FIX: Restore Filegroup Allowed After Truncating the Transaction Log (248798)

SYMPTOMS

Restoring a filegroup backup after truncating the transaction log may leave the database in a logically inconsistent state.

After removing the active portion of the transaction log, such as using BACKUP LOG WITH TRUNCATE_ONLY, a RESTORE operation using the FILEGROUP option may be allowed under certain conditions.

The problem occurs if you perform the following steps:

Your attempt to restore a filegroup backup fails with this error:
Server: Msg 3159, Level 16, State 1, Line 2
The tail of the log for database '%ls' has not been backed up. Back up the log and rerun the RESTORE statement specifying the FILE clause.
Server: Msg 3013, Level 16, State 1, Line 2
Backup or restore operation terminating abnormally.
You then issue a BACKUP LOG WITH TRUNCATE_ONLY.
You may now successfully restore the filegroup backup.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in SQL Server 7.0. This problem has been corrected in U.S. Service Pack 2 for Microsoft SQL Server 7.0. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

254561 INF: How to Obtain Service Pack 2 for Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 and Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE) 1.0

For more information, contact your primary support provider.