BizTalk Server databases and their health are very important for a successful BizTalk Server database messaging environment. BizTalk is shipped out with a total of 13 SQL Agent jobs. By default, the following BizTalk jobs aren’t configured and enabled upon installation.
- Backup BizTalk Server (BizTalkMgmtDb)
- DTA Purge and Archive (BizTalkDTADb)
- MessageBox_Message_Cleanup_BizTalkMsgBoxDb
The two jobs that need configurations are the two most important jobs: the “Backup BizTalk Server” and the “DTA Purge and Archive“. If you want these functionalities you must configure and enable them.

How to configure Backup BizTalk Server (BizTalkMgmtDb)
This is the job provided by Microsoft to do a best practice backup of the BizTalk databases. This job has to be configured for it to be able to run.
This Job consists of four steps:
- Step 1 – Set Compression Option – Enable or disable compression during backup.
- Step 2 – BackupFull – Performs full database backups of the BizTalk Server databases.
- Step 3 – MarkAndBackUpLog – Backs up the BizTalk Server database logs.
- Step 4 – Clear Backup History – Specifies how long the backup history is kept.
To configure the Backup BizTalk Server job:
- Press the “Windows key” to switch to Metro UI and type “SQL Management” or “SQL” and click on “SQL Server Management Studio” option on Apps menu.
- In Object Explorer panel, connect to the SQL Server instance and expand the server tree.
- Expand the “SQL Server Agent” node
- Expand the “Jobs” node
- Double click “Backup BizTalk Server (BizTalkMgmtDb)” to open the job properties window.
- In the Job Properties – Backup BizTalk Server (BizTalkMgmtDb) dialog box, under “Select a page”, click “Steps”.
- In the “Job step list”, click on the job you want to edit, and then click “Edit”

Step 1 – Set Compression Option
Since BizTalk Server 2010, BizTalk Server supports compression for its SQL Server database backups thereby providing some benefits like less space needed for the backup files, fewer I/O operations for the backup and restore and so on.
This job step calls a stored procedure named sp_SetBackupCompression on the BizTalk management database (BizTalkMgmtDb by default) to set the value on the adm_BackupSettings table.
The original script is:
exec [dbo].[sp_SetBackupCompression] @bCompression = 0 /*0 - Do not use Compression, 1 - Use Compression */
The stored procedure has only one parameter:
- @bCompression: By default, Set Compression Option is set to 0, which makes backup compression off by default. To change the default, change Set Compression Option to 1.
Change the script to:
exec [dbo].[sp_SetBackupCompression] @bCompression = 1 /*0 - Do not use Compression, 1 - Use Compression */
Step 2 – BackupFull
The BackupFull step is responsible for performing a full backup of the database.
The original script is:
exec [dbo].[sp_BackupAllFull_Schedule] 'd' /* Frequency */, 'BTS' /* Name */, '...destination path...' /* location of backup files */
Where:
- Frequency: The default is d (daily). This is the recommended setting. Other values include h (hourly), w (weekly), m (monthly), or y (yearly).
- Name: The default is BTS. The name is used as part of the backup file name.
- Location of backup files: Replace ‘<destination path>’ with the full path (the path must include the single quotes) to the computer and folder where you want to back up the BizTalk Server databases.
There are also three optional parameters:
- Force full backup after partial backup failures (@ForceFullBackupAfterPartialSetFailure): The default is 0 when not specified, which means that if a log backup fails, no full backups are done until the next full backup frequency interval is reached. Replace with 1 if you want a full backup to be made whenever a log backup failure occurs.
- Local time hour for the backup process to run (@BackupHour): The default is NULL when not specified, which means that backup job will not be associated with the time zone of the BizTalk Server computer and will run at midnight UTC time (0000). If you want to backup to run at a particular hour in the time zone of the BizTalk Server computer, specify an integer value from 0 (midnight) to 23 (11 PM) as the local time hour for the BackupHour parameter.
- Use local time (@UseLocalTime): This is an extra parameter that you can also add that tells the procedure to use local time
- The default value is 0
- If set to 0, then it uses current UTC time – GETUTCDATE() – 2007-05-04 01:34:11.933
- If set to 1, then it uses local time – GETDATE() – 2007-05-03 18:34:11.933
- The default value is 0
Change the script to:
exec [dbo].[sp_BackupAllFull_Schedule] 'd' /* Frequency */, 'BTS' /* Name */, '...your_destination_path...\BizTalk Database\Full' /* location of backup files */
Step 3 – MarkAndBackUpLog
The MarkAndBackupLog step is responsible for marking the logs for backup, and then backing them up.
The original script is:
exec [dbo].[sp_MarkAll] 'BTS' /* Log mark name */, ...destination path...' /* location of backup files */
Where:
- @MarkName: Log mark name is part of the naming convention for backup files:
- <Server Name>_<Database Name>_Log_< Log Mark Name >_<Timestamp>
- @BackupPath: You must change the destination path this to a valid one. It may be local or a UNC path to another server.
There is also one optional parameter:
- @UseLocalTime: This is an extra parameter that you can also add that tells the procedure to use local time
exec [dbo].[sp_MarkAll] 'BTS' /* Log mark name */,'...destination path...' /*location of backup files */ , 1
Change the script to:
exec [dbo].[sp_MarkAll] 'BTS' /* Log mark name */, '...your_destination_path...\BizTalk Database\Logs' /* location of backup files */
Step 4 – Clear Backup History
The Clear Backup History step is responsible for performing a cleanup of the backup history according to how long a backup should be kept.
The original script clears out the instances in the MarkLog table older than 14 days:
exec [dbo].[sp_DeleteBackupHistory] @DaysToKeep=14
Where:
- @DaysToKeep: specifies how long the backup history is kept in the Adm_BackupHistory table. Periodically clearing the backup history helps to maintain the Adm_BackupHistory table at an appropriate size. The default value for the DaysToKeep parameter is 14 days.
There is also one optional parameter:
- @UseLocalTime: This is an extra parameter that you can also add that tells the procedure to use local time
exec [dbo].[sp_DeleteBackupHistory] @DaysToKeep=14 , @UseLocalTime =1
In this particular case, I like to leave the default settings.
Note: This job step does not provide functionality for deleting backup files that have accumulated over time.
You can solve this problem by implementing your custom sp_DeleteBackupHistory:
- Start SQL Server Management Studio, and then connect to the BizTalk Management Database. By default, this database is named BizTalkMgmtDb.
- Click New Query to open a Query Editor window.
- Run the following Transact-SQL script to create the sp_DeleteBackupHistoryAndFiles stored procedure:
CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[sp_DeleteBackupHistoryAndFiles] @DaysToKeep smallint = null AS BEGIN set nocount on IF @DaysToKeep IS NULL OR @DaysToKeep <= 1 RETURN /* Only delete full sets If a set spans a day in such a way that some items fall into the deleted group and the other does not, do not delete the set */ DECLARE DeleteBackupFiles CURSOR FOR SELECT 'del "' + [BackupFileLocation] + '\' + [BackupFileName] + '"' FROM [adm_BackupHistory] WHERE datediff(dd, [BackupDateTime], getdate()) >= @DaysToKeep AND [BackupSetId] NOT IN (SELECT [BackupSetId] FROM [dbo].[adm_BackupHistory] [h2] WHERE [h2].[BackupSetId] = [BackupSetId] AND datediff(dd, [h2].[BackupDateTime], getdate()) < @DaysToKeep) DECLARE @cmd varchar(400) OPEN DeleteBackupFiles FETCH NEXT FROM DeleteBackupFiles INTO @cmd WHILE (@@fetch_status <> -1) BEGIN IF (@@fetch_status <> -2) BEGIN EXEC master.dbo.xp_cmdshell @cmd, NO_OUTPUT delete from [adm_BackupHistory] WHERE CURRENT OF DeleteBackupFiles print @cmd END FETCH NEXT FROM DeleteBackupFiles INTO @cmd END CLOSE DeleteBackupFiles DEALLOCATE DeleteBackupFiles END GO
- Change the “Clear Backup History” step of the Backup BizTalk Server job so that it calls the sp_DeleteBackupHistoryAndFiles stored procedure instead of the sp_DeleteBackupHistory stored procedure.
Note: However I don’t like this approach and I really prefer to take advantage of all features that SQL gives me and create a maintenance plan with a Cleanup task to remove these files.
After properly configure, to enable the Backup BizTalk Server job:
- Under “Jobs” in SQL Server Management Studio Object Explorer, right-click on the name of the job “Backup BizTalk Server (BizTalkMgmtDb)” and select “Enable” option.

- In the result screen, click “Close”.

