Hello,

Am having the error below when i try restoring Sharepoint from backup, i had sharepoint 2013 running on server 2012 with SQL 2012 SP1 but the server crushed, now i have installed a new sharepoint and i would like to restore (web application Sharepoint - 80 ) from the previous backup which is giving the error below

WSS_Content

1/7/2014 12:27 PM

The backup operation failed for this item and it cannot be restored

when restoring i chose the options below

    
Type of restore:
    
New configuration

SharePoint - 80
Login name: contoso\spfarm

Password: SPFarmPass

SharePoint - 80
New web application name:     SharePoint - 80
New web application URL: http://NewServer/

.

The Backup was not up to date and i've forgotten where to retrieve the document libraries from the hard disk to get the raw documents that were uploaded since the last b

Hiya, 

What type of backup do you have?
SQL database backup, SharePoint farm backup, SharePoint site backup?

Yes its a sharepoint backup,

i can also locate the SQL DB from the disk but i didnt do a backup

I usually prefer the database backups, as they are less picky and easier to handle.

The sharepoint backup requires to be exact same version and patch level for the restore to work, does this match? 

You might be able to:

1: get the old Database file.

2: Mount it to the SQL server, using the Management Studio

3: Use SharePoint Management Shell; Mount-SPContentDatabase -Name <DB Name> -Web <Web Application>

• Marked as answer by Tracy CaiMicrosoft contingent staff, Moderator Sunday, January 12, 2014 5:36 AM

I usually prefer the database backups, as they are less picky and easier to handle.

The sharepoint backup requires to be exact same version and patch level for the restore to work, does this match? 

You might be able to:

1: get the old Database file.

2: Mount it to the SQL server, using the Management Studio

3: Use SharePoint Management Shell; Mount-SPContentDatabase -Name <DB Name> -Web <Web Application>

• Marked as answer by Tracy CaiMicrosoft contingent staff, Moderator Sunday, January 12, 2014 5:36 AM

Hi,

Do you remember old SharePoint patch level and what is the patch level of newly created sharepoint. They should be same patch level.

you can try this.  first just create a sharepoint site once created try to restore backup and overwrite it.

thx

#1 make sure your new sharePoint Build is same as your old one..

#2 also SQL Server build level should be same

Did you try to restore just content DB rather the whole web app?

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee748604.aspx 

Hello Guys,

I was not successful still, remember i had not done SQL db backup so i cant opt to restore DB content, i've tried replacing WSS_Content and WSS_Content_log DB files on the new server with previous DB files that had sharepoint data but that doesnt help either. What are the options available for me to recover the data? Does the option of mounting the old DB files work or am the one doing it wrong?

Hiya, 

If you able to mount to Database files into SQL, you should be able to get it going. If you were successful in mounting the database files, meaning getting SQL to accept them, it's a good step closer. Unless they are corrupt.

Did you successfully mount the db files?

yeah sure i actually stopped all SQL services and replaced the existing ones (WSS_Content & WSS_Content_log). After that i restarted tried browsing the site it was still blank. i then tried restoring from SharePoint Backup but it wasnt successful.

Hiya, 

That's not mounting the file.

You should:

Right click your SQL server instance and choose Mount, then navigate to your database file and verify that it has the correct log file associated with this. Use a different name, say Test. We can always rename the database later, once we get it into SharePoint.

The Replacing i did after I had attached the DB to SQL but wasnt successful.

I had created SharePoint - 80 web application with its Database Name as SharePoint - 80 then i attached the previous files WSS_Content.mdf and it attached successfully with its log file (ldf) after this i went to Sharepoint shell and ran Mount-SPContentDatabase -Name WSS_Content -Web http://ServerName and i got;

Id               : 82165d1c-80a9-4801-b184-e5c9f78b116e
Name             : WSS_Content
WebApplication   : SPWebApplication Name=SharePoint - 80
Server           : ServerName\SP2013
CurrentSiteCount : 119

i restarted the server but the content had not restored on the Site it was still as new. are my steps ok?

I also noticed if i try renaming the DB files from WSS_Content.mdf to lets say WSS_TEST.mdf and WSS_Content_log.ldf to WSS_TEST.log.ldf they will not attach.

Hiya, 

Yeah, somewhat looking good. If your able to mount the database, SharePoint can read it. 

have a look at your content database and see if it needs upgrade:

Get-spcontentdatabase | select Name, needsupgrade

My guess is the content database you just mounted, has True value stated. If so try to run Update-SPContentdatabase on that database.

Verify that the contentdatabase is not empty by running get-spsite against the web application that holds your content database. (it should contain 119 sites, as stated)

Bottomline, it looks like you have your content. 

