SQL Server Deadlocks – Also known as “The deadly Embrace” occurs when there are 2 processes and neither can advance and get the relevant lock it needs because the other process involved is preventing it from getting the resource it requires.

In this quick video clip I create a deadlock scenario and check how to get some deadlock information via system health extended events session.

Below is the T-SQL for querying the system health session. This was against a SQL Server 2014 install so you may need to change the file location.

SELECT top(1)
CONVERT(xml, event_data).value('(event[@name="xml_deadlock_report"]/@timestamp)[1]','datetime2') AS [TimeOfDeadlock],
CONVERT(xml, event_data).query('/event/data/value/child::*') AS [DeadlockGraph]
FROM sys.fn_xe_file_target_read_file('C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL12.MSSQLSERVER\MSSQL\Log\system_health*.xel', null,  null, null)
WHERE object_name = 'xml_deadlock_report'
ORDER BY [TimeOfDeadlock] DESC