Standalone backup agent for Microsoft Windows servers and workstations (formerly Veeam Endpoint Backup FREE)
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helpmhost
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Bare metal recovery "failed to parse shadow volumes layout xml"

Post by helpmhost »

Hi,

I've copied a backup created with the veeam agent to a usb hard drive. I then created a recovery media usb stick and booted a different computer with it.

Once booted, if I go to tools and then open the command prompt, I can see the backup files in the F drive (the usb hard drive). However, if I go to Bare Metal Recovery, I get a "Failed to parse shadow volumes layout XML" error. You can see a picture of the full error below.

Thanks.

Image
Dima P.
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Re: Bare metal recovery "failed to parse shadow volumes layout xml"

Post by Dima P. »

Hello and welcome to the community helpmhost!

Can you please clarify what file have been copied to the USB drive (i.e. do have vbk + vbm files in the folder)? Thanks!
helpmhost
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Re: Bare metal recovery "failed to parse shadow volumes layout xml"

Post by helpmhost »

The usb drie has vbk and vib files. I tried putting them in the root of the drive as well as in VeeamBackup\Backupjobname
Dima P.
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Re: Bare metal recovery "failed to parse shadow volumes layout xml"

Post by Dima P. »

In order to restore from the backup you must have entire backup chain with the metadata file (so there should be .vbk + .vib + vbm files in the directory you are restoring from). Can you please check the original backup location and copy all the backup files if you have them? Thanks!
helpmhost
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Re: Bare metal recovery "failed to parse shadow volumes layout xml"

Post by helpmhost »

I just added the vmb file and it does the same thing. Could it be related to the partitioning?

The drive is using a GUID Partition Table, it has a 200MB reserved EFI System partition. And finally 930 TB NTFS partition with the recovery files. When I open the command prompt after booting from the recovery media, I do see the files, so I suspect it has booted with the necessary drivers to see NTFS and this type of partition scheme.

Another thing to note is the hardware is very different. Backup was done on a proper rack mounted server and trying the restore on an old desktop machine
Dima P.
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Re: Bare metal recovery "failed to parse shadow volumes layout xml"

Post by Dima P. »

No, partitioning should not be the root cause. Can you raise a support case please and share the case ID? Thank you in advance!
helpmhost
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Re: Bare metal recovery "failed to parse shadow volumes layout xml"

Post by helpmhost »

Here is the case ID: 03543337.
gigcitycloud
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Re: Bare metal recovery "failed to parse shadow volumes layout xml"

Post by gigcitycloud »

I had the same error with a similar issue. I was working on a laptop that I backed up, created new restore media, replaced HDD with SSD and then booted from recovery media and received this error when I clicked on "Bare Metal Restore". I cleared all the partitions on the SSD (appears it was previously used and was already partitioned and contained data). Once I cleared all the partitions on the SSD, I could move forward with the Bare Metal Restore without issue. HTH!
Dima P.
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Re: Bare metal recovery "failed to parse shadow volumes layout xml"

Post by Dima P. »

Dave,

Thanks for sharing this information with the community. I'll pass this feedback to RnD team, cheers!
helpmhost
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Re: Bare metal recovery "failed to parse shadow volumes layout xml"

Post by helpmhost » 1 person likes this post

Thanks. Removing all partitions solved the problem.
MaximillianC
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Re: Bare metal recovery "failed to parse shadow volumes layout xml"

Post by MaximillianC » 1 person likes this post

Thanks for posting that. I also am now stuck on this error, but with Veeam Agent for Windows. What seems to be happening is, Veeam is getting a list of volumes and partitions, and either receiving them as XML, or trying to store them as XML, but the XML parser chokes on the invalid characters in the partition name(s). When I look at the XML and error message Veeam Agent provides in my case, I can see that the names of two of my partitions have invalid characters ("hexadecimal value 0xFFFF") in them. In my case, I cannot simply delete these partitions to solve this issue. For instance, one is my C: drive/system partition. So I unfortunately need to correct this naming issue, rather than blowing away the partitions.

There seems to be a pattern that people having this issue recently used EaseUS products (Disk Copy, Partition Master, etc.) to make changes to drives/partitions, as I did. Was this the case with you, as well? I have submitted this info to EaseUS support, in hopes they fix the issue soon, as it appears to have been a bug since at least March 2016. In the meantime, it appears you can use a tool to rename the partition, and clear out the invalid characters, rather than just deleting the partition altogether. I am trying to do that now, using GParted, but another person on an Acer thread said he solved it using a tool called GPT fdisk. I am going to try GParted first, as I'm familiar with it, and it's been around and in wide use for many years now. If it doesn't work, I'll write back, or edit this. But I just wanted people to know there's a less-destructive solution to this than deleting the offending partition(s). :D

Regards,

Maximillian C.
getontoit
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Re: Bare metal recovery "failed to parse shadow volumes layout xml"

Post by getontoit »

Thanks Maximillian, for this information.

I had used EaseUS Todo Backup to copy a partition 3 days ago, then noticed that my Veeam Agent backups were failing. Trying to edit the backup job caused the same "failed to parse shadow volumes layout xml" error.

I used GParted to give all partitions names, where required. This resolved the error and now the backups work again!
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