Troubleshooting and Disaster Recovery › Microsoft SQL Server Disaster Recovery › The Master Database

The Master Database

For Microsoft SQL Server to run, the master database must be set up as follows:

• A master database and a model database must exist.
• To have a master and a model database, you must either reinstall Microsoft SQL Server, rebuild the master database using Microsoft SQL Server setup, or restore either a Microsoft SQL Server Disaster Recovery Elements session or an offline copy of the master database from media.
• After the master and model databases exist, Microsoft SQL Server must be running to execute the Restore command.

After you restore SQL Disaster Recovery Elements, you should immediately perform a normal restore of the master, msdb, and model databases. To restore the master database, Microsoft SQL server must be running in single-user mode. For more information about restoring the master database, see Restore Master Databases.