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O_Jay's avatar
O_Jay
Level 3
10 years ago

VMWare Host backups hanging on tracking.log

Hi,

 

I am running Backup Exec 2014 V-Ray Edition. When I backup several of the guests on my ESXi host the backup hangs for ages backing up \System Volume Information\tracking.log. The byte count doesn't increase and the job rate doesn't change.

I would be happy to just deselect the whole folder but you don't have that option at the host level.

Is there any way I can prevent this from happening?

2014
Backing Up
Backup and Recovery
Backup Exec
Best Practice
Troubleshooting
Windows Server (2003-2008)
  • O_Jay's avatar
    O_Jay
    10 years ago

    OK... since completely removing and re-adding the virtual host to BE I have been able to get successful backup all week.

    Maybe worth a try for you too DKK.

    I am however getting two of the guests not able to do GRT enabled backups even though the credentials verify successfully and I am able to browse both servers in the selection of the indivual servers on the Backup and Restore servers view.

  • DKK's avatar
    DKK
    10 years ago

    Hi O_Jay,

    my backup job runs now successfully without hanging, i have take many steps to reach this result:

    1) run: dism.exe /online /cleanup-image /spsuperseded

    2) uninstall BE Agent | reinstall Agent (push) on all servers where the job has hung up

    3) defrag of all partitions on all servers

    4) check all event logs to critical errors

    5) Boot from Windows Server Disk and run CHKDSK with options /F and /R for all disks  -> some errors have been fixed

    6) changed order of the virtual server in the backup job

    7) Install all available Windows Updates for the VM‘s

    8) Set the backup exec user rights to Folder "System Volume Information" on all servers where the job has hung up

    9) In the backup job settings disable GRT for SQL and Sharepoint

    Unfortunately I do not know exactly what has solved the problem.

  • O_Jay's avatar
    O_Jay
    10 years ago

    One of the recent ones was actually GRT on SQl database I didn't need so I turned GRT off and the other I tinkered with the credentials until it was happy. I got my first successful (i.e. not hung or "Completed with Exceptions") backup last night. So for now this is resolved.

    Like DKK though I don't really know exactly how I fixed it but removing and re-adding the hostto the Backup Exec server seemed to be the clincher in my case.

17 Replies

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  • lmosla's avatar
    lmosla
    Level 6
    10 years ago

    Hi O_Jay,

    Are you getting any errors in Windows Events on the Media server or/and Remote servers?  Check the VSS writers to see if they are stable.

    If this is a large job try breaking a smaller job off of it and seeing if that helps.

  • O_Jay's avatar
    O_Jay
    Level 3
    10 years ago

    Hi Imosla,

    There are no errors in the event logs. How do I "check the VSS writers to see if they are stable"?

    How will breaking the job up help? Its not that big to begin with.

     

    EDIT: There is an informational message on the media server and the target event logs which says:

     

    "The VSS service is shutting down due to idle timeout."

  • pkh's avatar
    pkh
    Moderator
    10 years ago

    To check on your VSS writers, start a command prompt and issue

    vssadmin list writers

    If there are any errors, then you need to reboot the server to clear the error.

  • O_Jay's avatar
    O_Jay
    Level 3
    10 years ago

    Most said [1] Stable. A few said [5] Waiting for completion

    Rebooted and now they all say [1] Stable

  • VJware's avatar
    VJware
    Level 6
    10 years ago

    Are the VSS writers for the affected VM still in a non-stable state ?

    Filter the events on this VM for any errors/warnings during the time of the backup & you may find some relevant events.

  • O_Jay's avatar
    O_Jay
    Level 3
    10 years ago

    They have stayed in stable since the reboot. The job has been hanging now for over an hour.

    In between heaps of "The VSS service is shutting down due to idle timeout" I can see the following:

    Event ID: 0

    Source: BeVssProvider

    Description:

    The description for Event ID 0 from source BeVssProvider cannot be found. Either the component that raises this event is not installed on your local computer or the installation is corrupted. You can install or repair the component on the local computer.

    If the event originated on another computer, the display information had to be saved with the event.

    The following information was included with the event:

    Service stopped

  • pkh's avatar
    pkh
    Moderator
    10 years ago
    Push out the remote agent again to the VM's
  • VJware's avatar
    VJware
    Level 6
    10 years ago

    And for the time being, you could deselect the affected VM from the backup selections, thereby allowing the backup job to complete for the remaining VMs and then focus troubleshooting the issue with this VM.