Veeam support is impossible....

[noahmehl]

I realize this is a bit of a flame post, but I'm at a complete loss on how to get appropriate support from Veeam on our products. We currently have two cases open:

Case #07085639 — Backup server management agent will not connect after upgrade

In this case, the Veeam VAC agent doesn't work correctly on some VBR hosts (works perfectly on others, connected to the same cloud connect instances) after the last upgrade (VSPC . The case has been open since 1/11/24, and we've made 0 progress. We're asked the same questions over and over, and when we did a remote session, it just confirmed what had already been relayed in case updates. We still have no resolution or even any idea of when this might be resolved or provided any idea what's going on.

Case #07095245 — Cannot add linux backup repository - Fails on getbiosuuid

In this case, I cannot add a linux repository. I was able to add the linux server, and that proceeded correctly, but when I add the repository, it fails on the getbiosuuid step. The case has been open since 1/18/24, and we've made 0 progress. We're asked the same questions over and over (sound like deja vu?). It really feels like this part of the platform is completely unknown to the team, and not well supported at all.

Overall, I'm getting really frustrated that we only get one small update per day (usually completely bogus). Then we reply, and then we don't hear back for another day. Lastly, the fact that support resources don't bother to read the case history before asking the same questions again is infuriating, or we do a remote session that just confirms all of the screenshots and logs we've already uploaded. This is unbelievable to me.

What are people's experience with this? Should I just resign myself to months long cases and single updates per day?

Thanks!

~Noah

[Mildur]

Hi Noah

I discussed the cases with our support management. In general, cases should not last this long and the first case is not following the Support Case handling rules, which our Support Management will correct. For the latter case, we will try to expedite the research and clarify a bit more on the action plan so you can have a bit better understanding on the direction of the investigation.

07085639 - Thank you for reporting this -- the case should have had some different handling internally some time ago, and Support Management will step in to correct this.

07095245 - For this case, it's currently with our Advanced Support Team -- while I understand right now it seems directionless, from the case notes it looks like we're trying to understand why the service account is getting permission denied when trying to pull the BIOS UUID -- this is a bit unusual situation as there aren't any known issues related to this behavior at this time, but our Advanced Support Team will strive to expedite the research.

Best,
Fabian

[noahmehl]

Fabian, et al.

Regarding case: 07095245, I ended up resolving this on my own. The issue turned out to be the VBR host was not returning a host UUID. I figured this out by removing the linux host, and rescanning the VBR host, and that failed for the same getbiosuuid. Turns out that Windows could not return a UUID for this VM:

Code: Select all

wmic csproduct get "UUID"

Apparently, if the VBR host fails the UUID portion, nothing else will work either. Now, I get that having a unique host UUID from the bios is a requirement. What I don't understand is why VBR does not check this during install?!

I ended up creating a new VM (KVM on Proxmox), and the new VM returned the UUID perfectly (using UEFI, for posterity). Then I was able to add the linux repository.

[ober72]

Hi noahmehl,

I think I recently had the same issue. In your case was it because you were using the default Proxmox bios seabios? When I re-created the VM using UEFI there were no issues with the Veeam agent.

cheers

[Mildur]

Hello Noah

Let's continue the discussion of Case #07085639 in our Veeam Service Provider Console forum. I moved Henrik's comment already: Backup server management agent will not connect after upgrade.

Case 07095245:
I'm glad to hear the issue ended up being environmental and you could find the workaround.

Best,
Fabian

[Gostev]

I realize this is a bit of a flame post, but I'm at a complete loss on how to get appropriate support from Veeam on our products.

Normally, you should use Talk to a Manager functionality of the Customer Portal whenever you believe you have an issue with how your support case is handled and want to escalate it for review. This is explained in the forum rules displayed when you click New Topic. The above-mentioned form will post your message to the same escalation DL with Support Management that we (PM) ourselves use to escalate support cases, so kindly just use this approach in future.

[noahmehl]

@Gostev, thanks for the details. I didn't see the link when creating New Topic, but it clearly has a comment about that.

[noahmehl]

@ober72, I checked other VM's on this Proxmox host. I have multiple VM's with Seabios and Windows 2019, and the UUID command works perfectly.

@Mildur @Gostev, I guess my request for R&D is that a failure for the VBR host to return it's UUID should prevent VBR from being installed.

And hopefully this will help other people who run into getbiosuuid to check their VBR host first with the wmic command to ensure that's working.

[Gostev]

Normally, you should use Talk to a Manager functionality of the Customer Portal whenever you believe you have an issue with how your support case is handled and want to escalate it for review. This is explained in the forum rules displayed when you click New Topic. The above-mentioned form will post your message to the same escalation DL with Support Management that we (PM) ourselves use to escalate support cases, so kindly just use this approach in future.

For those who are unable to locate the above-mentioned escalation form on the Customer Portal, here's the direct link > https://my.veeam.com/support/talk-to-manager

[chris.childerhose]

I can vouch for the Talk to Manager button, as it will help you move your case along. I create cases (not many), but when something stalls, this is the first thing my sales team indicates for me to do, so it is automatic now. Best of luck getting support.

[jim.lowry]

The forum rules are referenced when you have a new topic selected, but there is not a direct reference with the phrase or words "forum rules". The URL for the forum rules is tied to the "learn more" link in the header, right above the subject line of the new topic form.

[noahmehl]

@chris.childerhose I just got stood up for a scheduled Webex for the second time in this case. I just tried the "Talk to Manager", we'll see how that goes...

[chris.childerhose]

Oh wow, that has never happened to me personally. I hope you get somewhere with the talk-to-manager option.

[RubinCompServ]

Overall, I'm getting really frustrated that we only get one small update per day (usually completely bogus). Then we reply, and then we don't hear back for another day.

Noah,

By any chance, did you open your ticket outside of your normal working hours? I've found that if I do that, it gets assigned to an engineer who is on shift during those hours - which means they are not on shift during my hours - and we end up playing email tag. When that happens, calling in during your normal operational hours and requesting that my ticket go to the next available engineer usually fixes that.

[noahmehl]

By any chance, did you open your ticket outside of your normal working hours?

I have had this happen before. But in the last few, I was sure to enter support requests during normal working hours. Perhaps I need to enter a ticket and then immediately call-in? I guess I typically don't call...