Restoring SQL database

Question

I received SQL database error 'LOG_BACKUP' is full while scaling down SQL elastic pool. I waited over an hour for the scaling to complete before cancelleing it. The database then became unaccessible.

When trying to restore a copy from the latest backup, after an hour it eventually failed with the message:

• No backups were found to restore the database to the point in time 12/1/2025 6:59:00 AM (UTC). Please contact support to restore the database. (Code: BackupSetNotFound)

Answer 1

It seems you are experiencing issues with restoring your SQL database after encountering a full log backup error during the scaling down of your SQL elastic pool. The error message you received indicates that there are no backups available to restore the database to the specified point in time.

Here are a few steps you can take to troubleshoot and potentially resolve the issue:

1. Check Backup Availability: Ensure that there are indeed backups available for the database. You can do this by checking the Azure portal or using T-SQL commands to list available backups.
2. Review Backup Retention Policies: Verify the backup retention settings for your Azure SQL Database. If the retention period has expired, older backups may no longer be available.
3. Contact Support: Since the error message suggests contacting support, it may be beneficial to reach out to Azure support for assistance. They can help determine if there are any backups that can be restored or if there are other issues affecting your database.
4. Consider Point-in-Time Restore: If you have access to a recent backup, you might be able to perform a point-in-time restore to a time just before the scaling operation began, assuming backups are available within the retention period.
5. Monitor Database Status: After attempting a restore, monitor the status of your database to ensure it becomes accessible again.

If you continue to face issues, it may be necessary to provide detailed logs and error messages to support for further investigation.

Answer 2

Hi Andrew Whittam

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft QA. Kindly share the requested details in the Private Message section at your earliest convenience.

Check the available backup points and ensure they include backups from before the scaling down process started. If backups are available, try performing a point-in-time restore to a point just before the scaling operation initiated. Avoid restoring to the exact time of failure as it may not have any recoverable backups.
If point-in-time restore continues to fail, consider using geo-restore if your database was configured to use geo-redundant backups. This allows you to restore to a different Azure region, which might give you access to backups that aren’t available in the current region.

What exact UTC time did you start the elastic pool scale‑down, and when did you cancel it?

1.After cancelling, did the database ever return to Online, or has it been inaccessible since then?

2.In the portal’s Backups / Restore blade, what is the earliest and latest point‑in‑time shown as available for this database?

3.Have you tried restoring to a time 5–15 minutes before the scale‑down started, and if so, what error did you get?

4.Is the database currently listed under active databases or only under Deleted databases on the server?

Helpful References:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/recovery-using-backups?view=azuresql&tabs=azure-portal
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/recovery-using-backups?view=azuresql&tabs=azure-portal#point-in-time-restore

Please let us know if you have any questions and concerns