Restoring the database fails in SQL Server

Question

I have written a PowerShell script to back up my databases using the lite speed console.

In the process the various configurations are read from the xml file associated.

Now I want to restore them, SO I used lite speed again to restore it.

But its returning me an error

RESTORE DATABASE is terminating abnormally.
The tail of the log for the database "AK4432_JIM1" has not been backed up. Use BACKUP LOG WITH NORECOVERY to backup the log if it contains work you do not want to lose. Use the WITH REPLACE or WITH STOPAT clause of the RESTORE statement to just overwrite the contents of the log.

It says the log has to be backed up.

Backing up the log throws this error (Why should I back up the log???)

"Incorrect syntax near 'C:\Users\ak4432\Desktop\PS\Backup2'.
Incorrect syntax near the keyword 'with'. If this statement is a common table expression, an xmlnamespaces clause or a change tracking context clause, the previous statement must be terminated with a semicolon."
At C:\Users\ak4432\Desktop\PS\BackUpAndRollBackScript.ps1:49 char:29
+ $cmd.ExecuteNonQuery <<<< ()
+ CategoryInfo: NotSpecified: (:) [],
MethodInvocationException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId: DotNetMethodException

The recovery model for the DBs is either Full or BULK_LOGGED

I am attaching my.ps script for you reference

function Get-ScriptDirectory
{
  $Invocation = (Get-Variable MyInvocation -Scope 1).Value
  Split-Path $Invocation.MyCommand.Path
}

function SendEmail($to, $subject, $body, $from, $attachLogFilePath,$attachErrorFilePath) 
{
  $to= "egalitarian@xyz.com"
  send-mailmessage -from $from  -to $to -subject $subject -body $body  -smtpServer "zsserver3.zs.local" -Attachments $attachLogFilePath,$attachErrorFilePath
}

function PutDbOffline($connectionString,$databaseName,$logFilePath,$dbBackUpFolder,$serverName,$processName, $processPath, $processArguments, $onError, $backup)
{
  # connect to Db and then get the DB offline 
  $connection = new-object System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection($connectionString)
  $connection.open()
  $sqlQuery = "USE MASTER; EXEC sp_dboption N`'" + $databaseName + "`' , N`'offline`', N`'true`'"
  $cmd = new-object "System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand" ($sqlQuery, $connection)
  $cmd.ExecuteNonQuery()
  $connection.close()
}

function Restore($connectionString,$databaseName,$logFilePath,$dbBackUpFolder,$serverName,$processName, $processPath, $processArguments, $onError, $backup)
{
   $combinedProcessPath= Join-Path $processPath $processName

   #dump the output to a log file
   $logFileName =  $processName + $databaseName
   $logFileName+= "_"
   $logFileName += "{0:MMddyyyy-HH mm}" -f (Get-Date) 
   $combinedLogFilePath = Join-Path ($logFilePath) ($logFileName)
   $combinedErrorLogFilePath = $combinedLogFilePath + "_error"
   $dbBackUpFile = $databaseName + ".BAK"
   $databaseBackUpPath = Join-Path ($dbBackUpFolder) ($dbBackUpFile)

   $processArguments =  "" 

   if($backup -eq "Yes")
   {
        $connection = new-object System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection($connectionString)
        $connection.open()

        $sqlQuery = "BACKUP LOG " + $databaseName + " TO N `'" + $dbBackUpFolder + "`'  WITH NORECOVERY ;" 
        $cmd = new-object "System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand" ($sqlQuery, $connection)
        $cmd.ExecuteNonQuery()
        $connection.close()
        $processArguments = " -S " + $serverName + " -T -B Database -D " + $databaseName + " -F `""+ $databaseBackUpPath + "`"" 
   }
   else
   {
      #  PutDbOffline $connectionString $databaseName $logFilePath $dbBackUpFolder $serverName $processName, $processPath $processArguments $onError  $backup

        $processArguments = " -S " + $serverName +  " -R  DataBase -D " + $databaseName + " -F `"" + $databaseBackUpPath + "`"" 
   }

   $process = Start-Process -PassThru -Filepath $combinedProcessPath -WorkingDirectory $processPath -ArgumentList $processArguments -RedirectStandardOutput $combinedLogFilePath -RedirectStandardError $combinedErrorLogFilePath -wait -NoNewWindow

   if ($process.ExitCode -ne 0)
   {
       $mailSubject = "[02SS Back Up Status] " + $processName + " failed on "  + $serverName
       $body = "Process Failed, Exited with Code - " + $process.ExitCode + ". See attached files for details."  

