## TL;DR
Error 4214 is the database telling you it has no log to back up in the way you asked: a database in the simple recovery model does not keep a log chain for log backups. Either move the database to the full recovery model and take a full backup to start the log chain, if point-in-time recovery is the goal, or remove log backups from this database's plan if simple recovery is a deliberate choice, and let the plan use full and differential backups only.

```text
SQL Server log backup failed "the database is in the simple recovery model" error 4214
```

## Use this when
- The job or restore fails with this symptom: SQL Server log backup failed with the database is in the simple recovery model, error 4214.
- You are working on a SQL Server maintenance plan mixing recovery models across databases and the failure repeats on the same target or schedule.
- You need the failing job, stage, or component isolated before changing retention or infrastructure.

## Not for this skill when
- A database recently switched to simple by a vendor installer, where the fix is restoring the intended recovery model and restarting the chain.
- The error text names a different product, stage, or root cause. Match the verbatim error first and use that skill.

## Steps
1. List the databases in the failing plan with their recovery models. Verify: each database's model is known
2. Decide per database: full recovery for point-in-time needs, or simple with log backups removed from its plan. Verify: the intended model per database is recorded
3. For databases moving to full, set the model and take a full backup immediately to open the log chain. Verify: the log chain is started deliberately
4. Rerun the plan and confirm log backups succeed on full-recovery databases and are no longer attempted on simple ones. Verify: the plan completes without 4214

## Variant phrasings
### sql server log backup simple recovery model error 4214
The verbatim phrasing.
### backup log failed database is in simple recovery 4214 fix
The fix phrasing.
### sql server maintenance plan 4214 full recovery chain
The plan phrasing.

Compatibility: SQL Server transaction log backups and recovery models

## Why it happens
Recovery model is a per-database contract about what the log means. Simple recovery reuses log space automatically and offers nothing to back up, so a plan template that applies log backups uniformly fails on every simple database it touches, forever, until the plan or the model changes.

## Edge cases / pitfalls
- A database switched to full without a full backup still refuses log backups, with a different message; the chain needs its opening full.
- Vendor databases often ship in simple on purpose; changing the model can affect their support terms, so record the decision.

## Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_2Gol7sXaQRM_D7ZUsIHX2A