By default, a database is restored in the same location from where it was
backed up and the existing database files are overwritten. This restore leaves
the database in an online state. Follow the steps given below to restore a
database:
From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers |
<Client>
| SQL Server.
Right-click the <Instance> and then click All Tasks
| Browse
Backup Data.
Click OK.
In the right pane of the Browse window, select a non-system database you want to restore and click Recover All Selected.
Click Unconditionally overwrite existing database or files.
By default, a database is left in the online state after a restore. However,
you might need to change the state of the database depending on your needs
(e.g., if you want to make the database inaccessible to the users). By
recovering a database, you can select the state in which the database is to be
left. Follow the
steps given below to recover a database:
System databases are essential for the operation of the SQL server instance.
If you need to restore the SQL Server in the event of a system failure, the
system databases (master,
msdb and model)
must be backed up. The tempdb does
not get backed up as it is re-created by the SQL Server every time the
server is started.
By default, system databases are restored in the same location from where they
were backed up and their data files are overwritten.
Follow the steps given below to restore the system databases:
From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers |
<Client>
| SQL Server.
Right-click the instance, point to All Tasks, and then
click Browse
Backup Data.
Click OK.
In the left pane of the Browse window, navigate to the instance
node.
Select the system databases (master,
msdb, and model) in the
right pane and click Recover All Selected.
If you choose to restore the system databases individually, it is recommended to follow this order:
master, msdb,
model.
Click Unconditionally overwrite existing database or files.
Click OK to start the restore.
Click Yes. The system stops and restarts the SQL Server service
in single-user mode.
By default, files or filegroups are restored in the same location from where they
were backed up. File/Filegroup restores give you the ability to bring back the files that
have been damaged in the event of a failure. You can restore specific files and
filegroups from both:
database backups
file and filegroup backups
During
a File/Filegroup restore job, the system restores the latest full and
differential backups and then uses the transaction log backups up to the
specified restore time. Hence, transaction logs are needed to successfully
restore files or filegroups as it determines the end time of the restore. For more information, see Transaction Log Backups.
File/Filegroup restores are commonly used for situations in which individual
data files on a database are damaged.
For a single data file, the file/file group restore chain consists of the most
recent full backup, the most recent differential (if any), and all subsequent
transaction log backups that occurred prior to the restore time. However, for
multiple files or file groups, the same rules apply for each data file, and the
log backups to be restored will be determined by the file requiring the oldest
log.
Follow the steps below to restore one or more files or filegroups from a
database:
From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers |
<Client>
| SQL Server.
Right-click the <Instance> and then click All Tasks
| Browse
Backup Data.
Click File/File Group and then click OK.
In the left pane of the Browse window, navigate to the
database that contains the files or filegroups you want
to restore.
Select the files or filegroups you want to restore in the
right pane and click Recover All Selected.
Click Unconditionally overwrite existing database or files.
You can restore a database in its entirety by restoring all the filegroups
within the database.
Follow the steps below to restore the entire database at the File/filegroup
level:
From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers |
<Client>
| SQL Server.
Right-click the <Instance> and then click All Tasks
| Browse
Backup Data.
Click File/File Group and then click OK.
In the right pane of the Browse window, select the database you want to restore.
Multiple databases cannot be restored at the filegroup level.
Click Recover All Selected.
Click Unconditionally overwrite existing database or files.
If the size of a filegroup in a database is large, the restore operation may
take considerable time. In such case, you can restore the database in stages.
Partial restores also known as Piecemeal Restore in SQL Server versions 2005
and later allows you to restore a database in stages.
Follow the steps given below to restore a database in stages at filegroup level:
From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers |
<Client>
| SQL Server.
Right-click the <Instance> and then click All Tasks
| Browse
Backup Data.
Click File/File Group and then click OK.
In the left pane of the Browse window, navigate to the
database that contains the filegroups you want
to restore.
