Keep your jobs safe using SQL Agent notifications

SQL Agent Jobs without notifications

SQL Server Agent permits you to run a wide variety of tasks within SQL Server.

Its built-in notification system allows you to define operators and contact them when a job fails.

Being able to resolve quickly when an Agent job failed is better than having someone else notice you that it has failed.

By the way, this check is a part of our SQL Server Health Check service.

How to list all the Agent jobs without notification?

You can use the TSQL script below to get the job name list.

  1. SELECT j.[name] AS [JobName]
  2. FROM [msdb].[dbo].[sysjobs] j
  3. LEFT JOIN [msdb].[dbo].[sysoperators] o
  4. ON (j.[notify_email_operator_id] = o.[id])
  5. WHERE j.[enabled] = 1
  6. AND j.[notify_level_email] NOT IN (1, 2, 3)

How to fix the issue?

First, make sure you have configured the Database mail and an operator.

Then, update the SQL Server Agent job to enable job failure notification:

  1. Open SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).
  2. Click on SQL Server Agent, expand the Jobs and right-click it.
  3. Go to the notifications tab and click to enable Email.
  4. Select the correct Operator and choose “When the job fails”.
Figure 1 – SQL Server Agent Job notification.

You may also use the TSQL script below to generate the change script for all jobs that don’t have email notifications. Only change @notify_email_operator_name as needed.

  1. USE MSDB
  2. GO
  3. SELECT
  4. 'EXEC msdb.dbo.sp_update_job @job_name=[' + name + '],
  5. @notify_level_email=2,
  6. @notify_email_operator_name=N''DBA Alerts'';
  7. ' Command_to_execute
  8. FROM MSDB.dbo.sysjobs
  9. WHERE [Notify_Level_Email] = 0
  10. AND [Enabled] = 1

The output the script will generate as an example:

  1. EXEC msdb.dbo.sp_update_job @job_name=[JOBNAME1],
  2. @notify_level_email=2,
  3. @notify_email_operator_name=N'DBA Alerts'; 
  4.  
  5. EXEC msdb.dbo.sp_update_job @job_name=[JOBNAME2],
  6. @notify_level_email=2,
  7. @notify_email_operator_name=N'DBA Alerts'; 
  8.  
  9. EXEC msdb.dbo.sp_update_job @job_name=[JOBNAME3],
  10. @notify_level_email=2,
  11. @notify_email_operator_name=N'DBA Alerts';

Review and run the output script to implement the change.

More information

Microsoft – Configure SQL Server Agent Mail to Use Database Mail.

Microsoft – Configure Database Mail

How to setup SQL Server alerts and email operator notifications, David Bird-MSSQLTips.

Mark Varnas

Mark Varnas

Hey I'm Mark, one of the guys behind Red9. I make a living performance tuning SQL Servers and making them more stable. I channel my SQL into our SQL Managed Services, SQL Consulting and our internal database products.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *