In the shared database development model, developers work on the same database simultaneously. By default, information about who makes a change to a shared database is read from the default trace and saved in tempdb. However, because tempdb resets when the server is restarted, information about who made a change is permanently lost. When this happens, the Changed by column lists the object as changed by Unknown:

To prevent this, you can create a new database to permanently log information about changes in. This makes sure information isn't lost, and database administrators can set appropriate security restrictions.

Step 1: Creating the change log database

You can use this SQL script template to create a dedicated change log database named ChangeLog. You can modify the script as needed.

USE master EXECUTE ('CREATE DATABASE ChangeLog')
ALTER DATABASE ChangeLog SET ANSI_NULL_DEFAULT OFF
ALTER DATABASE ChangeLog SET ANSI_NULLS OFF
ALTER DATABASE ChangeLog SET ANSI_PADDING OFF
ALTER DATABASE ChangeLog SET ANSI_WARNINGS OFF
ALTER DATABASE ChangeLog SET ARITHABORT OFF
ALTER DATABASE ChangeLog SET AUTO_CLOSE OFF
ALTER DATABASE ChangeLog SET AUTO_CREATE_STATISTICS ON
ALTER DATABASE ChangeLog SET AUTO_SHRINK OFF
ALTER DATABASE ChangeLog SET AUTO_UPDATE_STATISTICS ON
ALTER DATABASE ChangeLog SET READ_WRITE
ALTER DATABASE ChangeLog SET RECOVERY SIMPLE
ALTER DATABASE ChangeLog SET MULTI_USER
ALTER DATABASE ChangeLog SET PAGE_VERIFY CHECKSUM
ALTER DATABASE ChangeLog SET DB_CHAINING ON
EXECUTE ('USE ChangeLog IF NOT EXISTS (SELECT * FROM sys.sysusers WHERE name=''guest'') EXECUTE sp_grantdbaccess guest')

Step 2: Editing the config file

After the change log database is created, you need to edit a local config file so SQL Source Control can access it.

1. Make sure SQL Server Management Studio is closed.

2. Go to the SQL Source Control config files folder: %localappdata%\Red Gate\SQL Source Control 3
   Open RedGate_SQLSourceControl_Engine_EngineOptions.xml in a text editor.

3. Below the EngineOptions version line, add:

   <TraceCacheDatabase>ChangeLog</TraceCacheDatabase>

   The file is case sensitive. Don't change the capitalization of the text.

   Ignoring any comments (indicated with <!->), the final file should look like this::

   Example

   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="yes"?>
   	<EngineOptions version="3" type="EngineOptions">
   	<TraceCacheDatabase>ChangeLog</TraceCacheDatabase>
   </EngineOptions>

   The example above doesn't include any extra lines you may have included for other options.

4. Save and close the file.

SQL Source Control will now use the change log database to log changes made to all linked databases.

How to check if changes are being logged

To check if change logging is set up correctly, interact with a linked database.

Afterwards, in the ChangeLog database, the table RG_AllObjects should appear. You can inspect the table to see changes appearing in it as you make them.

Object types not supported by change logging

Changes made to the following object types can't be logged: