Restoring Your Database with Roll-Forward Recovery

To restore and recover a database, perform the following actions.

1. Restore all archived transaction journals backed up since the last full backup. (For details, see "Using the Restore Journals Command", later in this chapter.)

2. Use the Restore and Roll-Forward submenu command from the Operation menu Restore Database command to restore your database files from a specified backup directory and perform a roll-forward recovery of your database.

For definitions of the terms recover and restore, see "Recovery Concepts and Strategies", in Chapter 3.

To restore and recover your database

1. Select the Restore and Roll-Forward submenu command from the Operation menu Restore Database command.

   The Restore Database And Roll-Forward dialog, shown in the following image, is then displayed.

   

2. In the Database Path combo box, specify or select the path to which your backed up database is to be restored. (A list of the most recently used databases is displayed.)

   You must specify a directory that is valid on the server.

   Alternatively, click the adjacent browse button (indicated by the … points of ellipsis symbol) to display the common Browse for Folder dialog that enables you to select the database directory to which your backed up database files will be restored.

3. In the From Backup Location group box, select the Use Location Name option button to specify the logical location name of the directory that contains the _control.dat file for your backed up database.

   The Directory Name option button is selected by default, to enable you to specify the fully qualified name of the directory that contains your _control.dat control file, or to select the required directory from the list portion.

   Alternatively, click the adjacent browse button (indicated by the … points of ellipsis symbol) to display the common Browse for Folder dialog that enables you to select the directory in which your database control files were backed up.

4. In the Roll-Forward Recovery Options group box, select the type of roll-forward recovery that you require. The Recover transactions to end of last journal option is selected by default.

   If you want to perform a roll-forward recovery:

   • Up to and including a specific transaction journal, select the Recover transactions to end of journal option button.

   • To a specific date and time, select the Recover transactions up to date and time option button.

   • Up to and including a specific audit record, select the Recover transactions to audit serial number option button.

5. If you selected the option to recover transactions to the end of a specific journal in the previous step, in the corresponding text box specify the number of the last journal up to which you want to recover; for example, 9 (if you want to recover transaction journal files up to and including db0000000009.log).

6. If you selected the option to recover transactions up to a specified date and time in step 4 of this instruction, specify the required end-date and end-time in the text boxes, in the following formats:

   dd\mm\yyyy

   HH:MM:SS

   Your roll-forward recovery applies all committed transactions up to the specified date and time. Any transactions that completed after the specified date and time are not reapplied.

7. If you selected the option to recover transactions up to and including a specified audit record, specify the required audit record serial number.

   Your roll-forward recovery applies all committed transactions until the audit record serial number is greater than the termination serial number.

8. If you do not want the database engine to perform destination file checksum verification in-line with the restore operation, uncheck the Verify Checksums check box.

   This check box, which is checked by default, causes each file restore operation to additionally process the file data written to the destination database directory to verify that the checksum matches the source data checksum.

9. If you want the database recovery mechanism that performs a roll-forward recovery of a backed up Synchronized Database Service (SDS) system to clear the SDS role of that database during the recovery process, check the Clear SDS role check box.

   When you check this check box, the database role is set to undefined without regard to the prior value of the database role, and a new database identifier is generated at the end of the roll-forward recovery. If this check box is unchecked, attempts to perform a roll-forward recovery of a backup of an SDS secondary system with termination conditions are disallowed.

10. Check the Exclude Frozen Files check box, to exclude frozen (read-only) database files from the restore operation. By default, this check box is unchecked.

11. Check the Exclude Frozen Partitions check box, to exclude frozen (read-only) database partitions from the restore operation. By default, this check box is unchecked.

12. Click the OK button, to save your parameters in the system registry and initiate the restoration and recovery of your backed up database. Alternatively, click the Cancel button to abandon your selections.

While the restore operation is running, a progress dialog is displayed that enables you to monitor the progress of the operation. You can abort the restore, by clicking the Cancel button.

When the operation is finished, the progress dialog is closed and the following message is displayed in the running report.

<<Database restore complete>>

If the restore was successful, the recovery phase then begins. While roll-forward recovery is running, a progress dialog is displayed, which enables you to monitor the progress of the operation. You can abort the recovery, by clicking the Cancel button.

At the end of processing the available transaction journals, the Roll Forward Recovery – Wait For Journal dialog may be displayed.

If no more journal files are to be provided for roll-forward recovery, select the Finish button in the Roll Forward Recovery – Wait For Journal dialog. For more details, see "Roll-Forward Recovery of a Standby Database", in Chapter 3.

At the end of the roll-forward recovery operation, the progress dialog is closed and the following message is displayed in the running report.

<<Database recovery complete>>

Detailed results of the restore and recovery operations are written to the recovery.log file in the location specified by the ActivityLogDirectory parameter in the [PersistentDb] section of the JADE initialization file (documented in the JADE Initialization File Reference).

To view the recovery log file, select the View Logs command from the View menu and then select the recovery.log command from the submenu. (For details, see "Viewing Log Files", later in this chapter.)

For details about roll-forward recovery restrictions, see "Roll-Forward Recovery Restrictions", in Chapter 3.