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How to Backup a Windows Failover Cluster with Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows

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Challenge

Veeam Backup & Replication lets you deploy and manage Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows on computers in your infrastructure. The Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows failover cluster job has full support for mission-critical Microsoft Failover Clusters, SQL Server-based Microsoft Failover Clusters, SQL Always On Availability Groups and Exchange Database Availability Groups.
 
Please be advised that this guide describes Agent Management Windows Server Failover Cluster processing if you plan to use Veeam Agents in your infrastructure. However, it is still possible to use basic virtual machine backup jobs to process virtual clusters without Veeam Agents.

This is a “how to” step-by-step guide on backing up your Windows Failover Cluster.

Cause

Before you begin

Сonsider the following:
  • Backup of failover clusters is supported in Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows managed by Veeam Backup & Replication only. You cannot process a failover cluster by Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows operating in the standalone mode.
  • Agent license with a server counter must be installed in Veeam Backup & Replication to enable Agent Management features including failover cluster support.
  • Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows supports Windows Server Failover Clusters running Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 and later.
  • Workgroup clusters, multi-domain clusters, and mixed OS version clusters are not supported.
  • Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV) are skipped automatically during the backup.
  • The following Microsoft Failover Cluster applications are supported: Microsoft SQL Server Failover Cluster Instances (Microsoft SQL Server 2008 SP4 or newer), Microsoft SQL AlwaysOn Availability Groups, Microsoft Exchange Database Availability Groups (Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 or newer).
  • AlwaysOn Clusterless Availability Groups are not supported.
  • Managed by backup server job with failover cluster type does not support the file-level backup mode.
  • Recovery must be performed via Veeam Backup & Replication console.

Solution

Microsoft Windows Server Failover Clusters, Microsoft SQL Server Failover Cluster Instances, SQL Always On Availability Groups


1. Create an Active Directory protection group

Protection Group is a container or folder to organize hosts you are willing to protect 

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To create a protection group navigate to Inventory, select Physical & Cloud Infrastructure node and hit Add Group button at the ribbon. Select Microsoft Active Directly objects as a type for this Protection Group.

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At the Active Directory step specify the domain name and account (if required) and select the Active Directory cluster name object.


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The AD cluster name account can be found in Active Directory Users and Computers or Failover Cluster Manager.

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Make sure that you didn’t exclude any required hosts at the Exclusion step of the wizard.

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Specify the common master account and set custom credentials for particular hosts if needed.

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Check the box to Install backup agent at the Options step of the wizard to install backup agents automatically during the rescan (installation can be performed manually if required).

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Rescan the protection group to discover the newly added cluster account, all its nodes and install backup agent to every node. Once the rescan is completed you should see the cluster and all child nodes under the protection group

NOTE To avoid installation issues, make sure that all required network and DNS requirements are fulfilled.


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2. Configure the backup job

Once you install the backup agent on every node, you can create a cluster job. Navigate to Home node, click the Backup Job button at the ribbon and select Backup > Windows computer.

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Failover Clusters must be processed by backup server jobs with the Failover cluster type. 

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At the Computers step of the wizard hit Add and select cluster account or the parent protection group for this cluster.

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NOTE: each cluster node will consume a Server License host counter:

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Select the backup mode. Only volume-level backup and entire system backup modes are available for the failover cluster job.

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Define the appropriate application-aware processing options at the Guest Processing step of the wizard. For example, SQL log backup/truncation settings would be applicable to a SQL cluster.

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Start the job. The cluster job will track node changes and perform log backup respectively.

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Microsoft Exchange Database Availability Group

Starting with Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5 Update 4, Microsoft Exchange database availability group (DAG) nodes are now automatically processed in a sequential manner, so it is possible to use Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows to process Microsoft Exchange Database Availability Groups (DAGs).

The procedure of adding a DAG to a Veeam Agent backup job differs depending on the type of the DAG that you want to process:

  • For a regular DAG, the backup job configuration procedure is the same as for any failover cluster mentioned above, so all the steps above are relevant
  • For an IP Less DAG (a DAG without an Administrative Access Point), the backup job configuration procedure is similar to the same procedure for standalone servers. To process an IP Less DAG, you must create a Veeam Agent backup job for servers in the Veeam backup console and add  all nodes of the IP Less DAG (the steps below show it in detail) to this job.

Create a protection group with the DAG nodes:

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Then add servers that act as DAG nodes to a Veeam Agent backup job for servers configured in Veeam Backup & Replication.



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During the backup process, Veeam Backup & Replication detects that servers in the backup job are part of a DAG, and creates a transactionally consistent backup of Microsoft Exchange databases running on these servers (only passive database copies are processed, active ones are excluded from VSS freeze operations; however, the job still copies all the correspondent EDB-files of all databases from all the nodes).

Application-aware processing should be enabled for a consistent backup, log truncation and application-item restore possibility.

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If you plan to use Veeam Agent for Windows to back up your DAG cluster, be advised that Agents deployed via Veeam Backup & Replication version prior to 9.5 Update 4 cannot process a DAG as a regular failover cluster.

 

HCL - Exagrid with Data Mover

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Challenge

VeeamReadyRepo

Product Information:

Company name: ExaGrid
Product Family: ExaGrid with Veeam Accelerated Data Mover
Status: Veeam Ready - Repository
Classification Description: Integrated storage where joint development activities between the manufacturer and Veeam have occurred to create advanced backup or restore functionalities.

Solution

Product Details:

Firmware version: 4.7, 4.8
Additional support: All EX Series Models

 

General product family overview:

ExaGrid understands that deduplication is required, but how you implement it changes everything in backup. ExaGrid has a unique landing zone where backups can land straight to disk without any inline processing. Backups are fast and the backup window is short. Deduplication and offsite replication occur in parallel with the backups. Deduplication and replication never impede the backup process as they always are second order priority. ExaGrid calls this “adaptive deduplication.”

