Error e0008492 when backing up selected SQL 2000 databases

[Andy_Booth]

I have just upgraded from Backup Exec 10.d Sp1 + HF42 to SP2 + HF43.

I now have a total of 5 databases (2 on 2 servers, 1 on another) that fail to backup since installing the above updates, pushing the updated RA & rebooting both media & remote servers. The other databases on those servers backup fine.

I am running windows 2003 SP1 (32bit) throughout, with ONLY SQL 2000 on my database servers. None of my servers is running any 64bit software and no changes have been made to their config (other than the RA push install) in weeks.

The exact error i get is "Final error: 0xe0008492 - Database Query Failure. See the job log for details.
Final error category: Resource Errors
For additional information regarding this error refer to link V-79-57344-33938" with the following entries in the set detail: "An error occurred on a query to database The item \ in use - skipped."

I have read all of the technotes under "V-79-57344-33938", so please do not refer me to them.

Our SQL DBA can find no difference between the databases that DO backup fine and the databases that DON'T on the same server.

Clearly something has changed in Backup Exec 10.d SP2 and/or HF43 as this situation was not present before installing them.
Clearly there is no server-wide SQL 2000, MDAC or other problem as this would result in backups of ALL databases on a server failing.

I have already searched google (web and groups) - there are plenty of people with similar problems but no answers from Symantec.

Once again, please do not simply refer me to a technote as I have already read them and NONE OF THEM APPLY TO MY CURRENT SITUATION. Apologies for re-stating, but the other posts i found on this subject all had references to technotes even though the author clearly stated that they'd already read them.

Thanks in advance,
AB

[Andy_Booth]

answered my own question:

I enabled maximum debug logging on the remote agent on the offending database servers & found a "too many backslashes in path" error.

Sure enough, the db and/or log path for all the offending databases did have an instance of "\\" in it.

I detached & attached those databases ensuring that "\\" was changed to "\" throughout then ran a successful test backup.

The database and log paths had not changed for weeks (months?).
Both SQL 2000 and Backupexec 10.d Sp1 (with all the pre-sp2 hotfixes) were happy with the double backslashes.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

It means that Veritas have changed the behaviour of the remote agent and/or media server application in SP2 and/or Hotfix 43 (installed them both together so can't tell which is responsible) WITHOUT DOCUMENTING THE CHANGE!

Nice one Symantec, as if i didn't have enough work to do already without clearing up your mess...

[jesus_asphalt]

I had similar problems where I was using a policy file to create the backup jobs.

It kept failing and wouldn't fix until I made the MS SQL jobs their own job with no other selections on a clustered MSSQL server.

Good work on finding the -specific- issue.

[Jeff_Zankofsky]

There was an issue with restoring SQL backups that used VSS when a "\\" was in the db path. This was resolved in hf 37 (included in SP2) TN: 284887 describes this issue. The hotfix forces the job to fail when it runs into invalid paths. VSS or normal agent backup will both fail now until the path is changed.


Thanks,
Jeff

[Andy_Booth]

I only install individual hotfixes if they fix issues I'm experiencing or if they're pre-reqs for such hotfixes.

HF 37 was one of the hotfixes i did not previously install as i didn't have the problem it "fixed" (though simply forcing an error state without clear signposts for databases & logs that SQL 2000 considers valid is hardly a fix is it? Couldn't you simply parse the paths and auto-correct them on the fly?) Fixing one thing and breaking another - reminds me of the beast of Redmond...

Perhaps Symantec could update the automated error messages to highlight this problem rather than sending users on a "V-79-57344-33938" wild goose chase. Even adding HF37 to the list of pages returned by a search for this error would have helped.

My backups now work fine.

[Christian_Meyer]

I get the same error message when backing up a MS-SQL (MSDE) 2000 Database. I still have installed the Servicepack 2 (to that effect the Hotfix 37 as well).

What do you mean with: "I detached & attached those databases ensuring that "\\" was changed to "\" throughout then ran a successful test backup."
How can I do this? Veritas Backup Server is installed on the same server as my SQL database so I don't need a veritas remote agent. The SQL-Server was installed automatically with one application, so I had no chance to configure some '\\' or '\'...

Thank you in advanced for your help.

Christian

[Andy_Booth]

You can attach & detach databases in the SQL Enterprise manager | SQL Server | Databases | right click menu.

Note the database and log paths before detaching.
Once detached, check those paths (in the database property panels) for "\\" and delete extra "\"s

Then attach the database using the same right-click menu as you used for detaching it.

Make sure it's not live first of course!

HTH