Database 'msdb' cannot be opened. it has been marked suspect by recovery

Question

Since yesterday, I’ve been facing an issue with my MSSQL. While applications are still working, I’m unable to access SSMS remotely. I receive the following error:

*"Database 'msdb' cannot be opened. It has been marked suspect by recovery."*

I’ve tried several solutions I found online, including setting SQL Server to single-user mode and switching the database to emergency mode, followed by running the `DBCC CHECKDB (msdb);` command to repair it. Unfortunately, none of these steps have worked.

Additionally, I’ve encountered an issue when trying to log in to SSMS in single-user mode:

*"Login failed for user 'Administrator'. Reason: Server is in single-user mode. Only one administrator can connect at this time."* (Microsoft SQL Server, Error: 18461)

I’m only able to access SQL Server through `sqlcmd` in single-user mode, but I still receive the same error stating that the `msdb` database cannot be opened when trying to set it to emergency mode and repair it. Any advice on how to resolve this would be appreciated.

Answer 1

I’ve resolved this issue before. Try accessing SQL Server using `sqlcmd` from the command prompt and restore `msdb` from a backup.

Download the database file to your Downloads folder (or any preferred location) and run the following command:

RESTORE DATABASE msdb FROM DISK = 'C:\Users\Administrator\Downloads\msdb.bak' WITH REPLACE, RECOVERY;

Then type `GO` and press Enter. This should fix the issue.

If it still doesn’t work, you may need to recreate the `msdb` database.