Senario #1

With SQL Server is it possible to move the secondary database involved with Log Shipping
to a different drive without disturbing the Log Shipping configuration? If so, what are the
steps to accomplish this task? Check out this tip to learn more.

Solution
There are scenarios where you have to move the Log Shipping secondary database to
different drive due to disk space issue or to do the maintenance of the drive. In this tip I will
show you how we can move the Log Shipping secondary database without
disturbing/reconfiguring SQL Server Log Shipping.

Before we start moving secondary database files, let's take a look at the secondary
database restore mode. In Log Shipping the secondary database can be configured for
Standby or NoRecovery mode. Here is a brief explanation:

 Standby Mode: In Standby mode a user can execute SELECT commands and the
transaction logs restores need to be coordinated with the SELECT commands.
 NoRecovery Mode: In NoRecovery mode secondary database status is always in
restoring state and users cannot issue SELECT commands.

You can execute the below query on the Log Shipping Secondary SQL Server to
determine the restore mode information:

--Execute the below script on the secondary server

declare @databaseName varchar(300)
set @databaseName = 'myLogShip' -- Secondary Database Name
-- 0 = Restore log with NORECOVERY.
-- 1 = Restore log with STANDBY.
select secondary_database,
case restore_mode
when 0 then 'No Recovery'
when 1 then 'Stand by' end AS 'restore_mode'
from msdb.dbo.log_shipping_secondary_databases
where secondary_database = @databaseName

To check the current location of the secondary database files location, execute the
below query on the Secondary SQL Server.

--Execute the below script on the secondary server

declare @databaseName varchar(300)
set @databaseName = 'myLogShip' -- Secondary Database Name
SELECT name, physical_name AS CurrentLocation, state_desc
FROM sys.master_files
WHERE database_id = DB_ID(@databaseName);

To move the database to different drive, we will use the ALTER DDL command.

ALTER DATABASE database_name

MODIFY FILE ( NAME = logical_name, FILENAME = 'new_path\os_file_name' );
To move the secondary database files, your secondary database restore mode must be in
No Recovery state. If the database state is Standby Mode, your ALTER statement to
move the database files will fail with the below error.

Msg 5004, Level 16, State 4, Line 1

To use ALTER DATABASE, the database must be in a writable state
in which a checkpoint can be executed.

To avoid the above situation you need to change the database restoring mode to
NoRecovery as shown below as Step 1. If the secondary database is already running No
Recovery mode than you can ignore this step.

Step 1: In SQL Server Management Studio, right click on the primary database -> select
Properties -> click on the Transaction Log Shipping page -> click on the Secondary
server instances and database configuration ellipse (...) as shown below and it will
open the Secondary Database Setting dialog box which is the second image below.

Click on the Restore Transaction Log tab and select No recovery mode radio button in
Secondary Database Setting dialog box as shown below. Database recovery mode will
change to No recovery mode on next transaction log restore.
Step 2: Once the secondary database state is changed to No Recovery Mode, disable the
Log Shipping Restore Job on secondary server. To disable the job in SQL Server
Management Studio, navigate to root | SQL Server Agent | Jobs | Log Shipping Restore Job
then right click on the job and click the Disable option as shown below.

Step 3: On the Secondary Log Shipping SQL Server, execute the ALTER database
command as shown below to identify the new location of the secondary database and log
file.
-- Execute the below script on secondary server
-- Specify the secondary database, file name and new location
ALTER DATABASE myLogShip
MODIFY FILE ( NAME = myLogShip, FILENAME = 'D:\SQLMonitor\myLogShip.mdf' );
ALTER DATABASE myLogShip
MODIFY FILE ( NAME = myLogShip_Log, FILENAME = 'D:\SQLMonitor\
myLogShip_Log.ldf' );

Step 4: Stop the Secondary SQL Server instance services. Go to SQL Server Configuration
Manager and stop the secondary instance services.

Step 5: Move the Log Shipping Secondary database files to the new location in Windows
Explorer as mentioned in step 3.

Step 6: Restart the secondary instance SQL Services in SQL Server Configuration Manager.

Step 7: Enable the Log Shipping database restore SQL Server Agent Job on the Secondary
SQL Server see step 2 as a point of reference.

Step 8: Verify the log shipping SQL Server Agent jobs are working properly.