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‎azure-sql/managed-instance/backup-activity-monitor.md

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---
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title: "Monitor backup activity"
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title: "Monitor Backup Activity"
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titleSuffix: Azure SQL Managed Instance
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description: Learn how to monitor Azure SQL Managed Instance backup activity by querying the `msdb` database, and by using extended events.
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author: Stralle
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ms.author: strrodic
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ms.reviewer: mathoma, nvraparl
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ms.date: 11/16/2022
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author: dinethi
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ms.author: dinethi
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ms.reviewer: mathoma, strrodic, randolphwest
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ms.date: 06/24/2025
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ms.service: azure-sql-managed-instance
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ms.subservice: backup-restore
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ms.topic: quickstart
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ms.custom: mode-other
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ms.custom:
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- mode-other
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---
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# Monitor backup activity for Azure SQL Managed Instance
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[!INCLUDE[appliesto-sqlmi](../includes/appliesto-sqlmi.md)]
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[!INCLUDE [appliesto-sqlmi](../includes/appliesto-sqlmi.md)]
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This article teaches you how to monitor backup activity for [Azure SQL Managed Instance](sql-managed-instance-paas-overview.md) by either querying the `msdb` database or by configuring extended event (XEvent) sessions.
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## Overview
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Azure SQL Managed Instance stores backup information in the [msdb database](backup-transparency.md) and also emits events (also known as [Extended Events or XEvents](../database/xevent-db-diff-from-svr.md)) during backup activity for the purpose of reporting. Configure an XEvent session to track information such as backup status, backup type, size, time, and location within the `msdb` database. This information can be integrated with backup monitoring software and also used for the purpose of Enterprise Audit.
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Azure SQL Managed Instance stores backup information in the [msdb database](backup-transparency.md) and also emits events (also known as [Extended Events or XEvents](../database/xevent-db-diff-from-svr.md)) during backup activity, which can be used for reporting. Configure an XEvent session to track information such as backup status, backup type, size, time, and location within the `msdb` database. This information can be integrated with backup monitoring software and also used for Enterprise Audit.
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Enterprise Audits may require proof of successful backups, time of backup, and duration of the backup.
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Enterprise Audits might require proof of successful backups, time of backup, and duration of the backup.
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## Query msdb database
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To view backup activity, run the following query from user-defined database:
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To view backup activity, run the following query from user-defined database:
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```sql
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SELECT TOP (30) bs.machine_name, bs.server_name, DB_NAME(DB_ID(bs.database_name)) AS [Database Name], bs.recovery_model,
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CONVERT (BIGINT, bs.backup_size / 1048576 ) AS [Uncompressed Backup Size (MB)],
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CONVERT (BIGINT, bs.compressed_backup_size / 1048576 ) AS [Compressed Backup Size (MB)],
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CONVERT (NUMERIC (20,2), (CONVERT (FLOAT, bs.backup_size) /
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CONVERT (FLOAT, bs.compressed_backup_size))) AS [Compression Ratio], bs.has_backup_checksums, bs.is_copy_only, bs.encryptor_type,
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DATEDIFF (SECOND, bs.backup_start_date, bs.backup_finish_date) AS [Backup Elapsed Time (sec)],
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bs.backup_finish_date AS [Backup Finish Date], bmf.physical_device_name AS [Backup Location], bmf.physical_block_size
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SELECT TOP (100)
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DB_NAME(DB_ID(bs.database_name)) AS [Database Name],
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CONVERT (BIGINT, bs.backup_size / 1048576) AS [Uncompressed Backup Size (MB)],
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CONVERT (BIGINT, bs.compressed_backup_size / 1048576) AS [Compressed Backup Size (MB)],
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CONVERT (NUMERIC (20, 2),
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CASE
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WHEN bs.compressed_backup_size > 0
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THEN CONVERT (FLOAT, bs.backup_size) / CONVERT (FLOAT, bs.compressed_backup_size)
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ELSE NULL
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END
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) AS [Compression Ratio],
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bs.is_copy_only,
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-- bs.user_name, -- Applicable only for user-initiated COPY ONLY backups.
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bs.has_backup_checksums,
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DATEDIFF(SECOND, bs.backup_start_date, bs.backup_finish_date) AS [Backup Elapsed Time (sec)],
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bs.backup_finish_date AS [Backup Finish Date],
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bmf.physical_block_size
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FROM msdb.dbo.backupset AS bs WITH (NOLOCK)
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INNER JOIN msdb.dbo.backupmediafamily AS bmf WITH (NOLOCK)
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ON bs.media_set_id = bmf.media_set_id
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WHERE DB_ID(bs.database_name) = DB_ID()
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AND bs.[type] = 'D'
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ORDER BY bs.backup_finish_date DESC OPTION (RECOMPILE);
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INNER JOIN msdb.dbo.backupmediafamily AS bmf WITH (NOLOCK)
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ON bs.media_set_id = bmf.media_set_id
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WHERE bs.[type] = 'D'
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-- AND bs.[is_copy_only] = 1 -- If you want to filter out for user initiated COPY ONLY backups.
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ORDER BY bs.backup_finish_date DESC
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OPTION (RECOMPILE); -- Optimize for ad hoc execution
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```
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## Configure XEvent session
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> [!NOTE]
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> When querying `msdb` system tables such as `dbo.backupmediaset` or `dbo.backupset`, you see encryption-related fields indicating that backup files aren't encrypted. This status reflects only engine-level encryption. All automatic backups [are encrypted at rest](automated-backups-overview.md#encrypted-backups).
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Use the extended event `backup_restore_progress_trace` to record the progress of your SQL Managed Instance back up. Modify the XEvent sessions as needed to track the information you're interested in for your business. These T-SQL snippets store the XEvent sessions in the ring buffer, but it's also possible to write to [Azure Blob Storage](../database/xevent-code-event-file.md). XEvent sessions storing data in the ring buffer have a limit of about 1000 messages so should only be used to track recent activity. Additionally, ring buffer data is lost upon failover. As such, for a historical record of backups, write to an event file instead.
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## Configure XEvent session
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### Simple tracking
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Use the extended event `backup_restore_progress_trace` to record the progress of your SQL Managed Instance back up. Modify the XEvent sessions as needed to track the information you're interested in for your business. These T-SQL snippets store the XEvent sessions in the ring buffer, but it's also possible to write to [Azure Blob Storage](../database/xevent-code-event-file.md). XEvent sessions storing data in the ring buffer have a limit of about 1,000 messages so should only be used to track recent activity. Additionally, ring buffer data is lost upon failover. As such, for a historical record of backups, write to an event file instead.
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Configure a simple XEvent session to capture simple events about complete full backups. This script collects the name of the database, the total number of bytes processed, and the time the backup completed.
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### Basic tracking
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Use Transact-SQL (T-SQL) to configure the simple XEvent session:
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Configure a basic XEvent session to capture events about complete full backups. This script collects the name of the database, the total number of bytes processed, and the time the backup completed.
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Use [!INCLUDE [tsql-md](../../docs/includes/tsql-md.md)] (T-SQL) to configure the basic XEvent session:
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```sql
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CREATE EVENT SESSION [Simple backup trace] ON SERVER
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ADD EVENT sqlserver.backup_restore_progress_trace(
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WHERE operation_type = 0
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AND trace_message LIKE '%100 percent%')
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ADD TARGET package0.ring_buffer
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WITH(STARTUP_STATE=ON)
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CREATE EVENT SESSION [Basic backup trace] ON SERVER
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ADD EVENT sqlserver.backup_restore_progress_trace
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(
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WHERE operation_type = 0
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AND trace_message LIKE '%100 percent%'
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)
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ADD TARGET package0.ring_buffer WITH (STARTUP_STATE = ON);
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GO
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ALTER EVENT SESSION [Simple backup trace] ON SERVER
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ALTER EVENT SESSION [Basic backup trace] ON SERVER
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STATE = start;
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```
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### Verbose tracking
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Configure a verbose XEvent session to track greater details about your backup activity. This script captures start and finish of both full, differential and log backups. Since this script is more verbose, it fills up the ring buffer faster, so entries may recycle faster than with the simple script.
