trace_create @TraceID output, 2, N''c:\MSSQL\trace\Profiler'', @maxfilesize, NULL if (@rc != 0) goto error -- Set the events -- 1) Stored Procedure - RPC:Completed 2) TSQL - SQL:BatchCompleted declare @on bit set @on = 1 exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 10, 15, @on exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 10, 16, @on exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 10, 1, @on exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 10, 17, @on exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 10, 10, @on exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 10, 18, @on exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 10, 11, @on exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 10, 12, @on exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 10, 13, @on exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 10, 14, @on exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 12, 15, @on exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 12, 16, @on exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 12, 1, @on exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 12, 17, @on exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 12, 10, @on exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 12, 14, @on exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 12, 18, @on exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 12, 11, @on exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 12, 12, @on exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 12, 13, @on -- Set the Filters declare @intfilter int declare @bigintfilter bigint exec sp_trace_setfilter @TraceID, 10, 0, 7, N''SQL Server Profiler%'' exec sp_trace_setstatus @TraceID, 1 select TraceID=@TraceID goto finish error: select ErrorCode=@rc finish: go ', @database_name=N'master', @flags=0 IF (@@ERROR <> 0 OR @ReturnCode <> 0) GOTO QuitWithRollback /****** Object: Step [stop trace COMPLETELY] Script Date: 09/11/2009 11:19:00 ******/ EXEC @ReturnCode = msdb.dbo.sp_add_jobstep @job_id=@jobId, @step_name=N'stop trace COMPLETELY', @step_id=5, @cmdexec_success_code=0, @on_success_action=1, @on_success_step_id=0, @on_fail_action=2, @on_fail_step_id=0, @retry_attempts=0, @retry_interval=0, @os_run_priority=0, @subsystem=N'TSQL', @command=N'-- get traceid declare @trace_id INT select @trace_id = 0 select @trace_id = traceid from ::fn_trace_getinfo (NULL) where value = ''c:\MSSQL\trace\Profiler.trc'' IF @trace_id <> 0 BEGIN -- Stops the specified trace. EXEC master..sp_trace_setstatus @traceid = @trace_id ,@status = 0 -- Closes the specified trace and deletes its definition from the server. EXEC master..sp_trace_setstatus @traceid = @trace_id ,@status = 2 END -- declare variables declare @server varchar(12), @date char(14), @file char(100), @cmd varchar(250) select @server = UPPER(@@servername) select @date = replace(replace(replace(convert(char(19),getdate(),120),'':'',''''),''-'',''''),'' '','''') select @file = @server+''_''+@date+''.trc'' -- change trace file name select @cmd = ''RENAME c:\MSSQL\Trace\Profiler.trc ''+ @file exec master..xp_cmdshell @cmd -- move file to \archive select @cmd = ''MOVE c:\MSSQL\Trace\''+@file+'' c:\MSSQL\Trace\archive'' exec master..xp_cmdshell @cmd', @database_name=N'master', @flags=0 IF (@@ERROR <> 0 OR @ReturnCode <> 0) GOTO QuitWithRollback EXEC @ReturnCode = msdb.dbo.sp_update_job @job_id = @jobId, @start_step_id = 1 IF (@@ERROR <> 0 OR @ReturnCode <> 0) GOTO QuitWithRollback EXEC @ReturnCode = msdb.dbo.sp_add_jobschedule @job_id=@jobId, @name=N'every 1 hours', @enabled=1, @freq_type=4, @freq_interval=1, @freq_subday_type=4, @freq_subday_interval=10, @freq_relative_interval=0, @freq_recurrence_factor=0, @active_start_date=20080815, @active_end_date=99991231, @active_start_time=0, @active_end_time=235959 IF (@@ERROR <> 0 OR @ReturnCode <> 0) GOTO QuitWithRollback EXEC @ReturnCode = msdb.dbo.sp_add_jobserver @job_id = @jobId, @server_name = N'(local)' IF (@@ERROR <> 0 OR @ReturnCode <> 0) GOTO QuitWithRollback COMMIT TRANSACTION GOTO EndSave QuitWithRollback: IF (@@TRANCOUNT > 0) ROLLBACK TRANSACTION EndSave: