Renamed VM's not being refreshed in Acronis

Hi TIV,

The list of virtual machines is built by Acronis Agent for VMware component (which can be a virtual appliance or Windows agent), so it makes sense to re-add this Agent in Acronis Management Server list (under Physical Machines list - remove and re-add it back). If this doesn't help then you can re-enable the vCenter integration. Also note that we have just released an update for Acronis Backup 11.5, so it also makes sense to install it on top (there are quite a lot of issues addressed in this build).

Thank you.
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Best regards,
Vasily
Acronis Virtualization Program Manager

Thanks Vasily,

1. I have removed and added back the appliance - did not work.
2. I have disabled and re-enabled vCenter integration - did not work.
3. I have upgraded to ver 11.5.38774 - did not work.

The Old names are still listed.

Vasily, as an Acronis representative, I wouldn't have expected a trial and error response. It makes sense to be able to refresh or re-catalogue - not modify my perfectly working setup (which for once I was happy as it was finally working!)

Is there any other logical solution ?
(note: It displays new VM's, so its updating - just not anything that's been re-named)

Find out which table/s in the SQL DB/s these old name are and rename them. Not a great solution but it would work.

Hi TIV,

It's not yet clear what is exactly registered in Acronis Management Server (i.e. whether you use Windows Agent or Virtual Appliances deployment). I have tried reproducing the issue by renaming the machine in vCenter - but the virtual machines list in Acronis Management Server (AMS) is updated nearly instantly (due to enabled vCenter integration), so the problem is not reproduced. See the screen shot attached (I've renamed VM2 to VM21 and back to VM2). I've even tried disabling vCenter integration and leaving on an appliance registered in AMS (it must be present under Physical Machines list) - in this case the renaming fact is reflected not instantly, but in 1-2 minutes (after appliance re-reads the VM instances)

Can you please attach some screen shots illustrating the issue? I.e. showing the vSphere client with the renamed VM + the AMS GUI to see where exactly you see inconsistency. Also clarify where your virtual appliances (deployed from AMS) are connected to (is it individual host or vCenter?)?

P.S. The AMS SQL database is not related here actually - it is not participating in enumerating VM instances reported from the Agents for VMware (appliances or Windows agents).

Thank you.
--
Best regards,
Vasily
Acronis Virtualization Program Manager

Thanks Vasily.
Sorry If I haven't been clear. We don't use windows agents - we use Virtual Appliances. (Please see Fig3). These were deployed by AMS.
I have 3 VM Hosts - each have a dedicated appliance . These VM Hosts are managed by vCentre.
vCentre integration is enabled (please see fig2).

In Fig3, I have highlighted (i) the renamed VM's in vSphere, (ii) the old names in AMS.

Now, you have mentioned "Physical Machines" again - I don't see this list in AMS.
One potential issue I do see though is in vSphere, under "Acronis virtual appliances", the appliances are listed but in AMS, they do not appear in this list. These appliances are only under the "All machines with Agents" (Fig1) list. Could this be an issue or part of this refresh problem I'm having?

Hi,

Thank you for the provided details. The list of VMs under the vCenter in Acronis Backup interface (shown on your screen shot) comes from the vCenter integration part which is updated right after the changes in vCenter occur. I've even tried connecting to the ESXi host directly instead connecting to vCenter and renaming the VM from there, but still the changes were properly synchronized in Acronis Backup interface (I'm also using the latest Acronis Backup 11.5 Update 4 build as you do).

I've consulted with our developers regarding this issue and the following checks can be made to localize the problem in your environment:

1) Try connecting to each of the virtual appliance directly from console connected to Acronis Management Server (AMS). I.e. go to "all machines with agents", then right click on appliance->"connect directly". Then start creating a new backup plan and check the list of VMs. In each appliance the list of VMs must be the same (since all appliances are connected to vCenter) and the renamed VMs must be with proper new name.
2) Remove all virtual appliances AND disable the vCenter integration. After that restart the management console and check the list of VMs - this would let you check whether there are any "phantom" VMs left there. After this check you can add the appliances back to AMS (to add them use vCenter credentials while adding).
3) Execute the following query to retrieve the list of VMs from the AMS SQL database (assuming that SQL database is on the same machine where you run AMS and the management console):

osql -S .\ACRONIS -E -d acronis_cms -Q "select ID, FullPath from Instance where Type=4"

With the results from these 3 checks please contact our support team, so that we can advise you on further instructions.

What concerns your question: it is normal that the virtual appliances are listed only under "All machines with agents" list - this is not a part of the problem (the appliances are automatically excluded from the list of VMs, i.e. filtered out).

Thank you.
--
Best regards,
Vasily
Acronis Virtualization Program Manager

Thanks Vasily.

My results:
Step 1) Connecting directly to the agent shows the proper (current) VM name.
Step 2) I disabled vCenter integration, restarted AMS - no difference. I didn't remove the appliances again as I didn't want to through configuration items for the time being.
Step 3) SQL results show the old names.

My support agreement has expired so I cant take the Support avenue.
Maybe I could try Kevin Marr's solution.

Hi TIV,

The results you've got show that the problem is in acronis_cms database (the 3rd check), so enabling-disabling integration won't help. The database needs to be cleaned up manually from what I can see, so it makes sense to try Kevin Marr's solution

Still before trying that I'd tried removing/adding the appliances to AMS - the centralized backup plans will be revoked from them at the time of removal, but they will get re-deployed once you add the appliance back to AMS (the local plans will retain on appliance regardles of AMS registration status). This should force the database renewal if you follow the step 2) instructions from my previous comment.

Thank you.
--
Best regards,
Vasily
Acronis Virtualization Program Manager

Hi Vasily,

So I got around to disabling integration and removing the appliances. Restarted server - no Phantoms were present. Added the appliances back - Old names still. Enabled integration - no difference.

I think I'll just take the DB option. Would you know exactly which table I will need to modify.....saves me from searching and going through a trail / error process.

Cheers.

Hi TIV,

The tables should be looked in acronis_cms database - search for "Instance" and "InstanceAspect" tables with Type=4 (this type corresponds the VM instances in the database).

Thank you.
--
Best regards,
Vasily
Acronis Virtualization Program Manager

Hi Vasily,

The INSTANCE table contains the OLD VM names. Please see attached Instance.png.
I have also attached interesting results from the INSTANCE ASPECT table. There you will find Old names 'AND' the new names.
The old names are assigned to host id 00000000-0000-000..... Should I delete these as I don't have hosts with this ID and should I rename the VM's in the INSTANCE table?

I have attached the MACHINE and AGENT INFO tables as well. It seems I have redundant data here too.
Can I clean by deleting:
1. First row of the MACHINES table and its corresponding record in the AGENT INFO Info table?
2. Any duplicate records in the AGENT INFO table.

Thanks in advance.

Hi TIV,

Here's what should be done (the problematic instances are with host ID 00000-00... as you correctly noticed):

1) Disable vCenter integration on Acronis Management Server (AMS)
2) Stop AMS service
3) Execute the following SQL queries:

delete from InstanceAspect where HostID='00000000-000....'
delete from Instance where HostID='00000000-000....'

(of course HostID value should not be shortcut in the commands)

4) Start AMS

After these steps the things should get back to normal.

Thank you.
--
Best regards,
Vasily
Acronis Virtualization Program Manager

Perfect. All sorted Vasily. Thank you.