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Configure a verbose XEvent session to track greater details about your backup activity. This script captures start and finish of both full, differential and log backups. Since this script is more verbose, it fills up the ring buffer faster, so entries might recycle faster than with the basic script.
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Use Transact-SQL (T-SQL) to configure the verbose XEvent session:
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Use T-SQL to configure the verbose XEvent session:
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```sql
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CREATE EVENT SESSION [Verbose backup trace] ON SERVER
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CREATE EVENT SESSION [Verbose backup trace] ON SERVER
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ADD EVENT sqlserver.backup_restore_progress_trace(
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WHERE (
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[operation_type]=(0) AND (
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[trace_message] like '%100 percent%' OR
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[trace_message] like '%100 percent%' OR
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[trace_message] like '%BACKUP DATABASE%' OR [trace_message] like '%BACKUP LOG%'))
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)
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ADD TARGET package0.ring_buffer
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ALTER EVENT SESSION [Verbose backup trace] ON SERVER
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STATE = start;
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```
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## Monitor backup progress
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## Monitor backup progress
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After the XEvent session is created, you can use Transact-SQL (T-SQL) to query ring buffer results and monitor the progress of the backup. Once the XEvent starts, it collects all backup events so entries are added to the session roughly every 5-10 minutes.
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After the XEvent session is created, you can use T-SQL to query ring buffer results and monitor the progress of the backup. Once the XEvent starts, it collects all backup events so entries are added to the session roughly every 5-10 minutes.
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### Simple tracking
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### Basic tracking
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The following Transact-SQL (T-SQL) code queries the simple XEvent session and returns the name of the database, the total number of bytes processed, and the time the backup completed:
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The following T-SQL code queries the basic XEvent session and returns the name of the database, the total number of bytes processed, and the time the backup completed:
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```sql
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```sql
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WITH
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a AS (SELECT xed = CAST(xet.target_data AS xml)
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FROM sys.dm_xe_session_targets AS xet
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JOIN sys.dm_xe_sessions AS xe
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ON (xe.address = xet.event_session_address)
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WHERE xe.name = 'Backup trace'),
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b AS(SELECT
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d.n.value('(@timestamp)[1]', 'datetime2') AS [timestamp],
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ISNULL(db.name, d.n.value('(data[@name="database_name"]/value)[1]', 'varchar(200)')) AS database_name,
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d.n.value('(data[@name="trace_message"]/value)[1]', 'varchar(4000)') AS trace_message
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FROM a
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CROSS APPLY xed.nodes('/RingBufferTarget/event') d(n)
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LEFT JOIN master.sys.databases db
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ON db.physical_database_name = d.n.value('(data[@name="database_name"]/value)[1]', 'varchar(200)'))
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SELECT * FROM b
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a AS (SELECT CAST (xet.target_data AS XML) AS xed
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FROM sys.dm_xe_session_targets AS xet
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INNER JOIN sys.dm_xe_sessions AS xe
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ON (xe.address = xet.event_session_address)
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WHERE xe.name = 'Backup trace'),
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b AS (SELECT d.n.value('(@timestamp)[1]', 'datetime2') AS [timestamp],
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ISNULL(db.name, d.n.value('(data[@name="database_name"]/value)[1]', 'varchar(200)')) AS database_name,
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d.n.value('(data[@name="trace_message"]/value)[1]', 'varchar(4000)') AS trace_message
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FROM a
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CROSS APPLY xed.nodes('/RingBufferTarget/event') AS d(n)
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LEFT OUTER JOIN master.sys.databases AS db
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ON db.physical_database_name = d.n.value('(data[@name="database_name"]/value)[1]', 'varchar(200)'))
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SELECT * FROM b;
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```
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The following screenshot shows an example of the output of the above query:
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![Screenshot of the XEvent output](./media/backup-activity-monitor/present-xevents-output.png)
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The following screenshot shows an example of the output of the previous query:
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In this example, five databases were automatically backed up over the course of 2 hours and 30 minutes, and there are 130 entries in the XEvent session.