       if($onError -eq "Break")
       {
          $body = $body + " Breaking from the power shell script."
          SendEmail "" $mailSubject $body "O2SSConversion@zsassociates.com" $combinedLogFilePath  $combinedErrorLogFilePath 
          return  "FAILED"
       }
       else
       {                
          SendEmail "" $mailSubject $body "O2SSConversion@zsassociates.com" $combinedLogFilePath  $combinedErrorLogFilePath 
       }
    }
    else
    {
       $mailSubject = "[02SS Back Up Status] " + $processName + " ran successfully on "  + $serverName
       $body = "Process Successful, Exited with Code - " + $process.ExitCode + ". See attached files for details."  
       SendEmail "" $mailSubject $body "O2SSConversion@zsassociates.com" $combinedLogFilePath  $combinedErrorLogFilePath 
    }
}


# Load the XML FILE 
$sourceFile = Join-Path (Get-ScriptDirectory) ("BackUpAndRollBackConfiguration.xml")
$xDoc = new-Object System.Xml.XmlDocument
$xDoc.Load($sourceFile)

# Get settings to connect to DB  
$serverName = $xDoc.selectSingleNode("/configuration/appSettings/ServerName").get_InnerXml()
$databaseName = $xDoc.selectSingleNode("/configuration/appSettings/Database").get_InnerXml()
$userName = $xDoc.selectSingleNode("/configuration/appSettings/UserName").get_InnerXml()
$password = $xDoc.selectSingleNode("/configuration/appSettings/Password").get_InnerXml()
$logFilePath = $xDoc.selectSingleNode("/configuration/appSettings/logFilePath").get_InnerXml()
$dbBackUpFolder = $xDoc.selectSingleNode("/configuration/appSettings/DatabaseBackUpFolder").get_InnerXml()
#Create connection string
$connectionString = "server=" + $serverName + ";Database=" + $databaseName +";uid=" + $userName + ";pwd=" + $password

#Get Settings to decide whether its a RollBack or BackUp
$backup = $xDoc.selectSingleNode("/configuration/appSettings/BackUp").get_InnerXml()

#Declare an array to hold DB names .. Being populated later
$dbIdentifiers =@()

# Get the Process Parameter from File

$processName=""
$processPath=""
$processArguments=""
$onError = ""

$processes = $xDoc.selectnodes("/configuration/processes/process")
foreach ($process in $processes) {

    $processName=$process.selectSingleNode("processName").get_InnerXml()
    $processPath=$process.selectSingleNode("processPath").get_InnerXml()
    $processArguments=$process.selectSingleNode("processArguments").get_InnerXml()
    $onError = $process.selectSingleNode("OnError").get_InnerXml()    

}


if($backup -eq "No")
{
$returnType = Restore $connectionString $databaseName $logFilePath $dbBackUpFolder $serverName $processName $processPath $processArguments $onError $backup
if ($returnType -eq "FAILED")
{
break
}
}

#Migrate the Master Db And Scn Dbs Now

# Connect to Db and then get the SCN Db Identifier

            $Table = new-object System.Data.DataTable
            $sqlConn = new-object System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection($connectionString)
            $sqlConn.open()
            $adapter = new-object System.Data.SqlClient.SqlDataAdapter("SELECT DBIDENTIFIER FROM SCENARIOS",$sqlConn)
            $adapter.Fill($Table)
            $sqlConn.close()
            # Populate the db Identifer Array to include  master Db and SCN Db.
            if($backup -eq "Yes")
            {
              $dbIdentifiers += , $databaseName
            }
            foreach ($row in $Table) 
            {
             $dbIdentifiers+= , $row.DBIDENTIFIER
            }


            foreach ($dbIdentifier in $dbIdentifiers) {
            if($processPath)
            {

            $returnType =  Restore $connectionString $dbIdentifier $logFilePath $dbBackUpFolder $serverName $processName $processPath $processArguments $onError $backup
            if ($returnType -eq "FAILED")
            {
                break
            }
            }
}

Can someone help me to resolve the issue, as my mind has really stopped working now

Answer 1

It says the log has to be backed up. (Why should I back up the log???)

This is a safety feature. SQL Server thinks you're overwriting a live production database with aa past backup of the same database, so it wants you to back up the tail of the log first to catch any transactions that have occurred since the last transaction log backup.

Here's instructions from Microsoft on backing up the tail of the log.

You can also avoid this by dropping the database first and then restoring, or by using WITH REPLACE in your restore, which tells SQL Server you're overwriting that database with something else entirely.

Answer 2

If you are backing up to a file, correct syntax would be:

BACKUP LOG dbname TO DISK='path\to\filename' WITH NORECOVERY

However, you don't actually need to backup the log if you don't need the current data anymore (and that's what the error message says). You just need to provide WITH REPLACE option to RESTORE which will replace the existing log and datafiles.