After upgrade, you should be able to open Central Administration, View all Site collections and navigate to one of them. If that will fail, you should get an error indicating if your missing any items. Have a look at the SP log for which items might be missing. 

Usually the last parts missing are Authentication and/or customizations.(if you have any?)

Hello Jesper,

Thanks I saw some content but not what am looking for, am trying to mount another DB but am getting the error below event after dismounting the one had mounted.

PS C:\> Mount-SPContentDatabase -Name SharePoint2013Ent_Config -WebApplication h
ttp://ServerName
Mount-SPContentDatabase : Invalid object name 'Sites'.
At line:1 char:1
+ Mount-SPContentDatabase -Name SharePoint2013Ent_Config -WebApplication
http://Serv...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidData: (Microsoft.Share...ContentDatabase:
   SPCmdletMountContentDatabase) [Mount-SPContentDatabase], SqlException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell.SPCmdletMountCon
   tentDatabase

I've tried adding the content db using Central Admin but i get

Sorry, something went wrong

This content database requires upgrade and could not be attached in this operation. Use either the [stsadm -o addcontentdb] command or [Mount-SPContentDatabase] cmdlet instead. Technical Details

Troubleshoot issues with Microsoft SharePoint Foundation.

Correlation ID: b4216a9c-09f0-c035-dae7-9a7780f5ed02

Date and Time: 1/14/2014 11:46:52 AM

when i run Get-spcontentdatabase | select Name, needsupgrade it doesn't return any results

Please assist.

Ok, 

Try this:

SQL only: Mount your old databases. Not replacing, just mount using the files. 

SP: From Central Administration, create a new WebApplication, pointing to the database you just mounted.

This should create successfully.

After that, run psconfigui.exe and select next next next. (Stay in farm, Continue to host web site and finish)

That should upgrade your content database.

when I type the same database name on the new Web App, Its still giving me the same Error above "This content database requires upgrade..."

Alrighty.

From SP. Mount-SPContentDatabase on the newly SQL mounted database, will that work?

Alrighty.

From SP. Mount-SPContentDatabase on the newly SQL mounted database, will that work?

I dont seem to get this reply, i had tried mounting and it gave the error above, i have created a new web application, i want successful attaching the DB for the previous SP to SQL but upon Mounting the database to the web application its giving the error above.

Hiya,

what I want to achieve is getting the database within SharePoint again. - Similar to what you did the last time. As soon as the database is mounted within SharePoint, run the psconfigui.exe and see what it says. This should upgrade the database. 

I seem to be missing something, am doing the exactly as i had done ealier

PS C:\Users\meshack.m> Mount-SPContentDatabase -Name SharePoint2013Ent_Config -W
eb http://SPSSERVER
Mount-SPContentDatabase : Invalid object name 'Sites'.
At line:1 char:1
+ Mount-SPContentDatabase -Name SharePoint2013Ent_Config -Web http://SPSSERVER
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidData: (Microsoft.Share...ContentDatabase:
   SPCmdletMountContentDatabase) [Mount-SPContentDatabase], SqlException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : Microsoft.SharePoint.PowerShell.SPCmdletMountCon
   tentDatabase

When i run psconfigui.exe after the error i get the configuration UI that doesnt allow edit

We are working with two things now

1: Content database for your web application. The one containing 119 sites. This is the one we need to upgrade. This is the one we need to get mounted to SharePoint, one way or the other. 

2: The farm configuration database. That is the one you have in your screenshot. you DO NOT want to modify that. 

As soon as you have mounted 1. Meaning that you get this:

"I had created SharePoint - 80 web application with its Database Name as SharePoint - 80 then i attached the previous files WSS_Content.mdf and it attached successfully with its log file (ldf) after this i went to Sharepoint shell and ran Mount-SPContentDatabase -Name WSS_Content -Web http://ServerName and i got;

Id               : 82165d1c-80a9-4801-b184-e5c9f78b116e
Name             : WSS_Content
WebApplication   : SPWebApplication Name=SharePoint - 80
Server           : ServerName\SP2013
CurrentSiteCount : 119"

Then you run psconfigui.exe and just click next next next, don't change any settings there(Important). All we want this to do is to upgrade your database.

I had mentioned i was successful mounting the  WSS_Content DB that had 119 sites, i was able to see the Sites but I didn't get what i was looking for so i want mount another one on the same site. I've however done as directed above but now I want to mounting another "SharePoint2013Ent_Config" which is my challenge as at now. How do i proceed from here? have given the errors on my earlier post.