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jcofin13
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veeam open snapshot left on vm....needs consolidation

Post by jcofin13 »

I have a situation where we have a large server.
The server somehow had a open veeam snapshot left on the machine from a few days back.

Over those few days the snapshot change file has grown just over 1tb in size.
The snapshot was removed but the vms still says it needs consolidation.

I would like to shut down and then run the consolidation. I will plan to add space to the datastore prior to this as it is currently quite full. I expect the consolidation will take quite a long time. I have no way to estimate how long.

The question i have is how do i stop the backup from backing up this 1 machine while that consolidation takes place? Id like to make sure the backup doesn't try to take another snap or backup this machine. The daily backup job that is run will certainly kick off while this consolidation is happening.

what are the best options here to make sure that doesn't happen?
1. Disable the entire backup job so it doesn't run? --This is not ideal as we have 100s of other vms we would like to back up as per the normal schedule.
2. Note: All of the vms on this job are added individually to the backup job (not added by folder or cluster object). Could i remove it for 1 night from the job and add it back to the job once completed to then run the next day or would that start a new chain and confusing things treating it like a new vm?
3. Should i add it to the exclusions list for 1 night so it gets skipped and then remove it from the exclusions list once the consolidate has completed? Will exclude actually exclude if the vm is added to the job directly by named virtual machine? Does exclude trump that?

I would think 1 of those 3 options would work. Not sure which though.
I guess i need to know the best option so this machine doesn't try to backup while the consolidate is happening.
Regnor
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Re: veeam open snapshot left on vm....needs consolidation

Post by Regnor »

During the consolidation new snapshots can't be created, but it's still a good idea to disable backup for this VM; just to be on the safe side and to prevent any side effects. Either remove the VM from the job or put it on the exclusion list, both will work.

Another topic.Were you actually able to still backup this VM? If not, I would suggest that you create an agent based backup before starting the consolidation.
jcofin13
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Re: veeam open snapshot left on vm....needs consolidation

Post by jcofin13 »

Thanks. I Will plan to add it to the exclusions. That should be easy enough to do for the time while the consolidation is happening.
It has backed up fine until just last night where the datastore became so full it couldnt.


I guess im confused as to why i had this "open" veeam snapshot on it for a few days. Even if it was orphaned out i would have thought that job would have failed at that time or .....that subsequent jobs that have run since would have cleaned up this snapshot as well as the active one. WEird. I havent dug too far into the job log for this vm yet> im betting there is a clue in there about that.
Regnor
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Re: veeam open snapshot left on vm....needs consolidation

Post by Regnor »

Sometimes the snapshot cleanup just fails and Veeam won't be able to delete it anymore. If it happens regularly I would do a root cause analysis. I would also recommend to implement some kind of monitoring for active snapshots; not only because if Veeam, but also because potentially anyone can forget them.

Does your datastore have enough space left for the consolidation?
And if last night's backup failed, can you afford losing the machine during the consolidation? If not, better take an agent backup.
jcofin13
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Re: veeam open snapshot left on vm....needs consolidation

Post by jcofin13 »

hmm...the exclusions box wont populate with vms if those vms are specifically added to the backup job. IT wont do it.

I guess if i remove them from the job and then add it back later will that start a new chain for this one vm or is it smart enough to pick up where it left off? Something tells me that it will treat it like a new vm if i remove it and readd it back to the job.
jcofin13
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Re: veeam open snapshot left on vm....needs consolidation

Post by jcofin13 »

I think i got it sorted out. Vms added specifically by name to a job cannot be excluded specifically from a job but you can exclude them if for example they are on individual vmfs volumes per vm. If you exclude the volume, the job will show the vm but it will show it as 0k to backup. I confirmed this means it will not backup the vm with support.
Regnor
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Re: veeam open snapshot left on vm....needs consolidation

Post by Regnor »

Good that you got it working. Although I thought it you would still be able to exclude certain VMs; did you select the "Show full hierarchy" checkbox in the exclusions?
Anyway, would be great if you could share how long it took to consolidate this snapshot; 1TB isn't small at all ;)
jcofin13
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Re: veeam open snapshot left on vm....needs consolidation

Post by jcofin13 »

Just over 7 hours.....

yup show full hierarchy was checked. IT would not populate single vm exclusions when single vms were added to the job directly. You have to select the parent object; folder, cluster or storage lun. I was luck in that this server had its own storage so i could add it to the exclusions. I guess you could quickly create a folder in vcenter throw your vms you want to exclude into it and exclude that and then clean that up once your maintenance window of needing the exclusions is over.
Regnor
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Re: veeam open snapshot left on vm....needs consolidation

Post by Regnor »

Congratulations that you were able to consilidate the snapshot :wink: A few weeks ago I had a combination of snapshots with a total of 1,7TB; took over 24h but also succeeded.
By the way there's even an alarm in vCenter for Snapshot sizes which I often configure; anything above 10-20GB should create a warning/alarm.

Still interesting that the exclusions won't populate. I've tried it myself and it did work, but perhaps I'm missing something in your case.
brkdncr
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Re: veeam open snapshot left on vm....needs consolidation

Post by brkdncr »

I’ve dealt with leftover consolidation error messages by taking another snap and the performing a delete all.
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