PowerProtect Data Manager 19.9 Microsoft Application Agent SQL Server User Guide

Configure database restore options

When you configure SQL database restores with the Microsoft app agent for VM Direct SSMS plug-in, you can specify additional restore options on the Database Restore > Options page.

1. From the left panel, click Options.
   The Options page appears as shown in the following figure.

   

2. In the Recovery state list, select one of the following options, as required:

   Option	Description
   RESTORE WITH RECOVERY	(Default) To leave the database in the ready-to-use state by rolling back uncommitted transactions, and disable the ability to restore the latest or additional transaction logs.
   RESTORE WITH NORECOVERY	To leave the database in the non-operational state by not rolling back uncommitted transactions, and enable the ability to restore the latest or additional transaction logs.

3. To compress the restore contents and transport them from the DD Replicator to the application host, select PowerProtect DD System Boost compressed restore.
   This option reduces network bandwidth.
4. To generate detailed logs, which you can use to troubleshoot the restore issues, select Select a debug level, and then specify a value of 1 through 9. The default value is 0 (zero).
5. To delete debug logs older than a certain number of days, select Delete debug logs after, and then specify the number of days with a number between 1 and 32767 days. The default value is 0 and does not delete any debug logs.
   NOTE This option only deletes debug logs named in the default format and located in the logs folder at <installation_path>\MSAPPAGENT\logs.
   Regularly deleting debug logs prevents the log folder on the installation drive from becoming too large.
6. To enable advanced restore options, type or select one of the following options in the Advanced options list:

   Option	Description
   KEEP_REPLICATION	Preserves the replication when recovering a published database. This option is required if a database was replicated when the backup was created.
   KEEP_CDC	Enables change data capture (CDC) recovery. When restoring a database with CDC enabled, the recover operation works differently depending on the recovery destination. Use the to KEEP_CDC option to: Recover the CDC enabled database with a different name on the same SQL instance. In this scenario, KEEP_CDC is required. Recover the CDC enabled database on a different SQL server instance. In this scenario, KEEP_CDC is required. Recover the CDC enabled database on the same SQL instance by overwriting an existing database. In this scenario, KEEP_CDC is optional.

   Separate multiple advanced options with a comma.

7. To limit the backup history of the databases on the General page to a set number of days, type or select a number in the Days of backup history field.

   The default value is 7 days.

   If no level full backups are found in the specified time range, you are prompted for confirmation to load the latest full backup.

8. Exclude client name resolution is selected by default, as required to use the client name that is provided as is without converting it to the fully qualified domain name (FQDN).

   Use this option when you restore to a virtual machine in a different domain that does not have name resolution for the source client, or when the source host is no longer available.

   Unselect the option to resolve the source FQDN during restore.

9. To perform a transaction log backup of the data before performing restore, select Take tail-log backup before restore.

   The tail-log backup ensures that the Microsoft application agent backs up the transaction logs that has changed from the previous backup. The restore operation does not restore the logs of the previous tail-log backup.

   NOTE

   The tail-log backup feature through the SSMS plug-in is not supported for AAG. Only scheduled transaction log backups through a PowerProtect protection policy may be performed.

   Tail-log backup is not supported in the following scenarios:

   • When you select Restore backups as files on the General page.
   • When the PowerProtect Data Manager protection policy has DD MTree replication enabled and you select the secondary DD system as the backup source.

   The Microsoft application agent does not support tail-log backups of multiple databases.

10. To specify the PowerProtect Data Manager appliance, perform the following steps:
    1. Beside Appliance Host, click ...

       The PowerProtect Data Manager List & Lockbox Settings window appears.

       When you restore a backup to the original virtual machine, the details for the PowerProtect Data Manager appliance that protects the SQL Server in a protection policy automatically appear.

    2. If you do not see the PowerProtect Data Manager appliance that you want to use for the restore operation, click Add, and then in the Add PowerProtect Data Manager details dialog box, perform one of the following actions:

       • To add a PowerProtect Data Manager with credential-based authentication, specify the appliance hostname and the login credentials.

         Contact the PowerProtect Data Manager administrator to retrieve the PowerProtect Data Manager appliance host and login details.

       • To add a PowerProtect Data Manager with certificate-based authentication, specify only the appliance hostname. Do not specify the username and password fields.

         To use certificate-based authentication, the PowerProtect Data Manager administrator must approve the target Microsoft application agent.

         When you add a virtual machine to a protection policy, that virtual machine is approved with a certificate that expires after one day. If you are restoring to an alternate virtual machine that is an asset of PowerProtect Data Manager but not a member of a protection policy, the PowerProtect Data Manager administrator must approve the target virtual machine.

         The PowerProtect Data Manager administrator can approve the target Microsoft application agent on the PowerProtect Data ManagerInfrastructure > Application Agents page.

    3. Select the PowerProtect Data Manager appliance that will mount the backup, and then click OK.
11. To start the restore operation, click Run.