Steps to Rebuild System Databases in SQL Server 2008

Introduction
The worst has happened! An unexpected shutdown of SQL Server 2008
database server has resulted in crashing of the SQL Server. I was unable to
connect to SQL Server Instance and when I checked the SQL Server error logs, I
could see the following entries Restore the database from a full backup,
or repair the database, Cannot recover the master database. Now
what do I do? I dont have backups of SQL Server System databases!
How can I bring the server back online at the earliest?
Do I need to uninstall and then reinstall the SQL Server 2008?
Today I realized how important it is to backup system databases across
environments.
Error Messages in SQL Server Error Logs
During redoing of a logged operation in database 'master', an error occurred at
log record ID (206:424:1). Typically, the specific failure is previously logged as
an error in the Windows Event Log service. Restore the database from a full
backup,
or
repair
the
database.
Cannot recover the master database. SQL Server is unable to run. Restore
master from a full backup, repair it, or rebuild it..

My Environment:
OperatingSystem: Windows

Server

2008

R2

Enterprise

Edition

(64-bit)

SQL Server: SQL Server 2008 SP1 (64-bit)

Since I dont have the system databases backups, the only option left for me
was to rebuild the system databases in SQL Server 2008. So lets go for it!

FOR REBUILD:
1. If you have SQL Server 2008 Installation media available then insert the same
into the disk drive and search for Setup.EXE file or else search for Setup.EXE file
which will be available locally on your server. The default location of Setup.EXE
file
on
your
server
will
be C:\Program
Files\Microsoft
SQL
Server\100\Setup Bootstrap\Release.

2. Right click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator as shown

in the below snippet to open up command prompt with elevated administrative
privileges.

Important Note
The command prompt must be run under
successfully rebuild the system databases.

Administrator

privileges

to

3. In the command prompt window you need to enter the below mentioned
command with appropriate values for each parameter and press enter to rebuild
the system databases as per the syntax which is mentioned in MSDN.
Setup /QUIET /ACTION=REBUILDDATABASE
/INSTANCENAME=InstanceName
/SQLSYSADMINACCOUNTS=accounts [/SAPWD= StrongPassword]
[/SQLCOLLATION=CollationName]

If you want to change the server level collation then specify collation value for
/SQLCOLLATION parameter. As /SQLCOLLATION is an optional parameter, if it is
not specified then the current server collation is used to rebuild the system
databases.
4. Once the setup has successfully completed rebuilding the system databases it
will return to command prompt and will mention the SQL Server Build Number
as shown in the snippet below. In case if there are any syntax related or
permission issues then the specific error message will be displayed within the
command prompt window. You need to fix those issues before you can complete
the activity.

5. You can view the overall summary from C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL
Server\100\Setup Bootstrap\Log\Summary.txt