 

Veeam testing configuration:

Veeam Build Number: 9.0.0.902

Job Settings:

Deduplication: Enabled (Default)
Compression: Dedupe Friendly
Storage Optimization: Local Target (Default)
 

Repository Settings:

Repository Type: Deduplicating Storage Appliance
Align backup file blocks: Disabled (Default)
Decompress before storing: Disabled (Default)
Per-VM Backup Files: Enabled
 

Special Considerations:

  • Scale-out Backup Repositories supported on ExaGrid EX series appliances starting from Exagrid Software version 5.0

HCL - StoreOnce with Catalyst

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Challenge

VeeamReadyRepo

Product Information:

Company name: Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Product Family: StoreOnce w/Catalyst
Status: Veeam Ready - Repository
Classification Description: Integrated storage where joint development activities between the manufacturer and Veeam have occurred to create advanced backup or restore functionalities.

Solution

Product Details:

Firmware version: 3.13.1-1546.2 or later (3.15.1-1636.1 or later required for vPower features)
Additional support: All StoreOnce Models
General product family overview:From ROBO to the entire enterprise, HPE StoreOnce System with HPE StoreOnce Catalyst is a single and agile backup and recovery solution. Reduce costs and keep pace with rapid data growth, confident that your SLAs are securely met.
 

Veeam testing configuration:

Veeam Build Number: 9.0.0.902

Job Settings:

Deduplication: Disabled
Compression: Optimal (Default)
Storage Optimization: Local target (16 TB + backup files)
 

Repository Settings:

Repository Type: Deduplicating Storage Appliance
Align backup file blocks: Disabled (Default)
Decompress before storing: Enabled
Per-VM Backup Files: Enabled

0x8004230F or Error: VSSControl: -2147212529 (VSS_E_UNEXPECTED_PROVIDER_ERROR)

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Challenge

You receive errors on backup or replication processes during VSS guest processing.

Solution

0x8004230F translates to the VSS error “VSS_E_UNEXPECTED_PROVIDER_ERROR”, which generally means that the backup process could not initialize due to a third party VSS Provider component installed on the system. You can verify this by opening an elevated CMD prompt and typing VSSADMIN LIST PROVIDERS on the guest which is failing to backup.
VSSADMIN LIST PROVIDERS

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If more than the default software provider is installed, another third party software suite may have enabled its provider on the guest.  When this provider remains on the system when backup has ceased, it may cause problems for native backup and other tasks that attempt to initiate a VSS backup. This component of the third party software will need to be removed if Veeam Backup & Replication is to process this source guest consistently.

For more information on removing specific providers, please refer to vendor documentation regarding VSS Provider and Agent installation. In some instances, the VSS Provider component can be removed while keeping the rest of the software functionally intact.

More Information

If the above troubleshooting steps does not resolve this issue, please review the solution on the this article http://www.veeam.com/kb1846.

 

Consistent backup failures after installing vSphere 6.7 U1

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Challenge

After updating vCenter to 6.7U1, processing of all VMs fails with "Object reference not set to an instance of an object."

Cause

The issue is triggered by an update to the vSphere API version in vCenter 6.7 U1.

Solution

The issue affects only Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5 Update 3a.
Please upgrade to Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5 Update 4, it works fine with 6.7 U1 out of the box, no additional steps needed.
 
NOTE: The displayed version in vSphere is not 6.7.1 for Update 1. The only way to verify the version is by the build number.
The version can be verified by checking the build number in the following VMware KB Articles.
ESX\ESXi Hosts - https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2143832
vCenter Servers - https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2143838?lang=en_US

 

More Information

Veeam Backup & Replication support for VMware vSphere: https://www.veeam.com/kb2443

HCL - Exagrid with Data Mover

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Challenge

VeeamReadyRepo

Product Information:

Company name: ExaGrid
Product Family: ExaGrid with Veeam Accelerated Data Mover
Status: Veeam Ready - Repository
Classification Description: Integrated storage where joint development activities between the manufacturer and Veeam have occurred to create advanced backup or restore functionalities.

Solution

Product Details:

Firmware version: 4.7, 4.8
Additional support: All EX Series Models

 

General product family overview:

ExaGrid understands that deduplication is required, but how you implement it changes everything in backup. ExaGrid has a unique landing zone where backups can land straight to disk without any inline processing. Backups are fast and the backup window is short. Deduplication and offsite replication occur in parallel with the backups. Deduplication and replication never impede the backup process as they always are second order priority. ExaGrid calls this “adaptive deduplication.”

 

Veeam testing configuration:

Veeam Build Number: 9.0.0.902

Job Settings:

Deduplication: Enabled (Default)
Compression: Dedupe Friendly
Storage Optimization: Local Target (Default)
 

Repository Settings:

Repository Type: Deduplicating Storage Appliance
Align backup file blocks: Disabled (Default)
Decompress before storing: Disabled (Default)
Per-VM Backup Files: Enabled
 

Special Considerations:

  • Scale-out Backup Repositories supported on ExaGrid EX series appliances starting from Exagrid Software version 5.0

HCL - StoreOnce with Catalyst

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Challenge

VeeamReadyRepo

Product Information:

Company name: Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Product Family: StoreOnce w/Catalyst
Status: Veeam Ready - Repository
Classification Description: Integrated storage where joint development activities between the manufacturer and Veeam have occurred to create advanced backup or restore functionalities.

