Msg 3180, a d’oh error.

I get pretty excited when I encounter a SQL Server error that I’ve never seen before. Today it was Msg 3180 during a point-in-time restore.

Msg 3180, Level 16, State 1, Line 2
 This backup cannot be restored using WITH STANDBY because a database upgrade is needed. Reissue the RESTORE without WITH STANDBY.
 Msg 3013, Level 16, State 1, Line 2
 RESTORE DATABASE is terminating abnormally.

Some background… About every two weeks we need to run a point-in-time restore to sync up with a timestamp on a loosely connected DB2 database on one of three different non-production systems.

These are tedious, and with a few exceptions are pretty repeatable processes.

My first sign that something was different came right after the initial WITH NORECOVERY restore. I was expecting to see the chain of ‘upgrade step’ messages following a recovery to a newer SQL Server platform.
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