11639: Can't Upgrade my Management Server

Hello Jason Bottjen,

Thank you for posting. I will certainly assist you with this.

I have checked the msi log that you included in your support case, and it looks like the installation is failing because the user under which the Acronis Management Server has been installed under has been changed, or that user does not have correct access to the SQL database that is used by our Management Server.

I would like to clarify the following please. When you installed build 11345, under which user the Acronis Management Server was running? Could you check this please?

Did you use our SQL Express 2005 Server when installing the Management Server or something else?

The current user under which you are trying to update to build 11345, does he have the correct access to the SQL server?

If you still fail to resolve the issue, in addition to the msi log that you have submitted, can you also add a Windows System Information File and Windows Event Logs in EVT format (Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Event Viewer).

Let me know if you have additional questions please.

Thank you.

I do not know for sure which account was used to install 11345. Is there a way to check this? I know which user the Management Server service is running as, though.

All accounts I tried to use for the upgrade to 11639 are domain (and local) administrators, and both have full access to the external SQL Server and its databases.

We use external full SQL Server 2005 for the database, not the Express version.

One thing I did notice on my SQL Server side, though, is that it looks like the upgrade is trying to connect to my SQL Server with a blank account name. I have no idea why! See below (I removed the IP address info):
First error I see:
SSPI handshake failed with error code 0x8009030c while establishing a
connection with integrated security; the connection has been closed.
[CLIENT: zzz.zzz.zzz.zzz]

Second error I see:
Login failed for user ''. The user is not associated with a trusted SQL
Server connection. [CLIENT: zzz.zzz.zzz.zzz]

Hello Jason Bottjen,

Thank you for your reply.

At this moment it is not clear why this issue is occurring. I have checked your case with our experienced support engineers, and they are currently working on a solution.

If you need additional assistance or have any other questions, please do not hesitate to ask!

Thank you.

We are experiencing this same issue. The failed installation has also broken the AMS. I had to recover it from a previous image.

I think there is a bug in the installation that is preventing the installation on remote sql server installations. I know the credentials and even though the proper credentials are entered in in the installation wizard, the installation fails with the SSPI handshake failed with error code 0x8009030c. Research on this indicates that the wrong credentials are being sent to our SQL Server from the acronis installation despite having the correct ones entered in the Wizard.

I have two cases logged with acronis. No one seems to be working very hard on the issue though as I have not heard anything for several hours.

I'll post back if I find a work around. This update was suppose to fix some other problems we are having, but now I wonder. If they can't even get the installation correct....

That is what I'm seeing too (SSPI error). And I agree it looks to me like an installer issue. Their suggestion to me was to make the account a sysadmin on the SQL side, which I did and still got the same error.

My logs when I get the SSPI error indicate that the installer is trying to connect to the database as a null/blank ("") user name, which is causing the error.

Their final response to me was to uninstall the software, and reinstall it. But I'm not sure what that would do to my backup policies, etc - so I haven't done that yet. I sent them a followup email asking what that would do to my settings. Not sure if they would maintain since the database is external, or if I would lose everything and have to start over from scratch (unacceptable).

Jason

My understanding is that we would have to start over from scratch. Even though the settings are stored externally, if the installation can't connect to the database, then it can't make the necessary changes to the existing databases.

I don't know what happens when you try to connect a client that already has backup policies to a server that has no backup policies. If I uninstall then install the latest version, the server will be newer than the clients AND the clients will have polices that came from an older version of server. Sounds like a bad mix to me.

I was told to uninstall as well. We have nearly 100 machines connected so I'm not liking that option either. I think I will keep pressuring for a fix. Uninstall seems like an unacceptable solution to me as well.

Have you entered a support ticket? If so, I say we keep emailing support until one of us gets a formal response from support.

If I get a response, I'll post it here as soon as I get it.

Brian

Hello all,

Thank you very much for your feedback. It is currently unclear why these issues occur, if they are specifically related to updating to the latest build or not.

I have found your cases in our database, and they have been escalated to our Expert team. I already notified our Management team to speed up the resolution process.

Jason Bottjen, if you decide to completely uninstall the software, your backup policies will be lost.

Please do not hesitate to ask additional questions and if you have any other issues, please let me know.

Thank you.

Anton -

This is definitely related to the upgrade. There are no communcation issues between acronis and sql server EXCEPT during upgrade. I can see event logs as follows when the upgrade fails. It seems clear to me that the acronis installation is passing bad credentials to the sql server. For the Domain event, error 0x18 is a Bad Password User Name failure. Funny thing is, Acronis verifies credentials in the wizard when they are provided. (This is if you run the AcronisServerManagementServer.msi directly). If you just let the exe run the update, there is no prompt for credentials so who knows what acronis is sending. The SQL Server events are defenitely suspect with the empty string for user name.

I'm fairly confident at this point Aconis distributed bad install package.

This should be enough information to find a resolution to the issue. Please Please Please expedite this, I have a TON of other stuff to work on besides debugging Acronis.

From our SQL Server Machine
Login failed for user ''. The user is not associated with a trusted SQL Server connection. [CLIENT: 172.16.0.36]
SSPI handshake failed with error code 0x8009030c while establishing a connection with integrated security; the connection has been closed. [CLIENT: 172.16.0.36]

Accompanying Logs from Domain Controller

Kerberos pre-authentication failed.

Account Information:
Security ID: VALUEPLASTICS\acronisservices
Account Name: acronisservices

Service Information:
Service Name: krbtgt/VALUEPLASTICS

Network Information:
Client Address: ::ffff:172.16.0.36
Client Port: 4908

Additional Information:
Ticket Options: 0x40810010
Failure Code: 0x18
Pre-Authentication Type: 2

Hello all,

I just wanted to provide you with a small update regarding your cases. They are both under the ownership of our Expert team support engineers and they will update on the status of the issue very soon.

Please let me know if you have additional questions.

Thank you.

Hello all,

I would like to update this thread with some information regarding this issue.

It appears that this issue occurs when trying to update from build 11345 to build 11639. When the Acronis Management Server fails to install it returns the following error message:

1: MSIGEN:Database installer: Login failed for user ''. The user is not associated with 
a trusted SQL Server connection.
Additional info: 
--------------------
Error code: 18452
Module: 127
LineInfo: c131f5921ff77364
Fields: 
Message: Login failed for user ''. The user is not associated with a trusted SQL Server connection.
-------------------- 

Our Quality and Assurance team have not yet reproduced this issue but I would like to provide you with a workaround for this.

Simply uninstall the Acronis Management Server from Add/Remove programs and then install it from the latest build. We have verified this and this procedure does not remove the SQL Server that your are using and it keeps your existing backup policies.

When re-installing the Management Server, simply point to the SQL Server that you were using with the previous build.

If you have any other questions, please let me know.

Thank you.

Hi Anton -

I have a couple of questions.

First, if you were not able to reproduce the problem, how were you able to generate the error message and paste it in this thread?

Second, I have already tried uninstalling and re-installing AMS and this procedure DID delete all policies and attached machines.

Third, why would you say that it does not delete the policies now, when in an earlier post on this thread you said it WOULD delete the polices?

In fact, when I tried your suggestions while working with a support engineer, the installation put the databases in such a state that no physical pc's were attached to the server and ALL backup policies were gone. When I tried to attach a PC, I got a database duplicate key violation error message even though the physical machines tree view was empty. I had to recover the AMS server from a previous image and recover the databases manually from a previous image and re-attach them. Additionally, my OPERATIONAL database is local on the AMS server and my REPORTING databases are on a separate server as per best practices suggestions (becuase reporting databases get large) from installation documents AND installation help files. Uninstalling the server seems to uninstall the operational database but keep the reporting databases and upgrade them causing data relational issues.

Here is the part of the chat with the support engineer. The first uninstall and install had failed just prior to this.

Technician: I think Acronis Management Server is not installed correctly. Is it possible to uninstall it and re-install it with the latest build. Once you uninstall. Please logoff and login to the machine to start installation.
ME: ok
ME: uninstalling.
Technician: Thank you.
ME: installing
ME: restarting.
Technician: I see.
ME: After rebooting I can not connect to the management server
ME: I receive an error, failed to establish connection
ME: the required service is not started
Technician: I see. Please logoff and login again. Also restart all Acronis services in services.msc
ME: ok
ME: I was able to connect
ME: however, all my history, computers and policies are gone.
ME: at this point I guess I will just re-image the server from last nights backup
Technician: Absolutely.
Technician: I apologize for that. Please send me the MSI logs so that I can discuss it with TIER 2 and engage TIER 2 assistance in this case.

This solution does not work. Please keep working toward a solution. Also I have not heard from one single TIER 2 support technician since I logged these cases 4 days ago. I have not heard from an expert engineer either.