Solution

Product Details:

Firmware version: 3.13.1-1546.2 or later (3.15.1-1636.1 or later required for vPower features)
Additional support: All StoreOnce Models
General product family overview:From ROBO to the entire enterprise, HPE StoreOnce System with HPE StoreOnce Catalyst is a single and agile backup and recovery solution. Reduce costs and keep pace with rapid data growth, confident that your SLAs are securely met.
 

Veeam testing configuration:

Veeam Build Number: 9.0.0.902

Job Settings:

Deduplication: Disabled
Compression: Optimal (Default)
Storage Optimization: Local target (16 TB + backup files)
 

Repository Settings:

Repository Type: Deduplicating Storage Appliance
Align backup file blocks: Disabled (Default)
Decompress before storing: Enabled
Per-VM Backup Files: Enabled

Release Notes for Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5 Update 4a

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Challenge

Release Notes for Veeam Backup Replication 9.5 Update 4a

Cause

Please confirm that you are running version 9.5.4.2615 prior to installing this update. You can check this under Help | About in Veeam Backup & Replication console.

To upgrade from 9.0 or earlier version, download 9.5 Update 4a ISO image, and consult the upgrade section of the Release Notes document.

After upgrade, your build number will be 9.5.4.2753. You will also see the vendor name changed from Veeam Software AG to Veeam Software Group GmbH, reflecting the legal company name change. Please note that the name change has also resulted in a change of the code signing certificate.

Solution

Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5 Update 4a is a cumulative hotfix rollup that addresses issues reported by customers on the original build of Update 4, as well as minor platform support enhancements:
  • VMware vSphere 6.7 U2 readiness, including support for virtual hardware version 15. Please note that the testing has been performed on pre-release 6.7 U2 builds, while official support will still require a comprehensive testing of the generally available build.
  • Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2019 is now supported as a source for Microsoft Hyper-V VMs backup jobs.
  • Dell EMC Data Domain DD OS 6.2 is now supported as the backup repository via both DDBoost and CIFS/NFS protocols.
  • New Japanese Era compatibility. 天皇陛下万歳
Update 4a resolves the following most common support issues:
  • Upgrade to Update 4 fails with the "Database version downgrade detected ... Reboot and restart the setup" error on machines where system time regional format uses a.m. and p.m. (lowercase with dots)
  • On Hyper-V versions prior to 2016, backup and replication jobs without application-aware processing enabled failing with "The system cannot find the file specified" error.
  • Backup console failing to open after upgrade with "Object reference not set to an instance to an object" from backup console or "Could not load file or assembly" error in the log.
  • Backup of Windows XP SP1 VMs fails with the "Failed to call RPC function Vss.GetFileFromGADir" error.
  • After upgrading to Update 4, SureBackup jobs may start failing due to lack of disk space in the vPower NFS cache folder due to virtual lab settings incorrectly updated during configuration upgrade.
  • VeeamZIP™ operations should no longer consume a license for virtual machine that were previously licensed due to being a part of regular backup jobs.
  • Primary storage integration issues around HPE Nimble, NetApp, IBM and Dell EMC VNX storage.
  • HPE StoreOnce Catalyst library was updated to version 24.90.0.8 fixing the memory leak issue.
  • Tape support reliability improvements, including a number of UI performance issues around tape management functionality.
In addition, Update 4a addresses over 300 minor bugs reported by customers and found during the internal testing.

Veeam Cloud & Service Provider Partners
Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5 Update 4a also includes bug fixes for service providers offering Veeam Cloud Connect services, and managing backup servers with Veeam Availability Console. For the full change log, please see this topic on the private Veeam Cloud & Service Provider (VCSP) forum. Not a member of the VCSP forum? Click here to join. Had access before, but lost it? Click here to more info.

More Information

[[DOWNLOAD|DOWNLOAD UPDATE|https://www.veeam.com/download_add_packs/vmware-esx-backup/9.5.4.2753.update4a/]]
MD5: 9E7438488FFD10B8F804EE2B8C8C03CF
SHA1: D5F888D81426AC3648E6E0BB0412F63003A26517

Should you have any questions, contact Veeam Support.

 


Root element is missing

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Challenge

Task fails with the error "root element is missing."
You can find such entries in the log file:

[timestamp] <01> Error Read summary xml error at Veeam.Backup.Core.CRawSummary.CreateOibSummary()
[timestamp] <01> Error at Veeam.Backup.Core.CSynOibAlg.CreateOib(CPoint fullPoint, CPoint rollPoint, CStorage fullStorage, CStorage rollStorage, COib rollOib)
[timestamp] <01> Error at Veeam.Backup.Core.CBackupJobPerformer.ExecuteTask(IBackupTask task, ITarget target)
[timestamp] <01> Error  Root element is missing. at System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Throw(Exception e)

Cause

This usually occurs when part of Veeam data could not be written to the summary.xml file (due to space, connectivity issue or some other specific issue). After that failure, cleaning up space on a target or fixing other problems that caused this behavior initially will not let you proceed with the incremental because the summary.xml is missing critical information on the previous backup.

Solution

There are two methods to potentially resolve this:

  • The first option is to run a full backup on the corresponding job by right-clicking on a job and selecting "perform full backup". This is the method that leaves the least possibility of later issues.
     
  • The second option is more involved, has some caveats, and is not guaranteed to work but may save some time.
    1. Verify the job itself is not currently running.
    2. Once verified go into the backup repository and locate the backup files for the job having the issue.
    3. Move the VBM file to another location without deleting it.
    4. After the VBM file has been moved, return to Veeam B&R and run a normal backup operation.
       

      Note: This also works for PerVM and SOBR based backups.

      Note 2: When moving the VBM, do so to a path outside the backup repository path. For instance, if the repository path is C:\Backups, move the VBM to either the root of the drive or another path from the drive. If it is placed in another subfolder of C:\Backups, and the repository is re-scanned, Veeam will attempt to import the VBM as a backup.


