How to Recover SCCM CAS Server Database

How to Recover SCCM CAS Server Database. In this blog post, we’re going to cover my favorite/cool feature of ConfigMgr 2012.

Recover a CAS server without using any site backup. The CAS server will retrieve the Global data and Global-Proxy data from the Primary Site Server database.

How to Recover SCCM CAS Server Database

Also, the CAS reinitializes the site data from the primary site.

If you want to know more about primary server recovery methods, go through my following posts Part 1 and  Part 2.

Patch My PC

I’m able to successfully recover my Central Administration Site -CAS (without using any site backup). Note that all these are done in the LAB environment. Perform some testing before simulating it in a production environment.

Now, In ConfigMgr 2012, the Recovery a Site option is part of Installation Wizard.

How to Recover SCCM CAS Server Database
How to Recover SCCM CAS Server Database

There are TWO parts in the recovery procedure, Site Server recovery, and Site Database recovery. More details about recovery – through TechNet documentation.

Site Database recovery behavior varies with SQL Server Change Tracking Retention Period and Site Database recovery scenarios. More details about SQL Server Change Tracking Retention Period and Site Database Recovery Scenarios.

Adaptiva

I’ve already completed the rebuild of the server with the same name, path, Drive letters, and Patch level. Also, installed and configured IIS, DotNet 4, SQL, and WSUS prior to the start of the recovery process.

1. Start: the ConfigMgr/SCCM 2012 Setup from the System Center 2012 Configuration Manager installation media, we’ve to run this setup from the server which you want to recover.

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2. Select the option called “Recover a Site” to recover the primary site which you lost.

Note from TechNet: When Setup detects an existing Configuration Manager site on the server, you can start a site recovery, but the recovery options for the site server are limited. For example, if you run Setup on an existing site server when you choose recovery, you can recover the site database server, but the option to recover the site server is disabled.

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3. Site Server and Database Recovery: options are available in the following wizard.

As we don’t have any site backup, we have to select the following options “Reinstall this site server” and “Create a new database for this site”.

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4. Site Recovery Information:: We have to provide the Primary Site server details to recover the Global and Global-Proxy data. The CAS reinitializes the site data from the primary site.

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5. Prerequisites Download: Over here, we need to provide the prerequisites file details so that the SETUP can verify the files and proceed with the recovery.

Note:: We’ve skipped the following pages in this recovery wizard. Product key (need to enter the product key or select evaluation version if you’re using eval version), Microsoft Software License Terms, and Prerequisite Licenses.

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6. Site and Installation Settings: Enter the same (OLD one – the CAS server you lost) site code, Site name, and installation folder location.

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7. Database Information: Enter the SQL Database Server Name, Database Name, and SSB Port 4022. Leave instance name blank to use default instance.

Note: Configmgr primary sites require a Microsoft SQL Server database to store site settings and data.

Specify the database server’s Fully Qualified domain name, the instance name, and database name. Make sure the instance you specify is configured to use a static TCP port. Dynamic ports are not supported.

ConfigMgr uses SQL server Service Broker (SSB) to replica data between parent and child site database servers in the hierarchy. You must specify a TCP port number for SQL Server Service Broker to use. This port is different from the SQL Server Service port, which is detected automatically.

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8. Prerequisites Check: This will run the check and we can ignore the warning shown in the below pic (it’s always better to SET maximum memory allocation to SQL server). Click on “Begin Install” to start the recovery.

Note – We have skipped two wizard pages “Customer Experience Improvement Program Configuration” and “Setting Summary”. Those are just default settings.

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9. Install: This page shows us the progress of the installation and recovery process.

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10. Verify ConfigMgrSetup.log: We can find detailed information about the actions performed by the recovery in ConfigMgrSetup.log and also details about the resync (BCP) happening from Primary Server Database.

RCM received a message from “Primary Server”, BCP initialization started

RCM received a message from “Primary Server”, BCP is in Progress

RCM Reports Data Recovery Process has been Started

RCM Reports application of BCP has been completed.

