How to remove Exchange Server transaction log files?
First understand the Exchange transaction log files.
Exchange Server database transaction logs record all changes to an Exchange Server database. Over time, these log files accumulate and use all the available disk space if they are not periodically removed from the hard disk.
Exchange transaction log files have a fixed size. For Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 and all earlier versions of Exchange Server, this size is exactly 5 megabytes. Microsoft Exchange 2007/2010 server size is exactly 1 megabyte. When a transaction log is full, the transaction log is renamed with a numeric sequence number, and a new current log is generated.
The current transaction log is the one most recently created by Exchange Server. In Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5, the current transaction log is always named Edb.log. In Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server and in Exchange Server 2003, the current log is named with the storage group prefix.
Exchange automatically removes unnecessary log files by using one of the following methods:
Exchange transaction log files have a fixed size. For Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 and all earlier versions of Exchange Server, this size is exactly 5 megabytes. Microsoft Exchange 2007/2010 server size is exactly 1 megabyte. When a transaction log is full, the transaction log is renamed with a numeric sequence number, and a new current log is generated.
The current transaction log is the one most recently created by Exchange Server. In Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5, the current transaction log is always named Edb.log. In Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server and in Exchange Server 2003, the current log is named with the storage group prefix.
Exchange automatically removes unnecessary log files by using one of the following methods:
- If circular logging is enabled, Exchange Server removes transaction logs soon after they have been written to the database file. This process may cause a delay on some idle systems until the current Exx.log file of the relevant storage group or the Edb.log file in Exchange Server 5.5 becomes full and has to be renamed. To speed up new log file creation and the automatic deletion process, you can send yourself an e-mail message with a 5-megabyte (MB) attachment.
Note By default, circular logging is enabled in Exchange Server 5.5. By default, circular logging is not enabled in Exchange 2000 Server or in Exchange Server 2003. - If circular logging is disabled, Exchange Server removes excess logs after a full or incremental online backup of all the databases in a storage group is performed.
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