      This will attempt to create a new VBM file for the chain itself using metadata mirrored in the full backup storages, without the need to create another active full backup, avoiding larger amounts of data being sent to the repository. If this fails, the first option will likely be necessary.

      If the chain contains multiple full backups, only the latest full and increments following it will be used to recreate the VBM file. Retention may need to be performed manually by deleting older backup files when they are no longer needed.

       

Release Notes for Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5 Update 4a

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Challenge

Release Notes for Veeam Backup Replication 9.5 Update 4a

Cause

Please confirm that you are running version 9.5.4.2615 prior to installing this update. You can check this under Help | About in Veeam Backup & Replication console.

To upgrade from 9.0 or earlier version, download 9.5 Update 4a ISO image, and consult the upgrade section of the Release Notes document.

After upgrade, your build number will be 9.5.4.2753. You will also see the vendor name changed from Veeam Software AG to Veeam Software Group GmbH, reflecting the legal company name change. Please note that the name change has also resulted in a change of the code signing certificate.

Solution

Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5 Update 4a is a cumulative hotfix rollup that addresses issues reported by customers on the original build of Update 4, as well as minor platform support enhancements:
  • VMware vSphere 6.7 U2 readiness, including support for virtual hardware version 15. Please note that the testing has been performed on pre-release 6.7 U2 builds, while official support will still require a comprehensive testing of the generally available build.
  • Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2019 is now supported as a source for Microsoft Hyper-V VMs backup jobs.
  • Dell EMC Data Domain DD OS 6.2 is now supported as the backup repository via both DDBoost and CIFS/NFS protocols.
  • New Japanese Era compatibility. 天皇陛下万歳
Update 4a resolves the following most common support issues:
  • Upgrade to Update 4 fails with the "Database version downgrade detected ... Reboot and restart the setup" error on machines where system time regional format uses a.m. and p.m. (lowercase with dots)
  • On Hyper-V versions prior to 2016, backup and replication jobs without application-aware processing enabled failing with "The system cannot find the file specified" error.
  • Backup console failing to open after upgrade with "Object reference not set to an instance to an object" from backup console or "Could not load file or assembly" error in the log.
  • Backup of Windows XP SP1 VMs fails with the "Failed to call RPC function Vss.GetFileFromGADir" error.
  • After upgrading to Update 4, SureBackup jobs may start failing due to lack of disk space in the vPower NFS cache folder due to virtual lab settings incorrectly updated during configuration upgrade.
  • VeeamZIP™ operations should no longer consume a license for virtual machine that were previously licensed due to being a part of regular backup jobs.
  • Primary storage integration issues around HPE Nimble, NetApp, IBM and Dell EMC VNX storage.
  • HPE StoreOnce Catalyst library was updated to version 24.90.0.8 fixing the memory leak issue.
  • Tape support reliability improvements, including a number of UI performance issues around tape management functionality.
In addition, Update 4a addresses over 300 minor bugs reported by customers and found during the internal testing.

Veeam Cloud & Service Provider Partners
Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5 Update 4a also includes bug fixes for service providers offering Veeam Cloud Connect services, and managing backup servers with Veeam Availability Console. For the full change log, please see this topic on the private Veeam Cloud & Service Provider (VCSP) forum. Not a member of the VCSP forum? Click here to join. Had access before, but lost it? Click here to more info.

More Information

[[DOWNLOAD|DOWNLOAD UPDATE|https://www.veeam.com/download_add_packs/vmware-esx-backup/9.5.4.2753.update4a/]]
MD5: 9E7438488FFD10B8F804EE2B8C8C03CF
SHA1: D5F888D81426AC3648E6E0BB0412F63003A26517

Should you have any questions, contact Veeam Support.

 

Using the Diskshadow Utility to manually test VSS operations

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Challenge

This article describes the steps needed to manually create a volume shadow copy using the Diskshadow command line utility in Windows.

Cause

Veeam products use the Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) for a variety of tasks:
  • In VMware environments, VSS ensures transaction consistency when backing up Windows VMs.
  • In Hyper-V on Windows Server 2008R2, 2012, and 2012R2, VSS is the primary component of the backup API.
  • Veeam Agent for Windows (formerly Veeam Endpoint Backup) uses VSS to help make sure data is consistent.
  • VSS is used to trigger transaction log truncation for Microsoft Exchange.
When troubleshooting, it is sometimes necessary to test if the Volume Shadow Copy Service is operating correctly. A quick test for a single volume can be performed using the Shadow Copies utility (see KB1794). Windows Server Backup is generally sufficient for isolation tests (and may be preferred by Microsoft Support), but it does not support all possible configurations.

The Diskshadow command line utility provides a greater degree of support, and is a better match for how Veeam products use the VSS API. However, it is only available on Windows Server 2008 or newer; it is not available for client versions of Windows.

Solution

Test shadow copy creation, then review Interpreting the Results (below).  

VMware Environments or Agent Backups

Copy-Only Mode

Use this method when transaction log truncation is not relevant. For best comparison, specify copy-only in the Veeam job settings.

From an administrator command prompt run the command mountvol without parameters. It will display the mount points and volume GUIDs for all the volumes in the system. See Finding Volume GUIDs at the end of this article for more information.

From an administrator command prompt run the following commands:

​diskshadow /l c:\windows\temp\output.txt (the /l parameter is optional, it enables logging to a file; the path to the file is an example)
set verbose on
set context volatile

Next, add each volume that will be part of the backup set. Typically, this will be all volumes, including the system reserved partition. See Finding Volume GUIDs at the end of this article for more information.
Examples:

add volume \\?\Volume{xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxx}\
add volume X:
add volume C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1

Once all volumes have been added, start shadow copy creation:

create

Normally, shadow copies created this way will be automatically deleted when Diskshadow exits or is reset, but the delete shadows command is available if needed.

Note: Some issues may be isolated to a single volume. To identify which volume is responsible for an error, add only one volume to the backup set, create the shadow copy, then exit or reset Diskshadow before starting over with the next volume.
 

Full Mode

Full mode is the default setting for Veeam jobs. This method will notify VSS writers that a backup has occurred. Some applications, including Microsoft Exchange, will truncate transaction logs automatically in response to this notification. Other applications, such as Microsoft SQL Server, record that a backup has been taken but do not truncate transaction logs.

To test log truncation along with the creation of the shadow, run the following commands.
 

From an administrator command prompt run the command mountvol without parameters. It will display the mount points and volume GUIDs for all the volumes in the system. See Finding Volume GUIDs at the end of this article for more information.

From an administrator command prompt run the following commands:

​diskshadow /l c:\windows\temp\output.txt (the /l parameter is optional, it enables logging to a file; the path to the file is an example)
set verbose on
set context volatile

Next, add each volume that will be part of the backup set. Typically, this will be all volumes, including the system reserved partition.
Examples:

add volume \\?\Volume{3c8d1bcb-9d95-11e5-80b0-806e6f6e6963}\
add volume X:
add volume C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1

See Finding Volume GUIDs at the end of this article for more information. Once all volumes have been added, start shadow copy creation:

begin backup
create

Once the shadow copy is created, inform the VSS writers that the backup has completed. For some writers, this will trigger transaction log truncation:

end backup

Normally, shadow copies created this way will be automatically deleted when the end backup command is completed, but the delete shadows command is available if needed.

Hyper-V Environments

Note: The following information is applicable to Server 2008R2, 2012, and 2012R2.

Veeam Backup & Replication creates shadow copies of volumes containing virtual machines. For transactionally-consistent backups (Application-Aware Image Processing or Hyper-V Quiescence), the Hyper-V VSS Writer triggers the Hyper-V Volume Shadow Copy Requestor service in each VM to create shadow copies of volumes within the VM. Error messages generated by shadow copy creation failure generally do not indicate whether the problem is isolated to a hypervisor volume or an in-guest volume.

Start by isolating whether the failure occurs only when using Application-Aware Image Processing or Hyper-V Quiescence. If the problem does not occur when both options are disabled, test shadow copy creation from within the virtual machine as described in the VMware Environments or Agent Backups section, above.

If snapshot creation is failing for crash-consistent backups, or if in-guest shadow copy creation does not result in any errors, it may be necessary to test shadow copy creation on the Hyper-V host. Because Hyper-V backup can be complex, a scripted approach is recommended. Veeam Support can run a scripted test that also collects a significant amount of useful logging. Contact support to schedule a remote session, and ask about hv_mkshadow.

Warning: Attempting to perform a shadow copy of a volume containing virtual machines will trigger in-guest shadow copy creation on all VMs on that volume unless specifically excluded. This may have negative effects on performance or responsiveness of these VMs and the Hyper-V host. Veeam Backup and the hv_mkshadow script exclude unnecessary VSS writer components from the shadow copy.

Finding Volume GUIDs

To add volumes that lack a mount point (such as the System Reserved Partition), use the volume GUID obtained through either the mountvol command-line tool, or the Shadow Copies utility.

To access the Shadow Copies utility, right click any volume and choose Configure Shadow Copies. On older operating systems, this may instead be a tab in Properties. In the Shadow Copies utility:

  1. Select the volume displayed as a GUID;
  2. Click Settings…
  3. Copy the volume GUID from the settings window and paste it into DiskShadow.

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Alternatively, run “mountvol” from a command prompt; below the usage information will be a list of GUIDs and their associated mount points, if any.

More Information

Interpreting the Results

Typically, if shadow copy creation fails via both Diskshadow and Veeam products, that indicates that the problem is isolated to shadow copy creation. Troubleshoot the errors reported by Diskshadow and any events appearing in Event Viewer.

Troubleshooting shadow copy creation or transaction log truncation may require the assistance of Microsoft technical support.

Two examples of failures reported directly by Diskshadow are as below. The first is an instance where the Volume Shadow Copy service fails, hangs, or is shut down midway through the creation process. The “RPC server” error can be a bit misleading; in this case a call was sent to the Volume Shadow Copy service and it was not there to receive it.

COM call "m_pVssBackup->StartSnapshotSet" failed.
The last operation failed.
- Returned HRESULT: 800706ba
- Error text: The RPC server is unavailable.

Another example shows a more common issue, that of the volume having insufficient free storage for the shadow copy creation.

The last operation failed.
- Returned HRESULT: 8004231f
- Error text: VSS_E_INSUFFICIENT_STORAGE

These messages will usually immediately follow the list of included writers, and should be the last output returned in the Diskshadow process.

In some cases, shadow copy creation will succeed via Diskshadow, but error or warning events will be generated in the event log. If similar errors are generated when Veeam backup or replication jobs fail to create a shadow copy, that usually indicates that the Veeam application is aborting the shadow copy in response to the errors. In this situation, the Veeam application can usually be assumed to be functioning correctly, so it is best to focus troubleshooting on any events appearing in Event Viewer.

Troubleshooting shadow copy creation or transaction log truncation may require the assistance of Microsoft technical support.
The error “COM call "lvssObject4->GetRootAndLogicalPrefixPaths" failed” may be ignored. For more information, see Microsoft KB3025158.

