Restore farm configurations in SharePoint Server

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APPLIES TO: yes-img-132013 yes-img-162016 yes-img-192019 yes-img-seSubscription Edition no-img-sopSharePoint in Microsoft 365

You can restore a farm configuration in SharePoint Server by using the SharePoint Central Administration website or Microsoft PowerShell. Which backup tool you use depends on what kind of environment you have deployed, what your backup schedule requires, and what service level agreements you have made with your organization.

Before you begin

Farm-level configuration recovery is performed only after a failure that involves the configuration database but does not involve other farm data, such as a content database or Web application. If restoring the farm configuration does not solve the problems, you must restore the complete farm. For more information about how to restore the complete farm, see Restore farms in SharePoint Server. You can restore the configuration from a farm backup that used either the Backup content and configuration settings option or the Backup only configuration settings option.

Note

In earlier versions of SharePoint, you could not restore the configuration database and, therefore, you could not restore the configuration of a farm. Now you do not have to restore the configuration database because you can restore the farm configuration directly.

Using PowerShell to restore a farm's configuration in SharePoint

You can use PowerShell to restore a farm's configuration.

To restore a farm's configuration by using PowerShell

  1. Verify that you have the following memberships:

  • securityadmin fixed server role on the SQL Server instance.

  • db_owner fixed database role on all databases that are to be updated.

  • Administrators group on the server on which you are running the PowerShell cmdlets.

    An administrator can use the Add-SPShellAdmin cmdlet to grant permissions to use SharePoint Server cmdlets.

    Note

    If you do not have permissions, contact your Setup administrator or SQL Server administrator to request permissions. For additional information about PowerShell permissions, see Add-SPShellAdmin.

  1. Start the SharePoint Management Shell.

  2. At the PowerShell command prompt, type the following command:

    Restore-SPFarm -Directory <RestoreShare> -RestoreMethod Overwrite -ConfigurationOnly

    Where <RestoreShare> is network location where the backup file is stored. For more information, see Restore-SPFarm.

    Note

    We recommend that you use Microsoft PowerShell when performing command-line administrative tasks. The Stsadm command-line tool has been deprecated, but is included to support compatibility with previous product versions.

Using Central Administration to restore a farm's configuration in SharePoint

You can use Central Administration to restore a farm's configuration.

To restore a farm's configuration by using Central Administration

  1. Verify that the user account that is performing this procedure is a member of the Farm Administrators SharePoint group on the computer that is running Central Administration.

  2. Verification: Optionally, include steps that users should perform to verify that the operation was successful.

    You must also be a member of the sysadmin fixed server role on the database server where each database is stored.

  3. In Central Administration, on the home page, in the Backup and Restore section, click Restore from a backup.

  4. On the Restore from Backup — Step 1 of 3: Select Backup to Restore page, select the backup job that contains the farm backup from the list of backups, and then click Next.

    Note

    You can view additional information about the backups by expanding the row that contains the backup.

    Note

    If the correct backup job does not appear, in the Backup Directory Location text box, enter the UNC path of the correct backup folder, and then click Refresh.

  5. On the Restore from Backup — Step 2 of 3: Select Component to Restore page, select the check box that is next to the farm, and then click Next.

  6. On the Restore from Backup — Step 3 of 3: Select Restore Options page, in the Restore Component section, make sure that "Farm" appears in the Restore the following content list.

    In the Restore Only Configuration Settings section, make sure that the Restore content and configuration settings option is selected.

    In the Restore Options section, select the Type of Restore option. Use the Same configuration setting. A dialog will appear that asks you to confirm the operation. Click OK.

    Note

    If the Restore Only Configuration Settings section does not appear, then the backup that you selected is a configuration-only backup.

    Click Start Restore.

  7. You can view the general status of all recovery jobs at the top of the Backup and Restore Status page in the Readiness section. You can view the status of the current recovery job in the lower part of the page in the Restore section. The status page updates every 30 seconds automatically. You can manually update the status details by clicking Refresh. Backup and recovery are Timer service jobs. Therefore, it may take several seconds for the recovery to start.

    If you receive any errors, you can review them in the Failure Message column of the Backup and Restore Job Status page. You can also find more details in the Sprestore.log file at the UNC path that you specified in step 2.

See also

Concepts

Back up farm configurations in SharePoint Server