Where are SQL Server connection attempts logged?

John K picture John K · Jul 21, 2011 · Viewed 141.2k times · Source

Does SQL Server has an external log file or internal table for attempted connections, or is that kind of info put somewhere in the Windows Event Log?

Answer

vcsjones picture vcsjones · Jul 21, 2011

You can enable connection logging. For SQL Server 2008, you can enable Login Auditing. In SQL Server Management Studio, open SQL Server Properties > Security > Login Auditing select "Both failed and successful logins".

Make sure to restart the SQL Server service.

Once you've done that, connection attempts should be logged into SQL's error log. The physical logs location can be determined here.