Tape requires return to original slot , but it is already filled. Move tape manually, and retry operation

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Challenge

Inventory job or any tape jobs may fail with an error “Tape <tape media name> requires return to original slot <slot number>, but it is already filled. Move tape manually, and retry operation”
 
You may find following entries in the Job.<Job name>.TapeVmBackup.log / Job.<Job name>.TapeFilesBackup or Job.Tape_library_inventory.TapeInventory:
 
[timestamp] <01> Error    Tape not exchanged. (Veeam.Tape.Core.TapeMediumNotExchangedException)
[timestamp] <01> Error       at Veeam.Tape.Core.AutomatedTapeMediumExchanger.ExchangeTapeMediumsForBackup(Boolean updateMediaInfo)
[timestamp] <01> Error       at Veeam.Tape.Core.TapeBackupTaskPerformerBase.BackupStartSession(ITapeBackupObject task)
[timestamp] <01> Error       at Veeam.Tape.Core.VmTapeBackupTaskPerformer.Backup()
[timestamp] <01> Error    Tape VeeamTest requires return to original slot 7, but it is already filled. Move tape manually, and retry operation. (System.Exception)
[timestamp] <01> Error       at Veeam.Tape.Core.TapeMediumLoader.CalcTapeSlot(TapeMedium tapeMedium)
[timestamp] <01> Error       at Veeam.Tape.Core.TapeMediumLoader.UnloadTapeFromDrive(ChangerHandle changerHandle, TapeMedium tapeMedium)
[timestamp] <01> Error       at Veeam.Tape.Core.TapeMediumLoader.LoadTapeToDrive(TapeMedium tapeMedium, TapeDrive tapeDrive)
[timestamp] <01> Error       at Veeam.Tape.Core.TapeMediumLoader.LoadTapeToDrive(TapeMedium tapeMedium, TapeDrive tapeDrive, IXmlLogger logger)
[timestamp] <01> Error       at Veeam.Tape.Core.AutomatedTapeMediumExchanger.LoadMedium(TapeMedium neededTapeMedium)
[timestamp] <01> Error       at Veeam.Tape.Core.AutomatedTapeMediumExchanger.LoadValidMediumForBackup(Boolean updateMediaInfo)
[timestamp] <01> Error       at Veeam.Tape.Core.AutomatedTapeMediumExchanger.ExchangeTapeMediumsForBackup(Boolean updateMediaInfo)
[timestamp] <01> Error    No media in drive (System.Exception)
[timestamp] <01> Error       at Veeam.Tape.Core.TapeHandle.GetMediaInfo()
[timestamp] <01> Error       at Veeam.Tape.Core.TapeJobPerformerContext.UpdateTapeMediaInfo()
[timestamp] <01> Error       at Veeam.Tape.Core.VmTapeBackupTaskPerformer.Backup()
[timestamp] <01> Error       at Veeam.Tape.Core.TapeBackupTaskPerformerBase.Execute()
 
Another tape media most likely occupies the original (home) slot of the tape media being used in the job, so you need to manually unload tape media and let job succeed on retry.

 

Cause

This is behavior by design for Veeam B&R v7. Veeam must move tape media to original slot whether this slot is free or not.
 

Solution

There is an option to change this behavior in Veeam B&R v8.
After upgrading to v8, please open the registry editor (regedit) on the Veeam Server and do the following:
 
 
1.      Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Veeam\Veeam Backup and Replication registry key;
2.      Create a new DWORD value:
             Value name is “TapeIgnoreReturnMediaToOriginalSlot "
             Value data is “1” 

Supported operations:

 
  •          Eject manually;
  •          Eject media once job finished;
  •          Unload media in the slot during the job;

HCL - QNAP TDS-16489U-R2

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Challenge

VeeamReadyRepo

Product Information:

Company name: QNAP Systems, Inc.
Product Family: TDS-16489U-R2
Status: Veeam Ready - Repository
Classification Description: Verified backup storage that supports all Veeam backup and restore features.

Solution

Product Details:

Model number: TDS-16489U-SFx-R2
Storage Category: RAID Storage Array
Drive quantity, size, type: 16 - 2TB HDD
Storage configuration: RAID6, no SSD caching
Firmware version: QES 2.1.0.0790 and QTS 4.3.6.0805
Connection protocol and speed: SMB | 10 GbE
Additional support: All models and configurations of TDS-16489U-R2 with specifications equivalent or greater than the above

General product family overview:

Dual CPU and dual OS system: A perfect NAS solution for high-performance computing and storage by using the QES or QTS operating system. Integrating an application server and storage server into one system, the next-generation TDS-16489U R2 also provides you with the option of using either QES (an enterprise-grade OS that provides efficient and reliable storage for mission-critical tasks) or QTS (a feature-rich OS for storage and diverse application servers).

 

Veeam testing configuration:

Note: The following settings were used by the vendor to meet Veeam Ready testing requirements and should not be considered best practices. Additional changes or settings may be needed to meet the storage efficiency or performance needs for each environment. For each setting, reference links are provided for further clarification.
 

Veeam Build Number: 9.5.4.2615

Job Settings:

Deduplication: Enabled (Default)
Compression: Optimal (Default)
Storage Optimization: Local Target (Default)
 

Repository Settings:

Repository Type: Shared Folder
Align backup file blocks: Disabled (Default)
Decompress before storing: Disabled (Default)
Per-VM Backup Files: Disabled (Default)
 

Vendor recommended configuration:

Hardware Settings:

  • No array deduplication used in testing
  • No array compression used in testing
  • Jumbo frames used in testing (MTU=9000)

SureBackup performance impacted after installing Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5 Update 4

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Challenge

You may notice SureBackup job performance degaradation and higher space utilization after upgrading to Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5 U4.

Cause

Upgrade to Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5 U4 has changed the default location for redo logs for verified VMs impacting original Virtual Lab configuration in VMware environment. Originally redo logs (auxiliary files used to keep changes that take place when VMs run in the virtual lab) were stored on a datastore in the virtual environment specified in the Virtual Lab wizard, but in Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5 U4 redo logs are stored on the vPower NFS server by default.

Solution

The hotfix provided here is intended for customers with Virtual Labs existing prior to the update. The hotfix will revert the changes made in U4 and forces SureBackup VM's redo logs to be written to the datastore which was chosen in the Virtual Lab settings. As an alternative you may choose to create new Virtual Lab(s) and reconfigure existing SureBackup jobs to use the newly configured Virtual Lab and remove the old Virtual Lab.
 
  1. Ensure that all jobs are in a stopped state.
  2. Stop all services on the Veeam Backup server that begin with Veeam. (PowerShell: gsv Veeam* | spsv )
  3. Navigate to the Veeam installation folder on the Veeam Backup Server (by default it is C:\Program Files\Veeam\Backup and Replication\Backup)
  4. Rename the Veeam.Backup.Model.dll file to Veeam.Backup.Model.dll_backup
  5. Replace the files listed in the previous step with those found in the hotfix package
  6. Start Veeam services on Veeam Backup server. (PowerShell: gsv Veeam* | sasv )

More Information

[[DOWNLOAD|DOWNLOAD PRIVATE FIX|https://www.veeam.com/download_add_packs/vmware-esx-backup/kb2885/]]
MD5 for Veeam.Backup.Model.dll: 8fe3a782a42094b248a3321af1f9d54f
SHA256 for Veeam.Backup.Model.dll: deaaaff1d42d30e41fc19d9f9dba6efebc0e2c0277aa0c7992076760868f7fbf

Veeam Availability Console 3.0 RESTful API backward compatibility

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Challenge

This article describes improved Veeam Availability Console v3 RESTful API functionality that may retrieve different data compared to previous versions.

Cause

  • /Jobs: LastRun or EndTime now returns 00:00:00.0000000 UTC, January 1, 0001 if the value is not populated in UI
  • /HardwarePlans: memoryQuota now correctly returns '0' with memoryQuotaUnits set to "Unlimited" if the quota is unlimited
  • /BackupResources: backupRepositories now returns a proper link to a tenant's cloud repository
  • /BackupResources: usedStorageQuota now always returns correct values
  • /Computers: destinationFreeSpace now returns '0' when subtenant quota or policy is defined
  • Deserialization failure now returns a proper response in the following format: List<ResponseResult>
  • Some resources' IDs may change after the upgrade. It is recommended to request all data anew
  • The following resources are now considered legacy and may retrieve incorrect data: /BackupLicenses: licensedVMs, usedVMs , newVMs; /CloudLicenses: licensedVMs, usedVMs, newVMs

Solution

Consider upgrading to v3 requests for improved functionality

SQL VSS writer fails for SQL localdb on Azure AD Connect Sync server.

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Challenge

Backup or replication jobs with Application Aware Image-Processing enabled may fail on the server hosting Azure AD Connect Sync with an error indicating the SQL writer has failed. After the job has failed, running “Vssadmin list writers” from an administrative command prompt on the Azure AD Connect Sync server shows the sql writer in failed state. In Hyper-V, the error in the statistics window in VBR may be “guest processing skipped” or may indicate that the checkpoint has failed. In Vmware, the error is usually “Backup job failed. Cannot create a shadow copy of the volumes containing writer's data. A VSS critical writer has failed. Writer name: [SqlServerWriter]

Cause

Updates to Azure AD Connect Sync will sometimes leave the server in a state where VSS snapshots will cause the SQL Server writer to fail.

Solution

After installing service pack 4 for sql localdb 2012 and rebooting the server (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/confirmation.aspx?id=56040), the jobs will generally be able to run successfully. In some instances, the error may return after future updates to the Azure AD Connect Sync Client, in which case another reboot will resolve the issue. Microsoft has been made aware of the issue and future updates to Azure AD Connect Sync may either not cause this problem or should prompt the user for reboot. If a future update to the Azure AD Connect Sync client does not prompt for a reboot, you can either reboot proactively after updating to prevent this issue from happening or test the job and reboot if it fails following the update.

HCL - FAST LTA - Silent Brick

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Challenge

VeeamReadyArchive

Product Information:

Company name: FAST LTA, AG
Product Family: Silent Brick System
Status: Veeam Ready – Archive
Classification Description: Verified disk archive storage that can be used as a Backup Copy target. Synthetic full backups, granular restores, and vPower features may not provide sufficient performance or be supported.

Solution

Product Details:

Model number: Silent Brick
Storage Category: Hybrid Storage
Drive quantity, size, type: 12 - SATA HDDs via SAS Bus
Storage configuration: SecureNAS - Triple Parity
Firmware version: 2.11
Connection protocol and speed: 10GbE
Additional support: All models and configurations of Silent Brick System with specifications equivalent or greater than the above.

General product family overview: Simplify your backup with Silent Bricks. On-premise storage appliances with integrated data protection for all NAS and VTL requirements. Media replication and rotation. Online, offline and off-site, with support for air gap environments. All in one system. The Silent Brick System is based on modular and transportable storage units called 'Silent Bricks' where each Silent Brick consists of 12 Disks. Depending on the Silent Brick Type these disks may be HDD (Silent Brick ) or SSD ( Silent Brick FLASH ).
The assignment is done on a per Brick Basis where each Brick can act as a Backup to Disk Storage, a virtual Tape Library or an Archival Storage. The redundancy when set up as Backup to Disk Storage is configurable with 2 or 3 Parities per Silent Brick. A SecureNAS Volume can then be spanned over 1 to many Silent Bricks. Extending a SecureNAS Volume is possible on the fly by assigning additional Bricks. The parities will still be on a per Silent Brick Basis. For optimal performance the Silent Brick System offers dual 10GB Ethernet connection.

