Sql-server – Does SQL Server support restoring to a point in time down to the millisecond

restoresql-server-2008

Using the Management Studio GUI, I am only able to restore a database to a point in time down to the second. Is this just a limitation of the GUI or if I use a script will it restore to the millisecond I specify?

I'm trying to do it with a script and it 'seems' like it's ignoring the millisecond but unfortunately the date value I'm comparing to is, unfortunately, not necessarily the exact time the record was written so I just want to rule out any possibility that the problem could be because of a limitation of SQL Server.

Best Answer

Yes that is a limitation of SSMS. When using T-SQL you can control it to the three millisecond mark. The input is done via a datetime variable so it's bound by the normal datatime data type rules which is precise to the 3 milliseconds.

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Typically, backups to file are appended with a timestamp (e.g. MyDatabase_FULL_201202060900.bak) so you have the option of using a script to generate the restore sequence given a directory of files. Google will give you dozens of examples, as will the SSC script library. I have this script in my library currently.

If the server you've taken the backups from is available, you can generate the restore script from the msdb tables dbo.backupset and dbo.backupmediafamily, example here. Note SSMS will generate the correct script for you and you can use Profiler to capture the queries it uses to do so.

Sql-server – Cannot restore Amazon RDS SQL Server database to given point-in-time using SQL Server Management Studio

I would try scripting out the operation instead of running whatever Management Studio is doing "for" you. You shouldn't need to use xp_fileexist (assuming you can validate that the files actually exist in the place the script says). Using 2012 SSMS, I am restoring to a point in time that does not coincide directly with a log backup:

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The resulting script in my case was:

BACKUP LOG ... WITH NOFORMAT, NOINIT, NOSKIP, NOREWIND, NOUNLOAD, NORECOVERY
RESTORE DATABASE ... WITH FILE = 1, NORECOVERY, NOUNLOAD
RESTORE LOG ... WITH FILE = 1, NORECOVERY, NOUNLOAD
...
RESTORE LOG ... FROM DISK = [...path from line 1...] WITH NOUNLOAD, STOPAT = <time>

Best Answer

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