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Determining the Next Step for Recovery of a File or Filegroup

The sys.database_files and sys.master_files catalog views contain information that determines both the state of a file or filegroup and the next step necessary to bring it online. The state of a filegroup is determined by the files it contains: unless all files are online, the entire filegroup is offline.

The key property of a file is its state, as given by the state and state_desc columns of sys.database_files. The table below describes how to interpret and respond to each state.

File state

Meaning

Actions

ONLINE

The file is online.

No action is necessary.

RESTORING

The file is being restored.

For information about other significant columns for this state, see Planning a Piecemeal Restore Sequence for a File in the Restoring, Recovery-Pending, or Offline State.

RECOVERY_PENDING

Recovery of the file has been postponed. The file was online or did not exist before being changed to RECOVERY_PENDING by a partial restore.

See Planning a Piecemeal Restore Sequence for a File in the Restoring, Recovery-Pending, or Offline State.

OFFLINE

The file was taken offline explicitly using ALTER DATABASE.

See Planning a Piecemeal Restore Sequence for a File in the Restoring, Recovery-Pending, or Offline State.

RECOVERING

This is a transient state. If recovery is successful, the file comes online automatically.

No action is necessary.

SUSPECT

The file is damaged.

The file can be restored or dropped, or the database can be set to EMERGENCY mode.

DEFUNCT

The file has been dropped (when it was offline), but not yet cleaned up.

None. Recovery is not possible.