Select the filegroups you want to restore in the right pane and click Recover All Selected.
Select the Partial Restore check box.
Click OK to start the restore.
Perform the partial restore of all remaining filegroups one by one to
restore the entire database.
After performing a partial (piecemeal) restore job, the next backup job for
that database is automatically converted to a full backup.
When you want to restore an event in the database but do not know the exact
time of the event, you can first restore the database in the standby state and
apply transaction logs to the database. The Step Restore enables you to append
the logs to such a database. (Both Incremental or Transaction Log backups can be
applied.) Use the following procedure to apply the log backups one by one to
scan through the changes that have been committed between each log backup. This
way you can avoid performing multiple full restores when you are not sure of the
point of restore required.
Step Restores can be performed on individual databases.
Follow the
steps given below to apply the
logs to a database in the standby state:
From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers |
<Client>
| SQL Server.
Right-click the <Instance> and then click All Tasks
| Browse
Backup Data.
Click OK.
In the right pane of the Browse window, select
the database that is already restored in the standby state and click Recover All Selected.
Select the Destination Server. The destination Server must be
different than source server.
Select Step Restore.
Select a Log backup from the Restore Time list.
Select the Unconditionally overwrite existing database or files
check box.
Click OK to start the log restore.
If required, you can apply logs from other Log backups by selecting a
different Log backup from the Restore Time list.
This option enables you to apply all the latest transaction logs to a hot
standby sever. The hot standby server is the server where you can restore a
latest backup data periodically. Follow the steps given below to restore only the logs that are backed on a
specific time:
From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers |
<Client>
| SQL Server.
Right-click the <Instance> and then click All Tasks
| Browse
Backup Data.
Click OK.
In the right pane of the Browse window, select a
database that is already restored in the standby state and click Recover All Selected.
Select the Destination Server. Select the hot standby server.
Select the Latest Backup Data check box.
Select the Apply Log backups only check box.
Select the timeand a Log backup from the
Restore Time list.
Click OK to start the log restore.
The Transaction Logs, backed up on the selected time will be
restored and applied to the database.
If any undesired transaction occurs in the database, you can revert the
database to a state just before the transaction. The point in time option
enables you to restore the database to a specific point-in-time. This option is
useful in the following scenarios:
If any undesired transaction occurs in the database, you can revert the
database to a state just before the transaction.
If a database fails, you can restore to the state just before the point
of failure.
You can restore multiple databases to a consistent time. This will be
useful for the absolute synchronization of the databases.
Before
performing the point-in-time restore of a database, ensure that transaction logs
for the database are backed up. Follow the steps given below to restore a database(s) to a point in time:
From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers |
<Client>
| SQL Server.
Right-click the <Instance> and then click All Tasks
| Browse
Backup Data.
Click OK.
In the right pane of the Browse window, select one or
more
databases and click Recover All Selected.
Select the Point-in-Time check box.
From the Restore Time lists, select the date and the time.
Select the Unconditionally overwrite existing database or files
check box.
Click OK to start the restore.
The database(s) will be restored to the selected date and time.
When you perform a point-in-time restore for a database, the next scheduled
backup for that database will automatically convert to a Full backup.
If you are using any third-party software to backup and restore the
databases, you can use SQL Server iDataAgent
to restore only the logs. The database for which you are restoring logs must be
in the standby state. Follow the steps given below to restore logs for a
database:
From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers |
<Client>
| SQL Server.
Right-click the <Instance> and then click All Tasks
| Browse
Backup Data.
Click OK.
In the right pane of the Browse window, select a
database that is already restored in the standby state and click Recover All Selected.
Select the Destination Server. Select the server and instance in
which the restored database resides in the standby state.
Select the Point-in-Time check box.
Select the Skip FULLBackup check box.
Specify the Restore Time.
Click OK to start the log restore.
The most recent log backup before the Restore Time will be
restored and applied to the database.
You can restore directly to the marked
transaction or a point before the transaction if the Transaction logs of the
database has transaction marks.
