Agent-based backup of Windows, Linux, Max, AIX and Solaris machines.
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stardothosting
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Unable to install backup agent : Unable to get BIOS UUID

Post by stardothosting »

Support case # 02468064

Hello,

Just installed Backup & Replication v9.5 (9.5.0.1536). I added a linux
server, tested credentials, and attempted to create a backup job.

The "rescan" always seems to fail with the following error message :

Code: Select all

Unable to install backup agent : cannot connect to <HOSTNAME> Error: Unable 
to get BIOS UUID 
Connectivity is confirmed (can telnet to hostname + port), credentials are
confirmed. What could be the problem? How do I troubleshoot such a generic
error message?
Dima P.
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Re: Unable to install backup agent : Unable to get BIOS UUID

Post by Dima P. »

Hello stardothosting,

Unfortunately, cant say much about this error. Kindly keep working with our support team and let us know how it goes.
jochot
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Re: Unable to install backup agent : Unable to get BIOS UUID

Post by jochot »

I've got the same error on a test machine, didn't try it on my productive system yet.
Using Veeam B&R 9.5 Update 3 and a (clean) Debian7.1. Had Veeam agent installed before, tried updating and this error came up.
Removed the VAL and it's the same error (obviously)
PTide
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Re: Unable to install backup agent : Unable to get BIOS UUID

Post by PTide »

Hi jochot,

It's likely to be a bug. Please open a support case so the team can confirm it, and post your case ID. When you contact support team you can mention that your case is likely to be related to another case, and it would be beneficial for both parties if they could pass it directly to the owner of the case # 02433497.

Thanks
jochot
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Re: Unable to install backup agent : Unable to get BIOS UUID

Post by jochot »

Opened a case: #02478576
drconner
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Re: Unable to install backup agent : Unable to get BIOS UUID

Post by drconner »

Ran into the same issue. Opened case with support (02456223) and was told that this is a bug. Was advised to go back to managing/running backups from physical server.

Hopefully the next release will work as advertised.
PTide
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Re: Unable to install backup agent : Unable to get BIOS UUID

Post by PTide »

Hi,
Hopefully the next release will work as advertised.
VBR requires managed host to provide its BIOS UUID. If BIOS UUID cannot be obtained neither via dmidecode, nor from /sys/class/dmi/id/product_uuid, then VBR won't be able to install the agent and put the host into a managed mode. That might happen on some VPS systems, for example. Would you provide more details on your setup please?

Thanks
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Re: Unable to install backup agent : Unable to get BIOS UUID

Post by danypd69 »

Hello, I have just installed the trial version and I get the same error.
The host that I'm trying to add is a centos6 machine on KVM hypervisor (Proxmox).

the file /sys/class/dmi/id/product_uuid does not exists and

Code: Select all

# dmidecode|grep -i uuid 
  UUID: Not Settable
How can I fix this problem?
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Re: Unable to install backup agent : Unable to get BIOS UUID

Post by Dima P. »

Hello Daniele.

This might be a known issue, so please open a support case and share the case ID. Thank you.
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Re: Cannot install agent / no DMI UUID / Case # 02691539

Post by techcat »

Issue has been known for months - just received a response to my follow-up ticket (#02691539) and was told this is is a known limitation. Agent for Linux 2.0 system requirements (https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/agent ... tml?ver=20) have been amended after people started to ask about this issue:
** Required for Veeam Agent management — a valid UUID must be obtainable either from dmidecode | grep -i uuid or from /sys/class/dmi/id/product_uuid.
Doesn't seem quite fair to add a requirement after customers have already bought licenses not knowing about this. Afterall, manageability through B&R is the most important new feature in v2.

Can you confirm that this is being worked on? Developing an alternative for a DMI-provided UUID is not rocket science ...
PTide
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Re: Unable to install backup agent : Unable to get BIOS UUID

Post by PTide »

Hi,

Yes, I can confirm that the issue has been being worked.

Thanks
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Re: Unable to install backup agent : Unable to get BIOS UUID

Post by mikeely »

Can we get a hotpatch for this please? I've put in about six hours of prep (million firewalls to contend with etc) just to get our agent backup test system deployed, and now this (really surprising) bug has smacked all the work to a dead stop.