 

Veeam testing configuration:

Note: The following settings were used by the vendor to meet Veeam Ready testing requirements and should not be considered best practices. Additional changes or settings may be needed to meet the storage efficiency or performance needs for each environment. For each setting, reference links are provided for further clarification.

Veeam Build Number: 9.5.0.1922

Job Settings:

Repository Settings:

 

Vendor recommended configuration:

Hardware Settings:

  • Jumbo frames used in testing environment
  • SMB storage protocol used during testing. Vendor also supports NFS, and ISCSI or Fibre Channel for virtual tape library support.
  • Dedicated SMB user for storage share, used default settings for share configuration
  • 3 parities used in SNAS configuration

SureBackup performance impacted after installing Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5 Update 4

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Challenge

You may notice SureBackup job performance degaradation and higher space utilization after upgrading to Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5 U4.

Cause

Upgrade to Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5 U4 has changed the default location for redo logs for verified VMs impacting original Virtual Lab configuration in VMware environment. Originally redo logs (auxiliary files used to keep changes that take place when VMs run in the virtual lab) were stored on a datastore in the virtual environment specified in the Virtual Lab wizard, but in Veeam Backup & Replication 9.5 U4 redo logs are stored on the vPower NFS server by default.

Solution

The hotfix provided here is intended for customers with Virtual Labs existing prior to the update. The hotfix will revert the changes made in U4 and forces SureBackup VM's redo logs to be written to the datastore which was chosen in the Virtual Lab settings. As an alternative you may choose to create new Virtual Lab(s) and reconfigure existing SureBackup jobs to use the newly configured Virtual Lab and remove the old Virtual Lab.
 
  1. Ensure that all jobs are in a stopped state.
  2. Stop all services on the Veeam Backup server that begin with Veeam. (PowerShell: gsv Veeam* | spsv )
  3. Navigate to the Veeam installation folder on the Veeam Backup Server (by default it is C:\Program Files\Veeam\Backup and Replication\Backup)
  4. Rename the Veeam.Backup.Model.dll file to Veeam.Backup.Model.dll_backup
  5. Replace the files listed in the previous step with those found in the hotfix package
  6. Start Veeam services on Veeam Backup server. (PowerShell: gsv Veeam* | sasv )

More Information

[[DOWNLOAD|DOWNLOAD PRIVATE FIX|https://www.veeam.com/download_add_packs/vmware-esx-backup/kb2885/]]
MD5 for Veeam.Backup.Model.dll: 8fe3a782a42094b248a3321af1f9d54f
SHA256 for Veeam.Backup.Model.dll: deaaaff1d42d30e41fc19d9f9dba6efebc0e2c0277aa0c7992076760868f7fbf

Veeam Availability Console 3.0 RESTful API backward compatibility

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Challenge

This article describes improved Veeam Availability Console v3 RESTful API functionality that may retrieve different data compared to previous versions.

Cause

  • /Jobs: LastRun or EndTime now returns 00:00:00.0000000 UTC, January 1, 0001 if the value is not populated in UI
  • /HardwarePlans: memoryQuota now correctly returns '0' with memoryQuotaUnits set to "Unlimited" if the quota is unlimited
  • /BackupResources: backupRepositories now returns a proper link to a tenant's cloud repository
  • /BackupResources: usedStorageQuota now always returns correct values
  • /Computers: destinationFreeSpace now returns '0' when subtenant quota or policy is defined
  • Deserialization failure now returns a proper response in the following format: List<ResponseResult>
  • Some resources' IDs may change after the upgrade. It is recommended to request all data anew
  • The following resources are now considered legacy and may retrieve incorrect data: /BackupLicenses: licensedVMs, usedVMs , newVMs; /CloudLicenses: licensedVMs, usedVMs, newVMs

Solution

Consider upgrading to v3 requests for improved functionality

Events data collection failure issue

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Challenge

Veeam ONE raises Events data collection failure against Veeam Backup and Replication OR Hyper-V server.

Cause

Permissions, UAC configuration and firewall settings need to be configured.

Solution

  1. Verify that the account used to connect to Veeam Backup and Replication OR Hyper-V server in Veeam ONE has correct permissions. To check the account name, go to Veeam ONE Monitor > Data Protection View > right-click on the Veeam Backup and Replication object. Note the specified account. You can check the same for the Hyper-V server: Veeam ONE Monitor > Infrastructure tree > right-click on the Hyper-V object.
  2. On the Veeam Backup and Replication OR Hyper-V server, confirm that this account as well as the Veeam ONE service account are added to the Event Log Readers Group and Administrators group in Local Systems and Groups
  3. Even if the Firewall is off, activate the following firewall rules on the Veeam Backup and Replication OR Hyper-V server side:
  • Remote Event Log Management (NP-In)
  • Remote Event Log Management (RPC)
  • Remote Event Log Management (RPC-EPMAP)
  • COM+ Network Access (DCOM-In)
  1. Check UAC settings.

If Veeam Backup&Replication/Hyper-V and Veeam ONE are installed on the same server, try one of the following solutions in addition to the steps above:
  1. Change the type of the all Public network connections to Private using the following Powershell cmdlet: 
Set-NetConnectionProfile -NetworkCategory Private


Or using the registry editor (machine restart will be required):

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\NetworkList\Profiles\
0 = public
1 = private
2 = domain
 
2.    If changing the network type does not help, put Built-in Administrator account credentials for the Veeam Backup&Replication/Hyper-V server in the Connection Settings using Veeam ONE Monitor client.

More Information

If the issue persists, contact Veeam Support for further assistance.
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