How to identify when a SQL Server database was restored, the source of the backup and the date of the backup
Written By: Thomas LaRock -- 10/16/2009
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Problem
After restoring a database your users will typically run some queries to verify the data is as expected. However, there are times when your users may question whether the restore was done using the correct backup file. In this tip I will show you how you can identify the file(s) that was used for the restore, when the backup actually occured and when the database was restored.
Solution
The restore information is readily available inside the msdb database, making the solution as easy as a few lines of T-SQL.
When I ask people about how they verify their database restores I often get back a response that includes something similar to the following code:
RESTORE VERIFYONLY FROM DISK = 'G:\dbname.bak'
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The above command simply returns this message when successful: "The backup set on file 1 is valid." Is that really useful for your end user that is complaining that the data is not correct? Chances are their complaint is not about if the backup set was valid, but more specifically it is about your selection of the backup file, or the timing of the backup itself.
If the backup was done at the wrong time, or if you restored from the wrong backup file, then the end user may be seeing exactly that problem while reviewing the data. So, how do you provide some proof that you did the restore from the correct backup file? The following script can give you this information.
SELECT [rs].[destination_database_name],
[rs].[restore_date],
[bs].[backup_start_date],
[bs].[backup_finish_date],
[bs].[database_name] as [source_database_name],
[bmf].[physical_device_name] as [backup_file_used_for_restore]
FROM msdb..restorehistory rs
INNER JOIN msdb..backupset bs
ON [rs].[backup_set_id] = [bs].[backup_set_id]
INNER JOIN msdb..backupmediafamily bmf
ON [bs].[media_set_id] = [bmf].[media_set_id]
ORDER BY [rs].[restore_date] DESC
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The script will return the following result set:
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Column Name |
Description |
| destination_database_name |
The name of the database that has been restored. |
| restore_date |
The time at which the restore command was started. |
| backup_start_date |
The time at which the backup command was started. |
| backup_finish_date |
The time at which the backup command completed. |
| source_database_name |
The name of the database after it was restored. |
| backup_file_used_for_restore |
The file(s) that the restore used in the RESTORE command. |
Images
Here is a screenshot of a sample result set returned by the script.
Next Steps
- Take the above code and execute against your instance.
- Keep this script handy next time you want to know when a database was restored, what file it came from and when the backup actually occurred
- Take a look at these other Backup and Recovery tips
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