A Microsoft SQL Server database remains in a "Restoring" state and is inaccessible following a successful restore of the database

Problem

After successfully restoring a Microsoft SQL Server database, the database remains in a "Restoring" state and is inaccessible. 

Solution

In the NetBackup MS SQL Client, under the "Recovery" section, there are three options which determine the state of the SQL database when the restore finishes:  Not recovered, Recovered, and Standby.  See Figure 1

Figure1
 

If either the Not recovered or Standby options are selected, when the restore finishes successfully, the SQL database is left in a loading status and cannot be accessed.  This option is generally selected when there are additional transaction logs to restore, or if the SQL DBA needs to perform additional activities in the database. By default, the "Not recovered" option is selected because once SQL has restarted the database, there is no way to apply additional transaction logs.  

If the database is in a loading state and needs to be restarted, log into the Microsoft SQL Query Analyzer and run the following command, entering the name of the database in place of <database_name>:

restore database <database_name> with recovery

This command restarts the SQL database and takes it out of a loading state.