Is GRT supported for Windows Server 2003?

[Artegic]

BackupExec 2012 Rev. 1798 64 Bit with Service Pack 3 running on Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard, backing up an ESXi host hosting a mix of Linux and Windows VMs, regularly complains for the single VM running Windows Server 2003:

V-79-57344-38727 - Backup Exec konnte nicht die zur Wiederherstellung individueller Anwendungsobjekte erforderlichen Metadaten für den virtuellen Computer '\(DC)ha-datacenter(DC)\vm\pandora steps' abrufen. Sie können von diesem Backup keine GRT-Wiederherstellung von Anwendungsdaten erstellen.

(Translation: V-79-57344-38727 - Backup Exec was unable to collect the necessary metadata to restore individual application items for virtual machine '\(DC)ha-datacenter(DC)\vm\pandora steps'. You cannot perform GRT-enabled restores of application data from this backup.)

Both VMware Tools and RAWS are installed, up to date and running on the VM. Testing the identification data and creating a trusted connection succeeds. I searched the KB and forum and found some references to GRT not being supported for Windows XP, but nothing comparable on Server 2003.

Is this supposed to work? Or should I move that VM to the group of VMs to be backed up without GRT?

TIA,
Tilman

[Sush---]

Hello Tilma,

   Yes. This should work unless there is some other configuration which is not mentioned above. GRT is supported for Win 2003 with SP2.

Regards,

-Sush...

[Colin_Weaver]

Does this 2003 server actually run an Application (such as Exchnage or SQL) or are you asking about file system GRT?

If you are only trying to get file system GRT then put the server in it's own job and uncheck the GRT settings relating to applications (leaving the generic one enabled for the file system)

If you are trying to do application GRT then the remote agent must be installed inside the VM and it must be trusted to the media server (run a remote agent job of some files from inside the VM as a test for proving the trust setup).

DNS resolution to the VM must also work and you can't use a segregated network as we must have a route to the network of the VM itself.

Also as Application GRT needs access inside the VM, if this access is a different domain from the media server you may have to specifically define the correct credentials against the VM itself in the backup job.

[Artegic]

Thanks for the quick replies.

The server in question ist hosting a Microsoft SQL database. This is my reason for wanting GRT.

The VM is a member of the same AD domain as the media server. Both is connected to the same LAN segment. DNS forward and reverse lookup of each machine on the other works correctly. Both machines are able to ping each other by name and by IP address.

The Remote Agent is installed inside the VM. I re-ran the "Set up trusted connection" command on the VM in the Backup Exec console and it reported no error so I assume the trust is established.

A test backup of C:\Temp ran without a problem. I have now started a full backup (file system, SQL Server instance and System State) which so far also seems to run fine, currently reporting an estimated remaining time of 55 minutes. (Which in my experience doesn't include the time for the System State backup.)

[Artegic]

After slightly more than twice the estimated time, the full backup test has completed, reporting the following errors and warnings:

V-79-57344-65266 - Snapshot: Initialisierungsfehler auf: "PANDORA.artegic.local\MSSQLSERVER". Snapshot: Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS).
V-79-10000-10892 - SQL 2000 kann nur Snapshots von mehreren Datenbanken gleichzeitig erstellen, wenn Service Pack 2 oder höher installiert ist.

(Snapshot: initialization error. SQL 2000 can only create snapshots from multiple databases simultaneously if Service Pack 2 or higher is installed.)

Shadow Copy-Writer Internet Information Services
V-79-57344-65245 - Beim Zugreifen auf die Objektliste trat ein Fehler auf.

(There was an error accessing the object list.)

Element \\PANDORA.artegic.local\System?State\Internet Information Services\IISMETABASE wird gerade benutzt - übersprungen.

(IISMETABASE is in use - skipped.)

Does any of these explain the original "unable to collect the necessary metadata" message?

Thanks,
Tilman

[Artegic · Accepted solution]

I assume Backup Exec does not support SQL Server 2000 MSDE. Unfortunately I cannot upgrade it as it is part of a legacy application.

I have now disabled Application GRT for that server and installed a local backup procedure that creates daily database dumps as a workaround.