Log shipping pair recovery

[wbodger]

So, I have three SQL Server 2K boxes, two of them setup as a log shipping pair. Is the computer that I am shipping the logs to in a state where it still needs to be recovered to be made primary (like

RESTORE DATABASE database_name WITH RECOVERY

)? Then, what is the best way to make sure the secondary machine is current, take the primary offline, run a manual transaction log backup and then restore to the secondary server? If so, how can I run a manual transaction log backup? Then, the SQL Server is part of Onyx and our online e-commerce. Is it generally considered better practice to change the secondary server over to the name and IP address of the defunct primary server or to change the pointers over to the new primary server?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Willie