Restoring snapshots and manually applying logs
The following procedure uses the No Recovery option to restore the database from the database and log snapshot volumes. Selecting this option leaves the database in a loading state. You can then manually apply backed up transaction logs to recover the database to the desired point in time.
You can use either the VSS SQL Restore Wizard from the VEA or the vxsnap restore command.
Warning: |
Before you begin, use your preferred method to backup the transaction logs within SQL Server. You must use the "overwrite existing media" option to create uniquely-named backup files. |
To restore using the No Recovery option in the VEA
- Ensure that you have backed up the transaction logs within SQL Server using the "overwrite existing media" option to create uniquely-named backup files.
- Close the SQL GUI and all Explorer windows, applications, consoles (except the VEA console), or third-party system management tools that may be accessing the database volumes. It is also recommended to bring the database offline.
- From the VEA console, navigate to the system where the database volumes are located.
- Expand the system node, the Storage Agent node, and the Applications node
- Right-click and click .
- Review the Welcome page and click .
- Select the snapshot set XML metadata file to be used for this operation and click .
The XML metadata file contains all required information needed to restore the snapshot set, including the names of the database and transaction logs volumes. Click the appropriate header to sort the list of available files by File Name or Creation Time.
- On the Select Restore Type panel, click and click .
- You may receive a message "Some volumes in this component have open handles. Do you want to override these handles and do this restore? Click to proceed." Click , close any open handles and retry the command.
- Verify the restore specifications and click .
The database and log snapshot volumes are restored and the SQL Server database is left in a loading state.
- Use your preferred method to manually restore the backup transaction logs to the desired point in time and then bring the database back online.
- The restore operation leaves the snapshot volumes snapped back to the production volumes. To ensure that another split-mirror snapshot set is immediately available, use the VSS SQL Snapshot Wizard to create a new snapshot of all the volumes in the database.
To restore using the No Recovery option with the vxsnap restore command
- Ensure that you have backed up the transaction logs within SQL Server using the "overwrite existing media" option to create uniquely-named backup files.
- Close the SQL GUI and all Explorer windows, applications, consoles or third-party system management tools that may be accessing the database volumes. It is also recommended to bring the database offline.
- Type the command as in the following example:
> vxsnap -x billing_DB.xml restore RestoreType=NO_RECOVERY
where billing_DB.xml is the name of the metadata file generated by the vxsnap create command.
The database and log snapshot volumes are restored and the SQL Server database is left in a loading state.
- Use your preferred method to manually restore the backup transaction logs to the desired point-in-time and bring the database online.
- The restore operation leaves the snapshot volumes snapped back to the production volumes. To ensure that another split-mirror snapshot set is immediately available, use the vxsnap create command to create a new snapshot of all the volumes in the database.
