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aaog's avatar
aaog
Level 3
16 years ago

V-79-32772-8984 Error with Shadow Copy. Can't backup.

Hey, everyone.

I'm concerned about the support on this because I looked up my topic here and saw a couple other posts from years back where people had a similar issue but there seemed to be no resolution.  Anyway, I'm hoping someone has some ideas.  ANY ideas would be better than none.  The problem is this:

I have backup exec 10.1d setup to pull from many servers across our network and it's been steady since I got here about a year ago.  Recently one server has stated failing.  Meaning tha backup runs fine as usual for everything except for that one server (happens to be our AD server).  It's strange because that one has almost nothing on it that could cause a problem.  I recently updates it but that could just be coincidence.  Anyway, the error message is this:

V-79-32772-8984

Backup Job:
AOFO: Initialization failure on: "Shadow?Copy?Components". Advanced Open File Option used: Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS).
VSS Snapshot error. Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) cannot communicate with the writers. Check that the Volume Shadow Copy Service is started, and check the Windows Event Viewer for errors related to this service.

I have followed every troubleshooting step that the software directs me to and even the related article on Microsoft's website.  Re-registering the dlls associated with VSS and starting and stopping the servive repeatedly.  I've also made sure BackupExec is up to the latest updates as is the server it's trying to backup.  Does anyone have any ideas?  Does the agent on the server need some sort of updates?  But it has worked perfectly up to this time....

I would appreciate any help or experience anyone has with this.
10.x and Earlier
Agents
Backup and Recovery
Backup Exec
Configuring
  • aaog's avatar
    aaog
    16 years ago
    Ok, update. I tried again to reregister all the .dll files according to this article:  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940032/en-us  after stopping the vss and swprv service, beause that is the solution other people mentioned online. And it worked. I successfully backed up active directory this time. I'm not sure why it didn't work before, even though I have done it before more than once. The only thing I did different this time was I didn't manually restart vss after I was done. I simply tried to list the writers again immediately and they lsited (this automatically started the vss service, though). So I don't know why that's any different. Maybe the combination of rebooting and reregistering and reinstalling the agent. Either way, it worked and so I will test it again and let you know.

9 Replies

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  • chicojrman's avatar
    chicojrman
    Level 6
    16 years ago
    What is the make and model of tape drive as well as OS of the backup server. Also what are you backing up on each server where your reciving this error.
  • chicojrman's avatar
    chicojrman
    Level 6
    16 years ago
    1. Make sure that the Volume shadow copy service is started and running.
    2. Make sure that you are able to select Volume shadow copy components in the backup selections.
    3. In the command prompt type in VSSADMIN LIST WRITERS and see if you are receiving any errors.
  • aaog's avatar
    aaog
    Level 3
    16 years ago
    The tape drive is a Quantum CL1003 (LTO2 Ultrium) drive.  The backup server is running Windows 2003. 

    The AD server I am trying to backup is running windows 2003.  On this sever I am trying to backup "Shadow Copy Components", both the System state and the Service state.

    I just realized though, that there are two other serversthat are having the same exact information pulled from them in this job.  And one of them is not showing an writers when I run the command to list writers.  What does that mean?  The server that doesn't list any writers is also Windows server 2003. and the service is running, I checked.

    I'm going to see if I can find out what this means around  the net a bit too.  Let me know what you think about the lack of listing.
  • MitchR's avatar
    MitchR
    Level 6
    16 years ago
    I've got the same issue.  At any given time, around 5% to 10% of my servers are having this issue.  A reboot fixes it.  In my case, I have soem VSS Writers listed as "failed" - but no clue as to the root cause.  My postings out here looking for help have yet to reveal a solution.

    There are some production servers that we can't reboot without a lot of heahaches, so the "reboot and try again" fix just won't cut it long term.

    Please report back if you find any fixes!
  • aaog's avatar
    aaog
    Level 3
    16 years ago
    By the way, I tried to view selections in backup exec and it was all good except for on that one server with the blank writer list.  That one threw an error saying "A failure occurred accessing the writer metadata".

    When I tried reregistering all dll files according to this article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940032/en-us
    It fiailed to register "eventcls.dll" with the error: "DllInstall in eventcls.dll failed. Return code was 0x8000ffff"

    So, maybe there is some trouble with that dll? But why is the entire writer list blank? If it were not a critical server, I would reboot it right now to see if that changes anything. But I'd prefer to reboot it as little as possible.
  • aaog's avatar
    aaog
    Level 3
    16 years ago
    hmmm.. Sounds good,   I tried rebooting though and mine is still having the same issues.  Not sure what is up with that.  I'm reinsatalling the remote agent on it now.
  • aaog's avatar
    aaog
    Level 3
    16 years ago
    Ok.  Reinstalling the remotw agent has not solved it for me.  I was really hoping that it would.  .....  Still checking it out, but if there are any other ideas, that would be cool.  Seems that, since tha gent is there and working and the backup server is working, it must be a problem with the VSS writers or the VSS service.  Is there any way to reinstall that or to repair it (since the writers aren't showing up at all).
  • aaog's avatar
    aaog
    Level 3
    16 years ago
    Ok, update. I tried again to reregister all the .dll files according to this article:  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940032/en-us  after stopping the vss and swprv service, beause that is the solution other people mentioned online. And it worked. I successfully backed up active directory this time. I'm not sure why it didn't work before, even though I have done it before more than once. The only thing I did different this time was I didn't manually restart vss after I was done. I simply tried to list the writers again immediately and they lsited (this automatically started the vss service, though). So I don't know why that's any different. Maybe the combination of rebooting and reregistering and reinstalling the agent. Either way, it worked and so I will test it again and let you know.
  • aaog's avatar
    aaog
    Level 3
    16 years ago
    It seems that the whole troubleshooting process fixed it.  After reregistering the Dlls and successfully backing up, I left it to run on a schedule and it failed the next time, much to my annoyance.  But I then went and restarted the VSS service on that server.  It has backed up everytime since.  So, it seems like that is working.