Symptoms
Consider the following scenario:
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You have a database that has two transaction log files in Microsoft SQL Server 2012 or in Microsoft SQL Server 2014.
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You perform a full backup in full recovery mode.
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You remove one of the transaction log files, and change the recovery mode to simple recovery mode.
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You perform a full backup and a differential backup.
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You restore the database by using the latest full backup file and differential backup file.
In this scenario, you receive the following error message:
Msg 3127, Level 16, State 1, Line 3
The file '%s' of restored database '%s' is being left in the defunct state because the database is using the simple recovery model and the file is marked for read-write access. Therefore, only read-only files can be recovered by piecemeal restore.
And the log file that have been deleted appears again in sys.master_files with the status of DEFUNCT
Additionally, when you try to back up the database, you receive the following error message:
Msg 3636, Level 16, State 2, Line 1
An error occurred while processing 'BackupMetadata' metadata for database id 16 file id 3.
Msg 3046, Level 16, State 2, Line 1
Inconsistent metadata has been encountered. The only possible backup operation is a tail-log backup using the WITH CONTINUE_AFTER_ERROR or NO_TRUNCATE option.
Msg 3013, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
BACKUP DATABASE is terminating abnormally.
Resolution
The issue was first fixed in the following cumulative update of SQL Server.
Cumulative Update 5 for SQL Server 2014 /en-us/help/3011055
Cumulative Update 3 for SQL Server 2012 SP2 /en-us/help/3002049
Each new cumulative update for SQL Server contains all the hotfixes and all the security fixes that were included with the previous cumulative update. Check out the latest cumulative updates for SQL Server:
Status
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.
