RESTORE LABELONLY (Transact-SQL)

Returns a result set containing information about the backup media identified by the given backup device.

Note

For the descriptions of the arguments, see RESTORE Arguments (Transact-SQL).

Transact-SQL Syntax Conventions

Syntax

RESTORE LABELONLY 
FROM <backup_device> 
[ WITH 
 {
--Media Set Options
   MEDIANAME = { media_name | @media_name_variable } 
 | MEDIAPASSWORD = { mediapassword | @mediapassword_variable }
  
--Error Management Options
 | { CHECKSUM | NO_CHECKSUM } 
 | { STOP_ON_ERROR | CONTINUE_AFTER_ERROR }

--Tape Options
 | { REWIND | NOREWIND } 
 | { UNLOAD | NOUNLOAD }  
 } [ ,...n ]
]
[;]

<backup_device> ::=
{ 
   { logical_backup_device_name |
      @logical_backup_device_name_var }
   | { DISK | TAPE } = { 'physical_backup_device_name' |
       @physical_backup_device_name_var } 
} 

Arguments

For descriptions of the RESTORE LABELONLY arguments, see RESTORE Arguments (Transact-SQL).

Result Sets

The result set from RESTORE LABELONLY consists of a single row with this information.

Column name	Data type	Description
MediaName	nvarchar(128)	Name of the media.
MediaSetId	uniqueidentifier	Unique identification number of the media set.
FamilyCount	int	Number of media families in the media set.
FamilySequenceNumber	int	Sequence number of this family.
MediaFamilyId	uniqueidentifier	Unique identification number for the media family.
MediaSequenceNumber	int	Sequence number of this media in the media family.
MediaLabelPresent	tinyint	Whether the media description contains: 1 = Microsoft Tape Format media label 0 = Media description
MediaDescription	nvarchar(255)	Media description, in free-form text, or the Tape Format media label.
SoftwareName	nvarchar(128)	Name of the backup software that wrote the label.
SoftwareVendorId	int	Unique vendor identification number of the software vendor that wrote the backup.
MediaDate	datetime	Date and time the label was written.
Mirror_Count	int	Number of mirrors in the set (1-4). Note The labels written for different mirrors in a set are identical.
IsCompressed	bit	Whether the backup is compressed: 0 = not compressed 1 =compressed

Note

If passwords are defined for the media set, RESTORE LABELONLY returns information only if the correct media password is specified in the MEDIAPASSWORD option of the command.

General Remarks

Executing RESTORE LABELONLY is a quick way to find out what the backup media contains. Because RESTORE LABELONLY reads only the media header, this statement finishes quickly even when using high-capacity tape devices.

Security

A backup operation may optionally specify passwords for a media set. When a password has been defined on a media set, you must specify the correct password in the RESTORE statement. The password prevents unauthorized restore operations and unauthorized appends of backup sets to media using Microsoft SQL Server tools. However, a password does not prevent overwrite of media using the BACKUP statement's FORMAT option.

Security Note

The protection provided by this password is weak. It is intended to prevent an incorrect restore using SQL Server tools by authorized or unauthorized users. It does not prevent the reading of the backup data by other means or the replacement of the password. This feature will be removed in a future version of Microsoft SQL Server. Avoid using this feature in new development work, and plan to modify applications that currently use this feature. The best practice for protecting backups is to store backup tapes in a secure location or back up to disk files that are protected by adequate access control lists (ACLs). The ACLs should be set on the directory root under which backups are created.

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).

See Also

Reference

BACKUP (Transact-SQL)

RESTORE REWINDONLY (Transact-SQL)

RESTORE VERIFYONLY (Transact-SQL)

RESTORE (Transact-SQL)

Concepts

Media Sets, Media Families, and Backup Sets (SQL Server)

Backup History and Header Information (SQL Server)