This can be useful in situations where a transaction has caused undesirable
results on a database and you need to go back to the point before that occurred.
Before performing the restore, ensure that transaction logs are backed up for
the database that you want to restore to a transaction mark.
Follow the steps
given below to restore a database(s) to a transaction mark:
From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers |
<Client>
| SQL Server.
Right-click the <Instance> and then click All Tasks
| Browse
Backup Data.
Click OK.
In the right pane of the Browse window, select a
database that is already restored in the standby state.
You can select
multiple databases. However, the transaction marks
must be common to all the selected databases.
Click Recover All Selected.
Select the Transaction Marks check box.
Select the transaction mark from the Restore Time list.
Select Stop at Mark or Stop Before Mark.
If you select Stop at Mark the database will be restored to the
selected transaction mark. If you select Stop Before Mark, the database
will be recovered to a previous transaction mark.
Click OK to start the restore.
After performing a transaction mark restore job, the next backup job
for that database is automatically converted to a full backup.
You can preserve all the replication settings of a published database when you perform an out-of-place
restore of a database. This options is used to restore backups of replicated
databases. Only full backups are supported with this option, so make
sure that you have performed at least one Full backup before restoring the
database with replication settings. Follow the steps given below to preserve the replication
settings:
From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers |
<Client>
| SQL Server.
Right-click the <Instance> and then click All Tasks
| Browse
Backup Data.
Click OK.
In the right pane of the Browse window, select a
database and click Recover All Selected.
Select a SQL Server and instance from the Destination Server
list.
Ensure that Recovery option is selected from the Recovery
Types.
Select the Preserve Replication Settings check box.
Selection of Preserve Replication Settings option is not available in Microsoft
SQL Server 2005.
Click Advanced and select the Options tab.
Change the path of the database and log files
under the Physical Path
column.
Click OK.
Click OK to start the restore.
After the restore has completed, all the replication settings of the
database are available on the destination server.
If the publication
database is restored, ensure that the replication settings of the master
and
msdb databases on the Distributor and Subscriber
servers are consistent with the publication database. For more information, see
Backing Up and Restoring Replication Databases.
The SQL Server 2008 has an option to capture the changed data. If you have
enabled this option, the changed data (insert, update, and delete) is captured
and applied to SQL tables. The details of the changes are available in an easily
applicable relational format. You can restore the captured changes and apply them
to the restored database. You cannot restore the captured changes if you are
using VSS enabled backup for restore.
Follow the steps given below to restore
the captured data:
From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers |
<Client>
| SQL Server.
Right-click the <Instance> and then click All Tasks
| Browse
Backup Data.
Click OK.
In the right pane of the Browse window, select a
database and click Recover All Selected.
Select the Keep Change Data Capture check box.
Click OK to start the restore.
After the restore has completed, all the data changes are available
and applied to the restored database.
The VDI (Virtual Device Interface) is an API used to communicate with the SQL
Server during all backup and restore operation. When restoring a database, the VDI timeout represents the time the system must wait for the SQL server to
become ready to accept data into the database. If any databases are dropped from
the SQL Server after the backup, the database file(s) do not exist on the sever.
Before starting the restore operation, these files will be created automatically
on the SQL Server. The time required to create the file(s) will be the same as
when you first created the database or altered the database and added the file(s).
By default, the system will wait 50 minutes (10 retries of five minutes each)
for the SQL server to respond to a VDI command before giving up. If the SQL
server takes longer then this timeout value, the system assumes that the command
failed, and it aborts the restore operation.
Follow the steps given below to increase the VDI Timeout for a SQL Server
instance.
From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers | <Client>
|SQL Server
Right-click the <Instance> and then click Properties.
By default, when restoring to a different SQL Server instance, a database is restored
to the same location in the destination server. Follow the steps below to
restore a database to a different destination server.
