HOw to recover a database from the .LDF file.

Hi,
Due to a hardware problem I lost my mydatabase.MDF file, but my
mydatabase.LDF file is still OK because it is on another partition. I can
restore the database, but (here comes Murphy) the tape containing the
transaction logs backups is corrupt too. Since my last full backup I made
transaction log backups with the NO_TRUNCATE option, so everything should be
in the mydatabase.LDF file. After restoring the database in no_recover mode,
how can I apply the transactions that are still in mydatabase.LDF file
(NO_TRUNCATE)?
Any help is welcome.
Thanks
Felix> Since my last full backup I made
> transaction log backups with the NO_TRUNCATE option, so everything should be
> in the mydatabase.LDF file.
I'm afraid not. The name of that option is misleading. See
http://www.karaszi.com/SQLServer/info_restore_no_truncate.asp
Your best bet is probably to use a log reader tool and see if you can salvage anything from the
existing log backup. But, as per the article, the information in the prior log backups is most
probably lost. You might want to open a case with MS Support and see if they have anything up their
sleeves.
--
Tibor Karaszi, SQL Server MVP
http://www.karaszi.com/sqlserver/default.asp
http://www.solidqualitylearning.com/
Blog: http://solidqualitylearning.com/blogs/tibor/
"Felix" <Felix@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:D686735A-BF91-40EA-BBD3-16ED67B13E3B@.microsoft.com...
> Hi,
> Due to a hardware problem I lost my mydatabase.MDF file, but my
> mydatabase.LDF file is still OK because it is on another partition. I can
> restore the database, but (here comes Murphy) the tape containing the
> transaction logs backups is corrupt too. Since my last full backup I made
> transaction log backups with the NO_TRUNCATE option, so everything should be
> in the mydatabase.LDF file. After restoring the database in no_recover mode,
> how can I apply the transactions that are still in mydatabase.LDF file
> (NO_TRUNCATE)?
> Any help is welcome.
> Thanks
> Felix|||Hi Tibor,
Thanks for your answer, this helped us a lot.
Lucky enough, this was not a production database, but a test we were
performing.
Indead, the NO_TRUNCATE is misleading.
This means also that you are only able to restore till the time of failure
if you are able to backup the still existing logs first, else you can only
restore untill the latest log backup. This means that you should backup as
often as possible for critical DB's!
Kind regards
Felix
"Tibor Karaszi" wrote:
> > Since my last full backup I made
> > transaction log backups with the NO_TRUNCATE option, so everything should be
> > in the mydatabase.LDF file.
> I'm afraid not. The name of that option is misleading. See
> http://www.karaszi.com/SQLServer/info_restore_no_truncate.asp
> Your best bet is probably to use a log reader tool and see if you can salvage anything from the
> existing log backup. But, as per the article, the information in the prior log backups is most
> probably lost. You might want to open a case with MS Support and see if they have anything up their
> sleeves.
> --
> Tibor Karaszi, SQL Server MVP
> http://www.karaszi.com/sqlserver/default.asp
> http://www.solidqualitylearning.com/
> Blog: http://solidqualitylearning.com/blogs/tibor/
>
> "Felix" <Felix@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:D686735A-BF91-40EA-BBD3-16ED67B13E3B@.microsoft.com...
> > Hi,
> > Due to a hardware problem I lost my mydatabase.MDF file, but my
> > mydatabase.LDF file is still OK because it is on another partition. I can
> > restore the database, but (here comes Murphy) the tape containing the
> > transaction logs backups is corrupt too. Since my last full backup I made
> > transaction log backups with the NO_TRUNCATE option, so everything should be
> > in the mydatabase.LDF file. After restoring the database in no_recover mode,
> > how can I apply the transactions that are still in mydatabase.LDF file
> > (NO_TRUNCATE)?
> >
> > Any help is welcome.
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > Felix
>