Restoring Out-of-Sequence Logs

You may need to restore out-of-sequence logs, for example if you have restored an old backup and one or more of the log files is missing. Doing so involves applying a log file different to that requested by DP4.

Using this option creates an inconsistent database. After restoring the out-of-sequence logs, check the database and, if possible, recreate the missing transactions.

Before you begin, make sure you have the disks that contain the log backups.

1. On the Database Backup/Recovery & Check menu, select the Restore option. The Restore and Recovery utility screen is displayed. Select the database.

2. The Restore and Recovery menu with transaction log options is displayed.

3. Select option 4 - Out of sequence transaction log recovery. The Log Recovery dialog is displayed:

   

4. Enter the number of the Transaction log to be recovered. For example, if the Next transaction log should be 16, but 16 and 17 are missing, enter 18. If you don't know the number (which really shouldn't happen if you are following proper procedures), enter any number for the time being.

5. As requested, insert the disk holding the transaction log and press <Enter>. The log is applied to the database and you are returned to the Restore and Recovery menu. If the disk does not contain the expected log a warning is displayed with the log number that it does contain, if any, so you can return to the previous step and enter the the number for the log this disk does contain, assuming you really want to restore this log.

   If you have further logs to update the database with, use option 1 - Transaction Log Recovery or option 4 - Out of sequence transaction log recovery to apply them. Finally, run the database integrity checking utility on your database.

   It should hardly need stating, but you should always apply what log files you have in ascending order, and you should never apply a log file that is older than the backup that has been restored.