System databases cannot be restored to a different server as they would
overwrite the existing system databases in the destination server.
From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers |
<Client>
| SQL Server.
Right-click the <Instance> and then click All Tasks
| Browse
Backup Data.
Click OK.
In the right pane of the Browse window, select the databases you want to restore and click Recover All Selected.
Select the Destination Server.
If the same path cannot be used for any reason (e.g., the destination server
does not have the corresponding path), click Advanced. From the Options tab, rename the database and change the path of the data files.
If you perform a restore operation to move the database back to its original
location, the database files will not be moved back as the database already
exists on the server. The restore job will only check the database name and will
restore the database on top of the same database regardless of its location. To
move the database files back to the original location, use one of the following
workarounds:
Detach and re-attach the database.
Perform a full backup of the database before moving the database back to
its original location.
Drop the database from the SQL Server instance and perform a restore
with the default values.
You can perform restores of one of more databases from the command line
interface.
Command line restores enable you to perform restore operations on multiple
clients at the same time. It also allows you to reuse the command line scripts
for additional restores.
When performing command line restores, note that backups taken from the
CommCell Console can be restored using Command Line and vice versa. However,
backups taken from a previous version of the CommCell Console can be restored
only from the Command Line.
In order to run the restores from command line, you need an input xml file
which contains the parameters for configuring the restore options. This input
xml file can be obtained using one of the following ways:
Download the
input xml file template and save it on the computer from where the
restore will be performed.
Generate the input xml file from the CommCell Console and save it on the
computer from where the restore will be performed.
In addition to the parameters provided in the template xml file, if you want
to include additional options for the restore, you can do so by selecting the
required options from the CommCell Console and generate the command line xml
script for the restore operation.
Follow the steps given below to generate a script which you can use to
perform a restore from the command line interface:
From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers |
<Client>
| SQL Server.
Right-click the <Instance> and then click All Tasks
| Browse
Backup Data.
Click OK.
In the right pane of the Browse window, select the data that
you want to restore and click Recover All Selected.
Select the required restore options which you want to execute using the
script.
Click Save as Script.
Enter the location where you want to save the script or click
Browse and navigate to the location.
The script will be saved as a .xml file
and a .bat file is created.
If a file with the same name already exists in the specified location,
the .xml file will be created with a timestamp. However, the .bat file will
overwrite the existing file.
Enter the username and password for the user account which you want to
use to perform the restore.
By default, the user account which you have used to login to CommCell
console is used for performing the restore. However, if the user account does
not have access to application and database, click Use a
different account.
You can run batch files or shell scripts before and/or
after restore jobs. Follow the steps given below to setup a process before or
after the restore job:
From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers |
<Client>
| SQL Server.
Right-click the <Instance> and then click All Tasks
| Browse
Backup Data.
Click OK.
In the right pane of the Browse window, select a
database and click Recover All Selected.
Click
Advanced and then click the Pre/Post
tab.
If you want perform a process before the restore job, enter the path for
the batch file in the Pre Recovery Command box or click Browse to
select the batch file.
If you want perform a process after the restore job, enter the path for
the batch file in the Post Recovery Command box or click Browse to
select the batch file.
Select one of the following options:
Use Local Accounts - Select this option if the local account has permissions to
execute the processes on the destination client.
Impersonate User - Select this option and enter the username and
password, that has the permissions to execute the processes on the
destination client.
By default, a specified post process command is executed only on successful
completion of the restore operation.
Use the following steps to run a post process even if the restore operation did
not complete successfully. For example, this may be useful to bring a database
online or release a snapshot.
From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers |
<Client>
| SQL Server.
Right-click the <Instance> and then click All Tasks
| Browse
Backup Data.
Click OK.
In the right pane of the Browse window, select a
database and click Recover All Selected.
Click
Advanced and then click the Pre/Post
tab.
Enter the path for the batch file in the Post Recovery Command
box or click Browse to
select the batch file.