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:::image type="content" source="media/backup-activity-monitor/present-xevents-output.png" alt-text="Screenshot of the XEvent output." lightbox="media/backup-activity-monitor/present-xevents-output.png":::
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### Verbose tracking
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In this example, five databases were automatically backed up over the course of 2 hours and 30 minutes, and there are 130 entries in the XEvent session.
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The following Transact-SQL (T-SQL) code queries the verbose XEvent session and returns the name of the database, as well as the start and finish of both full, differential and log backups.
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### Verbose tracking
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The following T-SQL code queries the verbose XEvent session and returns the name of the database, as well as the start and finish of both full, differential and log backups.
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```sql
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WITH
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a AS (SELECT xed = CAST(xet.target_data AS xml)
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FROM sys.dm_xe_session_targets AS xet
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JOIN sys.dm_xe_sessions AS xe
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ON (xe.address = xet.event_session_address)
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WHERE xe.name = 'Verbose backup trace'),
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b AS(SELECT
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d.n.value('(@timestamp)[1]', 'datetime2') AS [timestamp],
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ISNULL(db.name, d.n.value('(data[@name="database_name"]/value)[1]', 'varchar(200)')) AS database_name,
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d.n.value('(data[@name="trace_message"]/value)[1]', 'varchar(4000)') AS trace_message
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FROM a
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CROSS APPLY xed.nodes('/RingBufferTarget/event') d(n)
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LEFT JOIN master.sys.databases db
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ON db.physical_database_name = d.n.value('(data[@name="database_name"]/value)[1]', 'varchar(200)'))
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SELECT * FROM b
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a AS (SELECT CAST (xet.target_data AS XML) AS xed
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FROM sys.dm_xe_session_targets AS xet
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INNER JOIN sys.dm_xe_sessions AS xe
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ON (xe.address = xet.event_session_address)
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WHERE xe.name = 'Verbose backup trace'),
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b AS (SELECT d.n.value('(@timestamp)[1]', 'datetime2') AS [timestamp],
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ISNULL(db.name, d.n.value('(data[@name="database_name"]/value)[1]', 'varchar(200)')) AS database_name,
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d.n.value('(data[@name="trace_message"]/value)[1]', 'varchar(4000)') AS trace_message
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FROM a
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CROSS APPLY xed.nodes('/RingBufferTarget/event') AS d(n)
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LEFT OUTER JOIN master.sys.databases AS db
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ON db.physical_database_name = d.n.value('(data[@name="database_name"]/value)[1]', 'varchar(200)'))
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SELECT * FROM b;
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```
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The following screenshot shows an example of a full backup in the XEvent session:
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:::image type="content" source="media/backup-activity-monitor/output-with-full.png" alt-text="XEvent output showing full backups":::
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:::image type="content" source="media/backup-activity-monitor/output-with-full.png" alt-text="Screenshot of XEvent output showing full backups." lightbox="media/backup-activity-monitor/output-with-full.png":::
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The following screenshot shows an example of an output of a differential backup in the XEvent session:
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:::image type="content" source="media/backup-activity-monitor/output-with-differential.png" alt-text="XEvent output showing differential backups":::
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## Next steps
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:::image type="content" source="media/backup-activity-monitor/output-with-differential.png" alt-text="Screenshot of XEvent output showing differential backups." lightbox="media/backup-activity-monitor/output-with-differential.png":::
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Once your backup has completed, you can then [restore to a point in time](point-in-time-restore.md) or [configure a long-term retention policy](long-term-backup-retention-configure.md).
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## Related content
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To learn more, see [automated backups](automated-backups-overview.md).
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- [Restore a database in Azure SQL Managed Instance to a previous point in time](point-in-time-restore.md)
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- [Manage Azure SQL Managed Instance long-term backup retention](long-term-backup-retention-configure.md)
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- [Automated backups in Azure SQL Managed Instance](automated-backups-overview.md)

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