Restore Database on SQL Server

Last modified: August 19, 2024

Introduction

In certain situations (for example, unwanted database updates or data corruption), it might be necessary to restore the Mendix database from a backup. This document describes the actions needed to perform a complete database restore and defines the prerequisites for restoring backups.

This how-to teaches you how to do the following:

  • Restore the database

For a deep-dive look into this action, check out this video:

Prerequisites

Before starting this how-to, make sure you have completed the following prerequisites:

  • Have sufficient rights on the DBMS (for details, see the Permissions section below)
  • Make sure the following points are true:
    • The Mendix database is maintained using maintenance plans as described in How to Set Up Mendix SQL Maintenance Plans
    • A valid database backup file exists for the Mendix database
    • Valid transaction log files exist for the Mendix database

Permissions

If the database being restored does not exist, the user must have CREATE DATABASE permissions to be able to execute RESTORE. If the database exists, RESTORE permissions default to members of the sysadmin and dbcreator fixed server roles and the owner of the database (dbo).

RESTORE permissions are given to roles in which membership information is always readily available to the server. Because fixed database role membership can be checked only when the database is accessible and undamaged (which is not always the case when RESTORE is executed, members of the db_owner fixed database role do not have RESTORE permissions.

Restoring the Database

To restore the database, follow these steps:

  1. After you connect to the appropriate instance of the Microsoft SQL Server Database Engine, click the server name to expand the server tree in Object Explorer.

  2. Expand Databases. Depending on the database, either select a user database or expand System Databases and select a system database.

  3. Right-click the database, select Tasks > Restore > Database, which will open the Restore Database dialog box.

  4. In the Source section of the General Settings page, specify the source and the location of the backup sets to restore by selecting Device > Add and then locating the backup file:

  5. In the Destination section of the General Settings page, the Database field is automatically populated with the name of the database to be restored. To change the name of the database, enter the new name in this field.

  6. In the Restore plan section of the General Settings page, leave the default as To the last backup taken or click Timeline to access the Backup Timeline dialog box where you can manually select a point in time to stop the recovery action.

  7. In the Backup sets to restore grid, select the backups to restore. This grid displays the backups available for the specified location. By default, a recovery plan is suggested. To override the suggested recovery plan, change the selections in the grid. Backups that depend on the restoration of an earlier backup are automatically deselected when the earlier backup is deselected.

  8. To view or select the advanced options, in the Restore options panel on the Options page you can select any of the following options if appropriate for your situation:

    • WITH options (not required):
      • Overwrite the existing database (WITH REPLACE)
      • Preserve the replication settings (WITH KEEP_REPLICATION)
      • Restrict access to the restored database (WITH RESTRICTED_USER)
    • Select an option for the Recovery state box, which determines the state of the database after the restore operation:
      • RESTORE WITH RECOVERY is the default behavior, which leaves the database ready for use by rolling back the uncommitted transactions
        • Additional transaction logs cannot be restored
        • Select this option if you are restoring all of the necessary backups now
      • RESTORE WITH NORECOVERY leaves the database non-operational and does not roll back the uncommitted transactions
        • Additional transaction logs can be restored
        • The database cannot be used until it is recovered
      • RESTORE WITH STANDBY leaves the database in read-only mode
        • It undoes the uncommitted transactions but saves the undo actions in a standby file so that recovery effects can be reverted
    • Take tail-log backup before the restore is selected if it is necessary for the point in time that you have selected
      • You do not need to modify this setting, but you can choose to backup the tail of the log even if it is not required
    • Restore operations may fail if there are active connections to the database
      • Check the Close existing connections option to ensure that all active connections between Management Studio and the database are closed (this checkbox sets the database to single user mode before performing the restore operations and sets the database to multi-user mode when complete)
    • Select Prompt before restoring each backup if you wish to be prompted between each restore operation
      • This is not usually necessary unless the database is large and you wish to monitor the status of the restore operation

  9. Click OK.

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