Edit: worth noting the test system is a Supermicro Atom system (A1SAi). Using the cheap stuff for testing, although we run numerous Atom systems and will need to be able to back those up.
'If you truly love Veeam, then you should not let us do this :D' --Gostev, in a particularly Blazing Saddles moment
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Re: Unable to install backup agent : Unable to get BIOS UUID

Post by Dima P. »

Mike,

Please open a case. If the hotfix for Linux issue is available you can get it via support team.
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Re: Unable to install backup agent : Unable to get BIOS UUID

Post by techcat »

Just one point to add: Any Xen PV (paravirtualized) VM will lack DMI data, so this potentially affects a large number of (Cloud) VMs.
PTide
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Re: Unable to install backup agent : Unable to get BIOS UUID

Post by PTide »

Unfortunately, current version of VAL supports only full virtualization.

Thanks
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Re: Unable to install backup agent : Unable to get BIOS UUID

Post by mikeely »

Dima P. wrote:Mike,

Please open a case. If the hotfix for Linux issue is available you can get it via support team.
I opened a case and got the "valid UUID must be obtained" parroted back at me by the support tech.

Why on earth did Veeam decide to hang its agent off something that can't be obtained from a large number of machines?
'If you truly love Veeam, then you should not let us do this :D' --Gostev, in a particularly Blazing Saddles moment
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Re: Unable to install backup agent : Unable to get BIOS UUID

Post by mikeely »

As I suggested in my support ticket, the following can easily be used without collisions and does not require product_uuid to be present which apparently it isn't in some Supermicro systems:

echo $(dmidecode) $(ifconfig -a) | md5sum
'If you truly love Veeam, then you should not let us do this :D' --Gostev, in a particularly Blazing Saddles moment
PTide
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Re: Unable to install backup agent : Unable to get BIOS UUID

Post by PTide »

echo $(dmidecode) $(ifconfig -a) | md5sum
True, this one provides unique id, however the id has to be more or less peristent and should not change very often. NIC replacement will cause changes in this case, and I believe that NICs do burn out occasionally. R&D team is aware if the issue and we are looking for ways to resolve it.

Thank you for you input!
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Re: Unable to install backup agent : Unable to get BIOS UUID

Post by techcat »

What about using /etc/machine-id - it's generated at install time and doesn't change afterwards
PTide
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Re: Unable to install backup agent : Unable to get BIOS UUID

Post by PTide »

What about using /etc/machine-id - it's generated at install time and doesn't change afterwards
This should work, however in this case if you deploy VMs from a single template you will have to change it to avoid duplicates. Alternative option would be to generate our own unique id before agent installation, if no other suitable id has been found.

Thanks
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Re: Unable to install backup agent : Unable to get BIOS UUID

Post by Peejay62 »

Is there momentarily a hotfix available? Or should I go for the option mentioned above, generating my own unique id?

thanks
PTide
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Re: Unable to install backup agent : Unable to get BIOS UUID

Post by PTide »

The issue has been fixed in the latest VBR update. Have you installed it already?

Thank you
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Re: Unable to install backup agent : Unable to get BIOS UUID

Post by Peejay62 »

Still on 3, not on 3a. So I will update my test-env and see what that brings.
thanks,

Peter
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Re: Unable to install backup agent : Unable to get BIOS UUID

Post by EcoboostPerformance » 1 person likes this post

Long story short:
Oracle RMAN Backups will not run unless the user being used can read `/sys/class/dmi/id/product_uuid`

This is the proper way to do that

`sudo chmod 444 /sys/class/dmi/id/product_uuid`

The ERROR that leads to this looks like the following…

`:: Session failed: Failed to license host: unable to get BIOS UUID with host plug-in due to lack of permissions.
Use --set-credentials plug-in configuration option as root.`


*It does NOT need to be ran by root as the error is suggesting and is bad practice. It’s a file that veeam is only using to make a license count.*
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Re: Unable to install backup agent : Unable to get BIOS UUID

Post by PetrM »

Hi Ryan,

Thanks for sharing this information with us, we'll think about possible options to reflect the way of solving that issue in the corresponding error message or on our help center.

Thanks!
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