Select the Run Post Process for all attempts check box.
Once you initiate the restore operation, a restore job is generated in the Job
Controller. Jobs can be managed in a number of ways. See
Job
Management for a comprehensive information on managing jobs.
The following sections provide
information on the different job management options available:
Jobs that fail to complete successfully are automatically restarted based on
the job restartability configuration set in the Control Panel. Keep in mind that changes
made to this configuration will affect all
jobs in the entire CommCell.
To Configure the job restartability for a specific job, you can modify the
retry settings for the job. This will override the setting in the Control Panel. It is also possible to override the default CommServe configuration for individual
jobs by configuring retry settings when initiating the job. This configuration,
however, will apply only to the specific job.
Configure Job Restartability at the CommServe Level
From the CommCell Browser, click Control Panel icon.
Select
Job Management.
Click Job Restarts tab and select a Job Type.
Select Restartable to make the job restartable.
Change the value for Max Restarts to change the maximum number of
times the Job Manager will try to restart a job.
Change the value for Restart Interval (Mins) to change the time
interval between attempts for the Job Manager to restart the job.
The following controls are available for running jobs in the Job Controller window:
Suspend
Temporarily stops a job. A suspended job is not
terminated; it can be restarted at a later time.
Resume
Resumes a job and returns the
status to Waiting, Pending, Queued, or Running. The status depends on
the availability of resources, the state of the Operation Windows, or
the Activity Control setting.
Kill
Terminates a job.
Suspending a Job
From the Job Controller of the CommCell Console, right-click the job and
select Suspend.
The job status may change to Suspend Pending
for a few moments while the operation completes. The job status then changes
to Suspended.
Resuming a Job
From the Job Controller of the CommCell Console, right-click the job and
select Resume.
As the Job Manager attempts to restart the job,
the job status changes to Waiting, Pending, or Running.
Killing a Job
From the Job Controller of the CommCell Console, right-click the job and
select Kill.
Click Yes when the confirmation prompt
appears if you are sure you want to kill the job. The job status may
change to Kill Pending for a few moments while the operation
completes. Once completed, the job status will change to Killed and
it will be removed from the Job Controller window after five minutes.
Several additional options are available to further refine your restore
operations. The following table describes these options, as well as the steps to
implement them.
Be sure to read the overview material referenced for each feature prior to using
them.
Option
Description
related topic
Use hardware revert capability if available
This option allow you to revert the data to the time when the snapshot was
created. Selecting this option brings back the entire LUN to the point when the
snapshot was created, overwriting all modifications to the data since the
snapshot creation. This option is only available if the storage array used for SnapProtect Backup supports the revert operation.
From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers |
<Client>
| SQL Server.
Right-click the <Instance> and then click All Tasks
| Browse
Backup Data.
In the Browse Options dialog box, click OK.
In the Client Browse window, select the database you want to restore and click Recover All Selected.
In the SQL Restore Options dialog box,
click Advanced.
Select Use hardware revert capability if available.
Click OK.
Startup Options
The Startup Options are used by the Job Manager to set priority for resource
allocation. This is useful to give higher priority to certain jobs. You can set
the priority as follows:
From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers |
<Client>
| SQL Server.
Right-click the <Instance> and then click All Tasks
| Browse
Backup Data.
In the Browse Options dialog box, click OK.
In the Client Browse window, select the database you want to restore and click Recover All Selected.
In the SQL Restore Options dialog box,
click Advanced.
In the Advanced Restore Options dialog box,
click Startup.
On the Startup tab, select Change Priority.
Enter a priority number - 0 is the highest priority and 999 is the
lowest priority.
Select the Start up in suspended State check box to start the job
in a suspended state.
By default, the system retrieves data from the storage policy copy with
the lowest copy precedence. If the data was pruned from the primary
copy, the system automatically retrieves data from the other copies of
the storage policy in the lowest copy precedence to highest copy
precedence order. Once the data is found, it is retrieved, and no
further copies are checked.
