There are a number of articles that describe how to rename and move the Search Service Application databases in SharePoint Server 2013; however, limited guidance on renaming the Search Service Application databases on the same server.  The process itself differs little from the former, but worth documenting.

Step 1 Suspend the Search Service

1. On the Start menu, click All Programs.
2. Click Microsoft SharePoint 2013 Products.
3. Click SharePoint 2013 Management Shell.
4. In the SharePoint 2013 Management Shell, enter the following Windows PowerShell statement to suspend the search service:

$SearchService = Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication

Suspend-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication -Identity $SearchService

Step 2 Set Original Search Service Application Databases to Read Only

1. On the Start menu, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft SQL Server 2012, and then click SQL Server Management Studio.
2. On the Connect to Server dialog, enter the name of the server and click Connect.
3. In SQL Server Management Studio, click New Query to display the Query Editor.
4. In Query Editor, enter the following Transact-SQL code:

USE master

ALTER DATABASE SET READ_ONLY

Repeat steps 1-4 for each Search Service Application database (Administration, Analytics Reporting, Crawl and Links Stores.

Step 3 Backup the Administration, Analytics Reporting, Crawl, and Links Store databases

1. On the Start menu, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft SQL Server 2012, and then click SQL Server Management Studio.
2. On the Connect to Server dialog, enter the name of the server and click Connect.
3. In SQL Server Management Studio, click New Query to display the Query Editor.
4. In Query Editor, enter the following Transact-SQL code:

USE master

BACKUP DATABASE TO DISK ‘:’

GO

Repeat steps 1-4 for each Search Service Application database (Administration, Analytics Reporting, Crawl and Links Stores.

Step 3 Restore the Administration, Analytics Reporting, Crawl and Links Store Databases

1. On the Start menu, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft SQL Server 2012, and then click SQL Server Management Studio.
2. On the Connect to Server dialog, enter the name of the server and click Connect.
3. In SQL Server Management Studio, click New Query to display the Query Editor.
4. In Query Editor, enter the following Transact-SQL code:

USE master
GO
RESTORE FILELISTONLY
   FROM

RESTORE DATABASE
   FROM
   WITH RECOVERY,
   MOVE ‘_data’ TO :Program FilesMicrosoft SQL ServerMSSQLDATA.mdf’,
   MOVE _log’ TO :Program FilesMicrosoft SQL ServerMSSQLDATA.ldf’
GO

Repeat steps 1-4 for each Search Service Application database (Administration, Analytics Reporting, Crawl and Links Stores.

NOTE

The Transact SQL above is used to rename both the logical and physical files on restore.  The new databases will be restored as RO, to return to RW use the Transact SQL below:

USE master

ALTER DATABASE SET READ_WRITE

Step 4 Associate Renamed Database with the Search Topology

Step 4.1 Associate the Search Administration Database

1. On the Start menu, click All Programs.
2. Click Microsoft SharePoint 2013 Products.
3. Click SharePoint 2013 Management Shell.
4. In the SharePoint 2013 Management Shell, enter the following Windows PowerShell statement to associate the new Search Administration database with the Search Service Application:

$SearchService = Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication $SearchService | Set-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication [-DatabaseName “”] -DatabaseServer “”

NOTE

-DatabaseServer is a required parameter.  In this step use the existing database server (instance) name.

Step 4.2 Associate the Analytics Reporting Database

1. On the Start menu, click All Programs.
2. Click Microsoft SharePoint 2013 Products.
3. Click SharePoint 2013 Management Shell.
4. In the SharePoint 2013 Management Shell, enter the following Windows PowerShell statement to associate the new Analytics Reporting database with the Search Service Application:

Add-SPServerScaleOutDatabase -ServiceApplication $SearchService -DatabaseServer [-DatabaseName ] $temp = Get-SPServerScaleOutDatabase -ServiceApplication $SearchService Remove-SPServerScaleOutDatabase -Database $temp[0] -ServiceApplication $SearchService

NOTE

-DatabaseServer is a required parameter.  In this step use the existing database server (instance) name.

Step 4.3 Associate the Crawl Store Database

1. On the Start menu, click All Programs.
2. Click Microsoft SharePoint 2013 Products.
3. Click SharePoint 2013 Management Shell.
4. In the SharePoint 2013 Management Shell, enter the following Windows PowerShell statement to associate the new Crawl Store database with the Search Service Application:

$CrawlDatabase0 = ([array]($SearchService | Get-SPEnterpriseSearchCrawlDatabase))[0] $CrawlDatabase0 | Set-SPEnterpriseSearchCrawlDatabase [-DatabaseName “”] -DatabaseServer “”

NOTE

-DatabaseServer is a required parameter.  In this step use the existing database server (instance) name.

Step 4.4 Associate the Links Store Database

1. On the Start menu, click All Programs.
2. Click Microsoft SharePoint 2013 Products.
3. Click SharePoint 2013 Management Shell.
4. In the SharePoint 2013 Management Shell, enter the following Windows PowerShell statement to associate the new Links Store database with the Search Service Application:

$LinksDatabase0 = ([array]($SearchService | Get-SPEnterpriseSearchLinksDatabase))[0] $LinksDatabase0 | Set-SPEnterpriseSearchLinksDatabase [-DatabaseName “”] -DatabaseServer “”

NOTE

-DatabaseServer is a required parameter.  In this step use the existing database server (instance) name.

Step 5 Resume the Search Service

Step 5.1 Wait on the Search Service to come ‘Online’

1. On the Start menu, click All Programs.
2. Click Microsoft SharePoint 2013 Products.
3. Click SharePoint 2013 Management Shell.
4. In the SharePoint 2013 Management Shell, enter the following Windows PowerShell statement:

Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceInstance -Identity

Check the response and wait for the status to report ‘Online’.  Once ‘Online’ proceed to Step 5.2 Resume the Search Service.

Step 5.2 Resume the Search Service

1. On the Start menu, click All Programs.
2. Click Microsoft SharePoint 2013 Products.
3. Click SharePoint 2013 Management Shell.
4. In the SharePoint 2013 Management Shell, enter the following Windows PowerShell statement to resume the Search Service:

$SearchService = Get-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication

Resume-SPEnterpriseSearchServiceApplication -Identity $SearchService

Troubleshooting

The search application Guid on server ServerName did not finish loading. View the event logs on the affected server for more information.

This error message is indicative of login issues.  In the event the Search Service Application fails to load, script the login from the original SSA databases and restore the information to the new SSA databases.

‘Sharepoint_Search_Service_Application_CrawlStoreDB_4d7dcfead0eb46ab9ee4399a430584b8’ on SQL Server instance ‘’ not found.

or

SQL database login failed. Additional error information from SQL Server is included below.

Login failed for user ‘NT AUTHORITYANONYMOUS LOGON’.

These error messages are indicative of orphaned Search Service Application databases.  To remove the orphaned databases open the SharePoint 2013 Management Shell and enter:

Get-SPDatabase | Where{$_.Exists -eq $false}

This command will return databases reported to SharePoint 2013 that do not exist on the default database server.  To remove the reported orphaned databases enter:

Get-SPDatabase | Where{$_.Exists -eq $false} | ForEach {$_.Delete()}