How to know db version or build no from a backup file? or How to get the exact version on which master db was backed up?

Generally we don't need this info for user db but when you have to recover or restore master db then you should have exact db version or build no else you cannot recover your db like i am giving you a scenario suppose you instance is corrupted now you are not able to access your sql server instance and even you don't have exact db version like 9.00.**** In this case you need exact build no else you can not recover your sql server Instance.To get this info you need a master db backup file.You can run below cmd to get this info:

Restore headeronly from disk='D:\MSSQL\Backup\master.bak'

Now output will show you lot much info like user name,LSNs,device type,server name etc but you should look into below three coloumns  to get exact version no of sql server.As per this output the version on which master db was backed up is 10.50.1600.Now you got the exact build so install sql server till this build no and restore master db easily.

SoftwareVersionMajor  SoftwareVersionMinor  SoftwareVersionBuild
10                                  50                                   1600




You can get another article regarding how to restore master db in this blog as well.Kindly find the link:Restore master db