-> It becomes mandatory to find which databases are being used on a SQL Server instance when planning for below,

<> SQL Server Migration.
<> Consolidating several SQL Server instances to fewer.
<> Downsizing a Database Server and much more.

->  There are many ways this can be achieved. The best way according to me is to use profiler trace and follow below procedure,

-> Schedule the below script as a SQL agent job around 12:00 AM on each server that requires monitoring,

-- Start trace

declare @rc int
declare @TraceID int
declare @maxfilesize bigint
set @maxfilesize = 1024
declare @filename nvarchar(255)
set @filename = '\\SERVER1\JBS$\SERVERNAME\'
declare @filename1 nvarchar(255)
set @filename1 = 'JBS_DB_In_use_Trace'+convert(varchar(25),getdate())
set @filename1 = REPLACE(@filename1,' ','_')
set @filename1 = REPLACE(@filename1,':','_')
set @filename1 = @filename + @filename1

if exists(select * FROM ::fn_trace_getinfo(default) where CONVERT(sysname, value) like '%'+@filename+'%')
begin
goto error
end
else
begin
exec @rc = sp_trace_create @TraceID output, 2, @filename1, @maxfilesize, NULL
if (@rc != 0) goto error
end

-- Client side File and Table cannot be scripted

-- Set the events
declare @on bit
set @on = 1024
exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 10, 8, @on
--exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 10, 1, @on --Textdata
exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 10, 10, @on
exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 10, 11, @on
exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 10, 35, @on
exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 10, 12, @on
exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 10, 15, @on
exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 12, 8, @on
--exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 12, 1, @on --Textdata
exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 12, 10, @on
exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 12, 11, @on
exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 12, 35, @on
exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 12, 12, @on
exec sp_trace_setevent @TraceID, 12, 15, @on

-- Set the Filters
declare @intfilter int
declare @bigintfilter bigint

exec sp_trace_setfilter @TraceID, 10, 0, 7, N'SQL Server Profiler - 1c3d4c0b-4415-4b1f-9cea-3bff55b961bc'
exec sp_trace_setfilter @TraceID, 35, 0, 7, N'master'
exec sp_trace_setfilter @TraceID, 35, 0, 7, N'msdb'
exec sp_trace_setfilter @TraceID, 35, 0, 7, N'model'
exec sp_trace_setfilter @TraceID, 35, 0, 7, N'tempdb'
exec sp_trace_setfilter @TraceID, 35, 0, 1, NULL
-- Set the trace status to start
exec sp_trace_setstatus @TraceID, 1

-- display trace id for future references
select TraceID=@TraceID
goto finish

error:
select ErrorCode=@rc

finish:
Go

-> Schedule the below script as a sql agent job at 11:59:59 PM on each server that requires monitoring.

--Stop Trace
declare @TraceID int
declare @filename nvarchar(255)
set @filename = '\\SERVER1\JBS$\SERVERNAME\'
set @TraceID = (select TraceID FROM ::fn_trace_getinfo(default) where CONVERT(sysname, value) like '%'+@filename+'%')
if (@TraceID IS NOT NULL)
begin
EXEC sp_trace_setstatus @traceid = @TraceID, @status = 0;
EXEC sp_trace_setstatus @traceid = @TraceID, @status = 2;
end

-> Allow this trace to run for appropriate days. In my case it was run for 40 days.

-> Once the traces are run for appropriate days. Disable/Delete the two (2) jobs from all servers that was previously created.

-> Copy created trace files to Test/Development server for processing the trace files.

-> Insert data onto table from the created trace files using below command,

SELECT HostName,ApplicationName,LoginName, SPID,EndTime, Databasename Into [JB_TraceTable]  FROM fn_trace_gettable('\JBS\\JBS_DB_In_use_TraceMar_15_2018__12_00AM.trc', default)

insert into [JB_TraceTable] SELECT HostName,ApplicationName,LoginName, SPID,EndTime, Databasename FROM fn_trace_gettable('\JBS\\JBS_DB_In_use_TraceMar_16_2018_12_00AM.trc', default)
insert into [JB_TraceTable] [JB_TraceTable] SELECT HostName,ApplicationName,LoginName, SPID,EndTime, Databasename FROM fn_trace_gettable('\JBS\\JBS_DB_In_use_TraceMar_17_2018_12_00AM.trc', default)
insert into [JB_TraceTable] SELECT HostName,ApplicationName,LoginName, SPID,EndTime, Databasename FROM fn_trace_gettable('\JBS\\JBS_DB_In_use_TraceMar_18_2018_12_00AM.trc', default)
.
.
.
insert into [JB_TraceTable] SELECT HostName,ApplicationName,LoginName, SPID,EndTime, Databasename FROM fn_trace_gettable('\JBS\\JBS_DB_In_use_TraceApr_27_2018_12_00AM.trc', default)

-> Once the data is loaded into the table. Use below query to get the contents from the loaded table,

select distinct Applicationname,databasename,loginname from [JB_TraceTable] where loginname='login' order by databasename

-> This uses a lightweight server side trace and doesn’t collect unnecessary data.

-> All rows returned indicates in the output indicates what databases are being used on each of the server. Databases not in the output are databases that are not used within the time frame the traces were run.

-> Remember to check the output for Applicationname and Loginname. SQL Server agent job for database maintenance such as backups, Index maintenance and integrity checks should not be considered as user queries.

Thank You,
Vivek Janakiraman

Disclaimer:
The views expressed on this blog are mine alone and do not reflect the views of my company or anyone else. All postings on this blog are provided “AS IS” with no warranties, and confers no rights.