How to configure DTA Purge and Archive (BizTalkDTADb)
This job automates the archiving of tracked messages and the purging of the BizTalk Tracking database to maintain a healthy system and to keep the tracking data archived for future use.
And it’s configured to call the stored procedure dtasp_BackupAndPurgeTrackingDatabase, which uses the six parameters you must configure in this job:
- @nLiveHours: Any completed instance older than the (live hours) + (live days) will be deleted along with all associated data. The default is 0 hours.
- @nLiveDays: Any completed instance older than the (live hours) + (live days) will be deleted along with all associated data. The default interval is 1 day.
- @nHardDeleteDays: All data (even if incomplete) older than this will be deleted. The time interval specified for HardDeleteDays should be greater than the live window of data. The live window of data is the interval of time for which you want to maintain tracking data in the BizTalk Tracking (BizTalkDTADb) database. Anything older than this interval is eligible to be archived at the next archive and then purged. The default is 30 days.
- @nvcFolder: Folder in which to put the backup files.
- @nvcValidatingServer: Server on which validation will be done. A null value indicates no validation is being done. The default is NULL.
- @fForceBackup: Default is 0. This is reserved for future use.
To configure the DTA Purge and Archive job:
- Press the “Windows key” to switch to Metro UI and type “SQL Management” or “SQL” and click on “SQL Server Management Studio” option on Apps menu.
- In Object Explorer panel, connect to the SQL Server instance and expand the server tree.
- Expand the “SQL Server Agent” node
- Expand the “Jobs” node
- Double click “DTA Purge and Archive (BizTalkDTADb)” to open the job properties window.
- In the Job Properties – DTA Purge and Archive (BizTalkDTADb) dialog box, under “Select a page”, click “Steps”.
- In the “Job step list”, click Archive and Purge, and then click Edit.

The original script after installing BizTalk looks like this:
exec dtasp_BackupAndPurgeTrackingDatabase 0, --@nLiveHours tinyint, --Any completed instance older than the live hours +live days 1, --@nLiveDays tinyint = 0, --will be deleted along with all associated data 30, --@nHardDeleteDays tinyint = 0, --all data older than this will be deleted. null, --@nvcFolder nvarchar(1024) = null, --folder for backup files null, --@nvcValidatingServer sysname = null, 0 --@fForceBackup int = 0 --
This means that:
- Any completed instance that is older than the live days plus live hours will be deleted, as will any associated data.
- Any data older than the HardDeleteDays will be deleted.
Normally I use these configurations for production environments:
exec dtasp_BackupAndPurgeTrackingDatabase 0, 10, 20, '...destination path...', null, 0
However on a development machine, we don’t need to maintain the archived tracking data, so I just purge it periodically. BizTalk gives you the option to Archive and Purge the tracking data or just simple purge the data without archiving:
- Change the SQL Statement inside “DTA Purge and Achieve” SQL Job to
declare @dtLastBackup datetime set @dtLastBackup = GetUTCDate() exec dtasp_PurgeTrackingDatabase 1, 0, 7, @dtLastBackup
After properly configure, to enable the Backup BizTalk Server job:
- Under “Jobs” in SQL Server Management Studio Object Explorer, right-click on the name of the job “DTA Purge and Archive (BizTalkDTADb)” and select “Enable” option.
- In the result screen, click “Close”.
MessageBox_Message_Cleanup_BizTalkMsgBoxDb
This job removes all messages that are not referenced by any subscribers in the BizTalkMsgBoxDb database tables.
Important: This job is also started by the MessageBox_Message_ManageRefCountLog_BizTalkMsgBoxDb job. Therefore, we recommend that you disable this job.
Related links
- BizTalk 2013 Installation and Configuration – Important considerations before set up the server (Part 1)
- BizTalk 2013 Installation and Configuration – Enable Internet Information Services (Part 2)
- BizTalk 2013 Installation and Configuration – Install Windows Identity Foundation (Part 3)
- BizTalk 2013 Installation and Configuration – Install and configure SMTP Server Feature (Part 4)
- BizTalk 2013 Installation and Configuration – Install Microsoft Office Excel 2013 (Part 5)
- BizTalk 2013 Installation and Configuration – Install Visual Studio 2012 (Part 6)
- BizTalk 2013 Installation and Configuration – Install SQL Server 2012 (Part 7)
- BizTalk 2013 Installation and Configuration – Configure SQL Server Database Mail feature (Part 8)
- BizTalk 2013 Installation and Configuration – Install and Configure BizTalk Server 2013 (Part 9)
- BizTalk 2013 Installation and Configuration – Configure SQL Server Network Configuration protocols (Part 10)
- BizTalk 2013 Installation and Configuration – Validate Mail account used by BizTalk to send BAM Alerts (Part 11)
- BizTalk 2013 Installation and Configuration – Installing BizTalk Adapter Pack (Part 12)
- BizTalk 2013 Installation and Configuration – Install and Configure Microsoft UDDI Services (Part 13)
- BizTalk 2013 Installation and Configuration – Install and Configure the Microsoft BizTalk ESB Toolkit (Part 14)
- BizTalk 2013 Installation and Configuration – Configure BizTalk Server Windows Services (Part 16)
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