Challenge
A Veeam Agent backup job managed by the backup server finishes with a warning:Collecting recovery media fails Details: The system cannot find the file specified
Cause
Veeam Agent for Windows runs the Recovery Media collection process at the end of the backup job. The process enables Veeam Agent for Windows to generate the Veeam Recovery Media for the machine.The Recovery Media collection process is based on the Windows RE/PE components that may be missing. For example:
- Starting from Windows 10 version 1809, the WinPE component is an add-on to the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK).
- Veeam Agent machine has a hardware recovery partition instead of the system partition.
Solution
Check the status of the Windows RE components with the following command:- Start the command prompt.
- Run the command: reagentc /info.
- If the command returns Enabled, there is a possibility that system might be corrupted. It is worth checking system integrity. Use the dism.log command that may point to a possible cause.
- If the command returns Disabled, it is most likely that the Windows RE/PE components are not installed or configured on the Veeam Agent machine.
If you want to eliminate the warning, exclude the Veeam Agent machine from the Recovery Media collection process. Add the following registry key:
- Run regedit.exe.
- Locate the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Veeam\Veeam EndPoint Backup key.
- Add the following value under the key:
- Name: DisableRECollection
- Type: REG_DWORD
- Value: 1
- Go to Control Panel > System and Security > Administrative Tools > Services.
- Restart the Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows service.
After the registry key is created, Veeam Agent for Windows does not start the the Recovery Media collection process at the end of the backup job.