master Change Ledger
Overview
This is the page somebody opens when they are told nothing changed.
Where to find it
Expand a server in the tree, expand the master database, then Master → Change Ledger.
Two halves, failing in opposite directions
The catalog half
Reads the create and modify dates on every server level object.
Complete for what still exists, and says nothing at all about what was dropped, changed twice, or never had a date column.
The default trace half
Reads the events SQL Server records for itself: logins created and dropped, role membership, configuration changes and object DDL, with a who and a where from attached.
Goes back only as far as five rollover files reach, which on a busy instance is a few days.
Both on one axis, with the backups laid across
Backups of master are drawn over the same time axis, so the reader can see which changes are protected and which are not without going anywhere else.
master Backup and Rebuild Readiness is the page that turns that into a per object answer.
What this page will not do
It will not imply it saw everything.
If the default trace is off, it says so rather than showing a short catalog-only list as though that were the whole story, because a list that looks complete and is not is worse than no list.
Reading the chart
One lane per kind of change, catalog dates and trace events on a single axis, with the backups of master laid across it.
The lanes that reach back years are catalog dates, because a create or modify date survives as long as the object does. The crowd at the right is the window the default trace still covers, and the header line names the date it stops at.
Reading the grid
| Column | What it is |
|---|---|
| When | The timestamp. |
| What | The kind of change: a login created, a role membership altered, a configuration changed, an object created or dropped. |
| Name | What it happened to. |
| Who | The login that did it, from the trace. Blank for a catalog row. |
| From | The host name and application, from the trace. |
| Known from | Catalog or default trace, so the reader knows which half a row came from and therefore what it can and cannot promise. |
The toolbar
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Backup and rebuild | Opens master Backup and Rebuild Readiness. |
| User objects | Opens master User Objects. |
| What changed over time | The lanes view with the backups laid across. |
Where the data comes from
| Source | What it gives |
|---|---|
sys.server_principals, sys.servers, sys.credentials, sys.certificates, sys.objects in master |
Create and modify dates for what still exists. |
fn_trace_gettable over the default trace |
Login and role events, configuration changes, object DDL, with the login, host and application. |
sys.traces |
Whether the default trace is running, and where its files are. |
msdb.dbo.backupset |
The backups of master, drawn across the axis. |
Related reports
| Report | Why you would go there |
|---|---|
| master Backup and Rebuild Readiness | Whether each of these changes is in a backup. |
| master User Objects | What somebody installed in master, and when. |
| master Server Permissions | The grants behind a role or permission change. |
| Database Structure Changes | The same question at database scope. |
| Configuration Values | What the configuration changes changed. |
Frequently asked questions
The trace half is empty. Either the default trace is off, or its five rollover files no longer reach back that far. The page says which, rather than pretending the catalog half is the whole record.
Something was dropped and it is not here. Only the trace half can see a drop, and only within its window. The catalog half describes what exists.
Why does a row have no “Who”? Because it came from the catalog, which records the date and not the actor. The Known from column says so.
How far back does the default trace go? Five rollover files, each 20 MB. On a quiet instance that is weeks; on a busy one it can be hours.