PSCONFIG The tail of the log for the database WSS_UsageApplication has not been backed up

Question

We are attempting to apply the February 2018 Cumulative Update to a SharePoint 2013 farm, consisting of 2 application servers and 2 web front ends.

The databases are part of an AlwaysOn cluster for DR purposes.

Applying the binaries works fine across all servers in the farm, and I have researched the update process with the AlwaysOn scenario. So I've removed the Usage Logging (WSS_UsageApplication) database from mirroring.

Running PSCONFIG on the Central Admin application server first has the following error on step 9:

The tail of the log for the database "WSS_UsageApplication" has not been backed up. Use BACKUP LOG WITH NORECOVERY to backup the log if it contains work you do not want to lose. Use the WITH REPLACE or WITH STOPAT clause of the RESTORE statement to just overwrite the contents of the log.RESTORE DATABASE is terminating abnormally.

Is there a way to resolve this issue when applying an update?

Answer 1

The Usage and Health database is somewhat special if you run it in an AlwaysOn Availability Group. This article says "Supported: Yes, but not recommended". Not very helpful.

You hit exactly the issue for "not recommended". During the PSCONFIG-Run, the ALTER DATABASE SET SINGLE_USER statement is executed, which is not possible in an AlwaysOn Availability Group Setup. You might see a related error in your SQL-Server logs.

Solution: Temporary remove the database from the AlwaysOn Availability Group. Run PSCONFIG. Then add the database again for high-availability.

Answer 2

In SQL Server Management studio, find your WSS_UsageApplication database and change it's Recovery model to Simple. Then try running the configuration Wizard again.