You can retrieve data from a specific
storage policy copy (Synchronous Copy or Selective Copy). If data does
not exist in the specified copy, the data retrieve operation fails even
if the data exists in another copy of the same storage policy. Follow
the steps given below to retrieve the data from a a specific storage
policy copy:
From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers |
<Client>
| SQL Server.
Right-click the <Instance> and then click All Tasks
| Browse
Backup Data.
In the Browse Options dialog box, click OK.
In the Client Browse window, select the database you want to restore and click Recover All Selected.
In the SQL Restore Options dialog box,
click Advanced.
In the Advanced Restore Options dialog box,
click Copy Precedence.
On the Copy Precedence tab, select the Restore from copy precedence
check box.
The data recovery operations use a default Library, MediaAgent, Drive
Pool, and Drive as the Data Path. You can use this option to change the
data path if the default data path is not available. Follow the steps
given below to change the default data path:
From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers |
<Client>
| SQL Server.
Right-click the <Instance> and then click All Tasks
| Browse
Backup Data.
In the Browse Options dialog box, click OK.
In the Client Browse window, select the database you want to restore and click Recover All Selected.
In the SQL Restore Options dialog box,
click Advanced.
In the Advanced Restore Options dialog box,
click Data Path.
On the Data Path tab, select the MediaAgent
and Library.
Select the Drive Pool and Drive for optical and tape
libraries.
Select the name of the Proxy server if you
wish to restore using a proxy server.
You can select the Proxy server only when you are restoring from a snapshot.
This option is not available for a regular restore.
If the client's data is encrypted with a pass phrase, you must enter
the pass-phrase to start the data recovery operation. Follow the steps
given below to enter the pass-phrase:
From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers |
<Client>
| SQL Server.
Right-click the <Instance> and then click All Tasks
| Browse
Backup Data.
In the Browse Options dialog box, click OK.
In the Client Browse window, select the database you want to restore and click Recover All Selected.
In the SQL Restore Options dialog box,
click Advanced.
In the Advanced Restore Options dialog box,
click Encryption.
This option enables users or user groups to get automatic notification on the
status of the data recovery job. Follow the steps given below to set up the
criteria to raise notifications/alerts:
From the CommCell Browser, navigate to Client Computers |
<Client>
| SQL Server.
Right-click the <Instance> and then click All Tasks
| Browse
Backup Data.
In the Browse Options dialog box, click OK.
In the Client Browse window, select the database you want to restore and click Recover All Selected.
In the SQL Restore Options dialog box,
click Advanced.
In the Advanced Restore Options dialog box,
click Alerts.
Click Add Alert.
From the Add Alert Wizard dialog box, select the required threshold and
notification criteria and click Next.
Select the required notification types and click Next.
Command Line Interface enables you to perform backups or restore from the command line. The
commands can be executed from the command line or can be integrated into scripts.
You can also generate command line scripts for specific operations from the CommCell
Browser using the Save As Script option.
The CommCell Readiness Report provides you with vital information, such as
connectivity and readiness of the Client, MediaAgent and CommServe. It is useful
to run this report before performing the data protection or recovery job. Follow the steps
given below to generate the report:
From the Tools menu in the CommCell Console, click Reports.
Navigate to Reports | CommServe | CommCell Readiness.
Click the Client tab and click the Modify button.
In the Select Computers dialog box, clear the Include All
Client Computers and All Client Groups check box.
The Restore Job Summary Report provides you with information about all the
data recovery jobs that are run in last 24 hours for a specific client and
agent. You can get
information such as failure reason, failed objects, job options etc. It is useful
to run this report after performing the restore. Follow the steps
given below to generate the report:
From the Tools menu in the CommCell Console, click Reports.
Navigate to Reports | Jobs | Job Summary.
Click Data Recovery on the General tab in the right
pane.
On the Computers tab, select the client and the agent for which
you want to run the report.
