Sql-server – delete a large LDF file in SharePoint

Well, the non-recommended way would be to attempt to rename the .ldf file on the file system. If the log file is indeed being used to serve a currently operational SQL Server database then you will not be able to rename the file.

The recommended method would be to inspect the sys.database_files catalog view in order to identify/locate the log file in question.

Something along the following lines should do it.....

Select 
    file_id,
    name,
    state
From sys.database_files
Where Type = 1 and name=’logFileName’

See the following books online reference for details on the sys.database_files catalog view :

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms174397.aspx

Assuming your database / application is performing normally and doesn't do that many updates. And assuming you are not doing any transaction log backups, then you need to do one of two things:

• Either start doing transaction log backups (in addition to the database backups)
• Or (as has been suggested) switch your database to Simple recovery mode

To set the database to simple recovery, either use SSMS or run the following TSQL against the database:

ALTER DATABASE [DBNAME] SET RECOVERY SIMPLE;

Once your database is using the Simple recovery model, make sure you take a full backup. Following that, you will need to tell SQLServer to explicitly shrink the log file by running the following TSQL:

DBCC SHRINKFILE (FileName, TargetSize)

where the filename is the name of the database log file (i.e. DBNAME_Log) and the target size is in megabytes (keep in mind that you don't want to make it too small otherwise it will just have to grow again to the 'normal' level)