January 16, 2013 at 9:50 am
Hello
I want to make a copy of the production database for a developer.
My backup schedule is nightly - one full (Friday) 6 differentials (Sat to Thurs)
I can't do a backup because it will break the log chain.
Can I use the copy database wizard and not break the log chain?
My steps with SQL 2005 Standard -
right click database
Tasks | Copy Database...
with the option "Use the SQL Management Object method" selected
Is this safe for my recovery?
Thanks
Dave
January 16, 2013 at 9:55 am
As I understand it, a full backup will never break the log chain .
for me, i just do a backup with copy only for these situations.
BACKUP DATABASE [SandBox] TO DISK = N'F:\SQLData\DEV223\Sandbox.bak'
WITH COPY_ONLY,
NOFORMAT,
NOINIT,
NAME = N'SandBox-Full Database Backup',
SKIP,
NOREWIND,
NOUNLOAD,
STATS = 10
GO
Lowell
January 16, 2013 at 9:55 am
You can backup with the COPY_ONLY clause which won't break the backup chain.
January 16, 2013 at 9:56 am
Ha, beat me to it 🙂
January 16, 2013 at 9:57 am
Gazareth (1/16/2013)
Ha, beat me to it 🙂
lol fast fingers today my friend,, but am i correct about a full backup not breaking the log chain?
Lowell
January 16, 2013 at 10:01 am
ok my memory is solid, even if my confidence in it is not:
Important : You might have noticed that I've not mentioned transaction log backups or log chains at all. This is because full backups do *not* break the transaction log backup chain whether they are 'copy only' backups or not. It's a common misconception that a full backup will break the transaction log chain, but this is not the case. A full backup does not truncate the transaction log and only contains sufficient transaction log information to restore a consistent database.
Lowell
January 16, 2013 at 10:20 am
Yep, good clarification on the log chain.
January 16, 2013 at 10:42 am
Thanks to all for the help.
Dave
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