Backup and Restore a SQL Server Database On-premises

Posted on by Summa Lai

In this quickstart, you will create a new database, take a simple backup of it, and then restore it.

Prerequisites

To complete this quickstart, you will need the following:

Create a test database

  1. Launch SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) and connect to your SQL Server instance.
  2. Open a New Query window.
  3. Run the following Transact-SQL (T-SQL) code to create your test database. Refresh the Databases node in Object Explorer to see your new database.

SQLCopy

USE [master]
GO

CREATE DATABASE [SQLTestDB]
GO

USE [SQLTestDB]
GO
CREATE TABLE SQLTest (
	ID INT NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
	c1 VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
	dt1 DATETIME NOT NULL DEFAULT getdate()
)
GO


USE [SQLTestDB]
GO

INSERT INTO SQLTest (ID, c1) VALUES (1, 'test1')
INSERT INTO SQLTest (ID, c1) VALUES (2, 'test2')
INSERT INTO SQLTest (ID, c1) VALUES (3, 'test3')
INSERT INTO SQLTest (ID, c1) VALUES (4, 'test4')
INSERT INTO SQLTest (ID, c1) VALUES (5, 'test5')
GO

SELECT * FROM SQLTest
GO

Take a backup

To take a backup of your database, do the following:

  1. Launch SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) and connect to your SQL Server instance.
  2. Expand the Databases node in Object Explorer.
  3. Right-click the database, hover over Tasks, and select Back up….
  4. Under Destination, confirm the path for your backup is correct. If you need to change this, select Remove to remove the existing path, and then Add to type in a new path. You can use the ellipses to navigate to a specific file.
  5. Select OK to take a backup of your database.
Take SQL backup

Alternatively, you can run the following Transact-SQL command to back up your database:SQLCopy

BACKUP DATABASE [SQLTestDB] 
TO DISK = N'C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL14.MSSQLSERVER\MSSQL\Backup\SQLTestDB.bak' 
WITH NOFORMAT, NOINIT,  
NAME = N'SQLTestDB-Full Database Backup', SKIP, NOREWIND, NOUNLOAD,  STATS = 10
GO

Restore a backup

To restore your database, do the following:

  1. Launch SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) and connect to your SQL Server instance.
  2. Right-click the Databases node in Object Explorer and select Restore Database….Restore a database
  3. Select Device:, and then select the ellipses (…) to locate your backup file.
  4. Select Add and navigate to where your .bak file is located. Select the .bak file and then select OK.
  5. Select OK to close the Select backup devices dialog box.
  6. Select OK to restore the backup of your database.Restore the database

Alternatively, you can run the following Transact-SQL script to restore your database:SQLCopy

USE [master]
RESTORE DATABASE [SQLTestDB] 
FROM DISK = N'C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL14.MSSQLSERVER\MSSQL\Backup\SQLTestDB.bak' WITH  FILE = 1,  NOUNLOAD,  STATS = 5
GO

Clean up resources

Run the following Transact-SQL command to remove the database you created, along with its backup history in the MSDB database:SQLCopy

EXEC msdb.dbo.sp_delete_database_backuphistory @database_name = N'SQLTestDB'
GO

USE [master]
DROP DATABASE [SQLTestDB]
GO