How to: Restore Files and Filegroups (Transact-SQL)

This topic explains how to restore files and filegroups.

Important

The system administrator restoring the files and filegroups must be the only person currently using the database to be restored.

To restore files and filegroups

  1. Execute the RESTORE DATABASE statement to restore the file and filegroup backup, specifying:

    • The name of the database to restore.
    • The backup device from where the full database backup will be restored.
    • The FILE clause for each file to restore.
    • The FILEGROUP clause for each filegroup to restore.
    • The NORECOVERY clause. If the files have not been modified after the backup was created, specify the RECOVERY clause.
  2. If the files have been modified after the file backup was created, execute the RESTORE LOG statement to apply the transaction log backup, specifying:

    • The name of the database to which the transaction log will be applied.
    • The backup device from where the transaction log backup will be restored.
    • The NORECOVERY clause if you have another transaction log backup to apply after the current one; otherwise, specify the RECOVERY clause.
      The transaction log backups, if applied, must cover the time when the files and filegroups were backed up until the end of log (unless ALL database files are restored).

Example

This example restores the files and filegroups for the MyNwind database. Two transaction logs will also be applied, to restore the database to the current time.

USE master
GO
-- Restore the files and filesgroups for MyNwind.
RESTORE DATABASE MyNwind
   FILE = 'MyNwind_data_1',
   FILEGROUP = 'new_customers',
   FILE = 'MyNwind_data_2',
   FILEGROUP = 'first_qtr_sales'
   FROM MyNwind_1
   WITH NORECOVERY
GO
-- Apply the first transaction log backup.
RESTORE LOG MyNwind
   FROM MyNwind_log1
   WITH NORECOVERY
GO
-- Apply the last transaction log backup.
RESTORE LOG MyNwind
   FROM MyNwind_log2
   WITH RECOVERY
GO

See Also

Other Resources

RESTORE (Transact-SQL)
SQL Server Management Studio Tutorial

Help and Information

Getting SQL Server 2005 Assistance