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11. Verify RCMctrl.log to check whether the resync has been completed at the recovered primary site “CAS”. More details about Site to Site Database Replication.

Processing application pattern global

Processing application pattern site

All replication links are done with recovery

RECOVERY DONE: All the replicated data has been recovered at site CAS

Setting site CAS to status ReplicationActive.

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12. Post Recovery Tasks: To complete the recovery of this site, you must manually complete the following actions which are NOT performed by setup.

a) In the ConfigMgr console, re-enter the passwords for the following accounts. In our scenario, we need to re-enter the password of the account mentioned in the following pic.

b) Reinstall the following hotfixes – If there is any hotfix need to be installed or not. In our case, there is no hotfix requirement.

c) More details about post-recovery activities have been saved to a file called for later reference C:\ConfigMgrPostRecoveryActions.html.

More details about Post Recovery process (IIS configuration, Recover Content Files):: https://technet.microsoft.com/library/gg712697.aspx#BKMK_PostRecovery

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Author

Anoop is Microsoft MVP! He is a Solution Architect in enterprise client management with more than 20 years of experience (calculation done in 2021) in IT. He is a blogger, Speaker, and Local User Group HTMD Community leader. His main focus is on Device Management technologies like SCCM 2012, Current Branch, and Intune. E writes about ConfigMgr, Windows 11, Windows 10, Azure AD, Microsoft Intune, Windows 365, AVD, etc…

12 thoughts on “How to Recover SCCM CAS Server Database”

  1. Dear Anoop,

    I am facing a problem in one of my client site. where we have implemented CAS with remote database in a SQL server. Now the client has came up with a new requirement of making the database high available. So I am thinking of exceciting the site recovery wizard with out database backup. I just wanted to confirm that while recreating the site using this site recovery option should I give the data base to newly created SQL A/P Cluster.

    Thanks in Advance


    Best Regards
    Kichu M

    Reply
    • Dear Kichu ! – As per my experience in your scenario, won’t it possible to take SQL backup. Now CM 12, there is no need to take CM 12 native backup. With SQL backup we can restore CM 12 site servers (cas, primary etc..). If you’ve primary servers available in your hierarchy then without any backup also you can recover some part of CAS. So what it will do is it will recover the global data from the nearest specified primary server.

      Reply
  2. Anoop –

    I’m assuming the old requirement that a restore must be performed on a server with the same hardware name, but I can’t find that explicitly called out anywhere in the 2012 technet documentation. Due to our provisioning process, there is a significant delay between when a server is joined to the domain, and when the appropriate firewall rules are applied. Is it still a requirement to restore on the same server name when it is new hardware? We have separate dedicated SQL boxes for both the CAS and Primary, and the server team would like us to replace all 4 boxes simultaneously. I don’t think this is advisable, or even possible. Thoughts?

    Reply
  3. Hi Anoop… Could you please assist me to get pre & post requirement after disaster recovery in isolated environment? Need more details on customized report recovery… Thank you.. 🙂

    Reply
    • Hi Manoj ! – The requirements should be provided by the business so that we can try to achieve the required LTA in case of disaster and recovery.

      Regards
      Anoop

      Reply
  4. Hi Anoop,

    I am trying to recover our CAS database. So useing setup file to recover, i choose create new database. When i run the SCCM wizard, i get SQL server database has user defined objects, cannot configure database. From this site https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/63620b37-1980-43c6-9ad2-4b3441e5cddb/sql-server-database-has-user-defined-objects-cannot-configure-database?forum=configmanagerdeployment i understand i perhaps would need to delete default MSSQL instance and then recreate it. That said, if i go ahead and recreate default instance then will my Primary site data get synched with CAS.

    Thanks a lot….

    Reply
  5. Hello Anoop,

    I have been assigned a task to convert our virtual (CAS & Primary) servers to physical hardware. Could you please assist me in taking up a way forward in this?

    Being a newbie to SCCM i would like to take up assistance from you! Eagerly waiting for your reply!!

    Reply

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