Chapter 16: Introduction to the Maintenance Plan Designer 196 Designer Menu bar At the top of the right-hand side of the screen, for each Maintenance Plan that you have open in the Designer, is a menu bar, as shown in Figure 16.10. Figure 16.10: A lot of functionality is hidden in this small section of the screen. This menu bar holds a surprising number of options, so let's explore each of the eight icons in turn. The first five options allow you to create (and remove) subplans and their schedules. The next two options pertain to the Maintenance Plan as a whole and allow you to configure the connections used by the plan, and the reports that are sent when the plan executes. The final option allows you to configure multiserver Maintenance Plans (an option I advise you to avoid). Add Subplan We've already used this icon in order to add a new subplan to a Maintenance Plan. When you click on the Add Subplan icon, the Subplan Properties screen appears where you can name, describe and schedule your new subplan, as shown in Figure 16.11. Subplan Properties When you click on this icon, you get the exact same screen shown in Figure 16.11. Why, you may ask? Basically, you define these properties for new plans using the Add Subplan icon, and use this Subplan properties icon to change the properties of existing subplans and their schedules. Chapter 16: Introduction to the Maintenance Plan Designer 197 Figure 16.11: Adding a new subplan. Delete Selected Subplan The Delete Selected Subplan icon (which looks like an "X") is fairly self-explanatory, and will remove the selected subplan from the Maintenance Plan. When you first create a Maintenance Plan it will consist only of the default subplan, which cannot be deleted, so the option will be grayed out. When additional subplans are added, this option is activated. Subplan Schedule The Subplan Schedule icon looks like a calendar and is used to schedule a subplan. When you click on it, you are presented with the Job Schedule Properties screen that we have seen many times before in previous chapters, as shown in Figure 16.12. Schedule a subplan (which may include one or more tasks) by highlighting it in the list, and clicking on this icon, or by clicking the equivalent icon in the subplan grid (Figure 16.7). Chapter 16: Introduction to the Maintenance Plan Designer 198 Figure 16.12: We saw this same screen when we learned about scheduling using the Maintenance Plan Wizard. Remove Schedule The Remove Schedule icon looks like a calendar that has been crossed out, and is used to delete the schedule for an existing subplan. Simply highlight any plan that has a schedule, and click the icon to remove the existing schedule for the selected subplan. Until you've created a schedule for at least one of your subplans, this option will be grayed out. Manage Connections When you create a Maintenance Plan using the Maintenance Plan Designer, the default assumption is that you want to create the Maintenance Plan on the local SQL Server (the SQL Server instance you are connected to via SSMS). In virtually every case, this is the correct Chapter 16: Introduction to the Maintenance Plan Designer 199 assumption, but the Manage Connections… option allows you to change the connection to a different SQL Server instance. When you click this icon, the Manage Connections screen appears, as shown in Figure 16.13. Figure 16.13: The Maintenance Plan Designer assumes that you want to create your Maintenance Plan on the SQL Server instance you selected from within SSMS. On the Manage Connections screen, you see the connection information for the SQL Server instance you selected when you used SSMS to start the Maintenance Plan Designer. Should you want to change to a different SQL Server instance, or to change the authentication method, you could do so using the Add and Edit buttons. However, I suggest you keep everything simple and use the default, which is to connect to the local SQL Server instance. If you need the ability to connect to a different instance in order to create a Maintenance Plan there, it is better to do this using SSMS. Reporting and Logging The Reporting and Logging icon allows you to configure the sending of text reports that detail the tasks that were executed as part of the plan, and the level of detail that these reports provide. When you click on the icon, it brings up the Reporting and Logging screen, shown in Figure 16.14. You may notice that it looks similar, though not identical, to the Select Report Options screen available from the Maintenance Plan Wizard. Chapter 16: Introduction to the Maintenance Plan Designer 200 Figure 16.14: Use this option to configure the Maintenance Plan text file reports. The first option is to Generate a text file report. It is selected by default and I strongly recommend that you leave it selected, as these reports are invaluable when troubleshooting a misbehaving Maintenance Plan. Notice that one report will be created for every subplan that is executed. So if a Maintenance Plan has four subplans, you'll get four reports each time that Maintenance Plan executes. This is different from how the Wizard worked, where one report was sent per Maintenance Plan. . default, which is to connect to the local SQL Server instance. If you need the ability to connect to a different instance in order to create a Maintenance Plan there, it is better to do this using. SSMS to start the Maintenance Plan Designer. Should you want to change to a different SQL Server instance, or to change the authentication method, you could do so using the Add and Edit buttons Connections When you create a Maintenance Plan using the Maintenance Plan Designer, the default assumption is that you want to create the Maintenance Plan on the local SQL Server (the SQL Server instance