VSS Warning when Backing Up SQL Server - VmProtect 9

Hi Brian,

The warning indicates that the VSS inside the guest OS had not processed the Microsoft SQL Server VSS writer during quiescing (i.e. we couldn't find this writer metadata inside vss_manifests*.zip file). It might be that there is an exclusion added in vmbackup.conf file which is parsed by VMware tools inside the VM: http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cm… . You should check it out whether there are any specific exclusions added there. If it doesn't help then you should check the contents of vss_manifests*.zip file which is generated on the datastore in the VM config folder after performing quiesced snapshot of this VM (all can be done through vSphere client - see details on vss_manifests*.zip capturing here: http://kb.acronis.com/content/31347 ). The vss_manifests*.zip generated after quiesced snapshot contain the metadata of all processed VSS writers inside the system.

What concerns the vCenter integration plug-in question: that's basically a limitation of the vSphere client itself - the download requests passed from vmProtect web console cannot be processed in vSphere client unfortunatly, so download of files + logs won't work here. You should use the standard web console of vmProtect, i.e. run it in a browser.

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

vssadmin list writers output includes the SQL writer with no errors.

2012 Server (with warning on backup job)

Writer name: 'SqlServerWriter'
Writer Id: {a65faa63-5ea8-4ebc-9dbd-a0c4db26912a}
Writer Instance Id: {c36fac7f-be1d-4da7-81a3-66d43597b6db}
State: [1] Stable
Last error: No error

2008 R2 Server (no warning on backup job)

Writer name: 'SqlServerWriter'
Writer Id: {a65faa63-5ea8-4ebc-9dbd-a0c4db26912a}
Writer Instance Id: {6d227c06-11fe-416a-956b-7132a38e53bc}
State: [1] Stable
Last error: No error

The 2008 R2 server also includes

Writer name: 'ADAM (VMwareVCMSDS) Writer'
Writer Id: {dd846aaa-a1b6-42a8-aaf8-03dcb6114bfd}
Writer Instance Id: {48f80df4-5958-46c2-973c-96163ed3672e}
State: [1] Stable
Last error: No error

But the 2012 server does not have this writer listed.

The vss_manifests*.zip file that gets created when I take a quiesced snapshot includes one file (backup.xml) which has one line:

I guess I'll try uninstalling and reinstalling VMware Tools on the Server 2012 VM.

Edit: Uninstalled and reinstalled VMware Tools on the VM, and the vss_manifests*.zip that gets created still only has backup.xml with that single line in it (with a different snapshotSetId of course). Is this normal?

Hi Brian,

The fact that backup.xml is empty means that quiescing inside the VM actually didn't happen (i.e. VSS was not used at all). There are certain vSphere limitations for Windows Server 2008 R2+ guest systems (including Windows Server 2012) during quiescing which are listed here:

http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-50/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.vmware.datarec…

Quote: For application-consistent quiescing to be available, three conditions must be met:

■ The UUID (disk.EnableUUID=true) attribute must be enabled. This is enabled by default on virtual machines created on ESX 4.1 and later hosts. For virtual machines created on other hosts, complete the procedure "Enable Windows 2008 Virtual Machine Application Consistent Quiescing" (http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-50/topic/com.vmware.datarecovery.admin.d… ).
■ The virtual machine must use only SCSI disks. For example, application-consistent quiescing is not supported for virtual machines with IDE disks. There must as many free SCSI slots in the virtual machine as the number of disks. For example, if there are 8 SCSI disks on SCSI adapter 1, there are not enough SCSI slots free to perform application quiescing.
■ The virtual machine must not use dynamic disks.

From what I saw - in all cases when vss_manifest contents were empty the reason was one of the above (or VMware tools corrupt installation, where it was installed without VSS support for example).

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

Thanks for the reply.

disk.EnabledUUID should be set to true. This VM was created on ESXi 5.0 U2 using Virtual Machine Version 8. I tried manually specifying it anyway, and it made no difference.

The VM has the default SCSI controller with no sharing, and a single hard disk with the following configuration:
200 GB Thin Provision
SCSI (0:0) Hard disk 1
NOT Independent

The disk is configured as simple and basic within the guest Windows installation, and has the following structure.
System Reserved: 350 MB NTSF - Layout: Simple - Type: Basic
C: 100 GB NTSF - Layout: Simple - Type: Basic
100 GB Unallocated

The virtual machine is using the same setup as another 2012 VM server (built from the same template). The other 2012 server seems to work fine when being backed up - there are no warnings. It runs Active Directory and DNS, but not SQL Server. Its vss_manifests*.zip also contains just the backup.xml file with the following:
<?xml version="1.0"?>

I checked the vss_manifests*.zip file from one of our 2008 servers and it has more in it (files for the various writers). So I'm not sure if the other 2012 server is being quiesced properly or not. vSphere shows no warnings when I take a snapshot with the quiescing option checked.

I've already tried uninstalling and reinstalling VMWare tools, but it made no difference.

Could it be that ESXi 5.0 U2 doesn't support application-consistent quiescing on Windows Server 2012?
The 5.1 documentation lists 2012, but the 5.0 documentation doesn't.
http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-51/topic/com.vmware.vddk.pg.doc/vddkBkup…

Hi Brian,

According to http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cm… :

"ESXi 5.0 and later support application quiesced snapshots for Windows 2012. This requires the new disk.enableUUID parameter to be added to the virtual machine's .vmx configuration file to enable or disable the feature. When the parameter is enabled, you must reboot the virtual machine to ensure that the disk UUID/Serial Number is also populated as it is required for application snapshots."

From my experience the disk.EnableUUID parameter could be case-sensitive depending on vSphere version and where "disk.enableUUID" doesn't work - the "diskEnableUUID" spelling will. There is no confirmation of this theory from VMware, but that's what I saw (consider it as a rumor) :)

The vss_manifest.zip besides the backup.xml must contain writer*.xml files for each processed VSS writer inside the quiesced VM. So in your case you should get similar output for both Win Server 2012 and 2008 systems (for 2008 system you get the correct results).

I'd compared the .vmx files of working (2008) and non-working (2012) systems to see if there is something overlooked there in the spelling of parameters. Another thing to check is that there is "VMWare Snapshot Provider" service installed inside the guest OS (this service is responsible for VSS processing through VMware Tools) + there is "VMware Snapshot Provider" COM+ component (Win+R->comexp.msc) in component services - see attached screen shot.

If nothing of the above doesn't help, then I'd recommended to get in touch with VMware support who should be able to assist.

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

HI,

can you take a look at the timesettings?
I had a problem with VSS/SQL-VDI on an Server 2008 R2 with SQL 2008 R2.
When i run the task it failed everytime for the first try. Wehen i run the task 5minutes later it backuped the server.
Any snapshot form sphereclient was ok.
I searched a lot oft time.

Prolem was, that on ESXi Host had an incorret time, the time was 10minutes in the future.
I set the correct time an the backup runs fine.

The time is correct. All our stuff syncs with a local NTP server.
The VMware Snapshot Provider service is installed (and set to manual startup).
The VMware Snapshot Provider COM+ component also exists.
I manually specified "disk.EnableUUID" with a value of "true" (both copied and pasted from the Configuration Parameters window).
I don't see any obvious differences in the vmx files. The 2012 server has the stuff for vm.genid that the 2008 server doesn't have, but it all looks normal.

I've posted at the VMware forums, but have yet to receive any response.

Could this be a version related issue? Has anyone tried this yet with an updated one?

I haven't upgraded to the new build yet, but I didn't see anything about it in the patch notes.
We also haven't upgraded to ESXi 5.1 (or 5.5...) yet.