Thanks for posting an update, but please keep working on this. There are patches in version 11639 that are suppose to fix problems I'm having in 11345. Rebuilding all my policies and reattaching all my clients and reassigning all my policies is not an acceptable work around.

Hello CIS Admin,

Thank you for getting back to me.

I am very sorry for all the trouble. We got the logs from one of our cases. We are confident that we will be able to reproduce this issue, and we have also tested the workaround that I suggested in my previous post.

In my post that your refer to, I wrote about complete uninstallation of the software. It is currently unknown why the backup policies were lost in your case, it is possible it could have occurred when you were working with our Chat support engineers. I would recommend to work with our Expert engineer on this.

I have notified our Management team about your escalated case and we will take care of it as soon as possible. Please accept my apologies for the delay.

Let me know if you have additional questions.

Thank you.

Thanks Anton. I Appreciate your help!

After backing up both the management server and the databases, I tried this procedure. I can confirm that in my case it worked correctly.

Steps I did:
1. Backed everything up
2. Uninstalled management server on my server
3. Reboot
4. Installed new Management Server on server
4a. Specified my external SQL server as database location
4b. When asked to use existing databases or overwrite, I chose use existing

After another reboot, all of my machines showed up in the management console, all backup policies were intact.

Thanks,
Jason

Anton wrote:

Hello all,

I would like to update this thread with some information regarding this issue.

It appears that this issue occurs when trying to update from build 11345 to build 11639. When the Acronis Management Server fails to install it returns the following error message:

1: MSIGEN:Database installer: Login failed for user ''. The user is not associated with 
a trusted SQL Server connection.
Additional info: 
--------------------
Error code: 18452
Module: 127
LineInfo: c131f5921ff77364
Fields: 
Message: Login failed for user ''. The user is not associated with a trusted SQL Server connection.
-------------------- 

Our Quality and Assurance team have not yet reproduced this issue but I would like to provide you with a workaround for this.

Simply uninstall the Acronis Management Server from Add/Remove programs and then install it from the latest build. We have verified this and this procedure does not remove the SQL Server that your are using and it keeps your existing backup policies.

When re-installing the Management Server, simply point to the SQL Server that you were using with the previous build.

If you have any other questions, please let me know.

Thank you.

Hello Jason Bottjen,

Thank you very much for providing us with this helpful workaround!

I will also update this thread once there is a fix or any other update available.

Thank you.

Hello

Here are the two bugs I've found.

1) Acronis Update sends the wrong crendentials to a remote sql server database during update. Uninstalling and forcing Aronis to INSTALL rather than update MAY work, IF YOUR DATABASES ARE INSTALLED ON C: of your remote server.
2) If your databases are installed in a different location than default, then Acronis will DROP your existing databases and CREATE NEW DATABASES and never prompt to use the existing ones!

My guess is the acronis install does not ask to use the existing databases becuase Acronis has hard coded the installation location. Since my databases are NOT in the hard coded location, the installation ASSUMES overwrite and does a DROP / ADD to the databases rather than an update.

I'm in situation 2. That is why unstalling and re-installing AMS does not work for me and I loose all my policies and client computers. Additionally my databases are too big to put back on C:. (Even if I could, I wouldn't put them there. That violates every best practice I've read for SQL Server.)

So what do I do now?

Hello CIS Admin,

Thank you for getting back to us.

I am very sorry but right now our Expert team is working with our Development team to resolve this specific issue that you are experiencing.

As soon as we have a solution or a workaround for you, our Expert support engineer, who is in charge of your case will update you.

I would also like to post a small update about this issue for our forum community.

To successfully update to the latest build (11639) without the need for uninstalling the AMS or the whole software package, please make sure of the following:

 - Install the update under the account which is used to connect to the SQL Server.

 or

 - Install the update under the account which was originally used to install the software.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Thank you.

Thank You Anton.

You are correct. I have ensured that I'm using the correct accounts.

Hello -

I was able to backup and shrink the reporting databases and log files and move them to C:. Then I performed the upgrade. Unfortunately, even though the upgrade "succeeded", none of my machines were able to connect to the server after the upgrade. I thought this was maybe due to an agent version difference (understable) so I upgraded a couple of machines agents. However they still weren’t able to connect. I actually had to remove the machines from AMS and re-add them. Then the machines would connect, but my existing backup policies would not re-deploy to the upgraded machines (deleting a machine from AMS causes the policy to be revoked). The product unusable in this state. So once again I'm recovering the sever and databases back to 11345.

Thanks.