View the Properties and Contents of a Logical Backup Device (SQL Server)

This topic describes how to view the properties and contents of a logical backup device in SQL Server 2012 by using SQL Server Management Studio or Transact-SQL.

In This Topic

• Before you begin:

  Security

• To view the properties and contents of a logical backup device, using:

  SQL Server Management Studio

  Transact-SQL

Before You Begin

Security

For information about security, see RESTORE LABELONLY (Transact-SQL).

Permissions

In SQL Server 2008 and later versions, obtaining information about a backup set or backup device requires CREATE DATABASE permission. For more information, see GRANT Database Permissions (Transact-SQL).

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Using SQL Server Management Studio

To view the properties and contents of a logical backup device

1. After connecting to the appropriate instance of the Microsoft SQL Server Database Engine, in Object Explorer, click the server name to expand the server tree.

2. Expand Server Objects, and expand Backup Devices.

3. Click the device and right-click Properties, which opens the Backup Device dialog box.

4. The General page displays the device name and destination, which is either a tape device or file path.

5. In the Select a Page pane, click Media Contents.

6. The right-hand pane displays in the following properties panels:

   • Media

     Media sequence information (the media sequence number, the family sequence number, and the mirror identifier, if any) and the media creation date and time.

   • Media set

     Media set information: the media set name and description, if any, and the number of families in the media set.

7. The Backup sets grid displays information about the contents of the media set.

Note

For more information, see Media Contents Page.

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Using Transact-SQL

To view the properties and contents of a logical backup device

1. Connect to the Database Engine.

2. From the Standard bar, click New Query.

3. Use the RESTORE LABELONLY statement. This example returns information about the AdvWrks2008R2Backup logical backup device.

USE AdventureWorks2012 ;
RESTORE LABELONLY
   FROM AdvWrks2008R2Backup ;
GO

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See Also

Reference

backupfilegroup (Transact-SQL)

backupfile (Transact-SQL)

backupset (Transact-SQL)

backupmediaset (Transact-SQL)

backupmediafamily (Transact-SQL)

sp_addumpdevice (Transact-SQL)

Concepts

Backup Devices (SQL Server)