Error: Unable to get parent path. Elements list is empty.

[NorthGuard]

I have an offsite backup of a physical server that sends to my own cloud provider datacenter.

The backup is currently failing with this error:
Error: Unable to get parent path. Elements list is empty.

However, I can browse the existing restore points and restore files.

I saw another post about the same error, but the fix was included in a previous version. I am running v12.1.2.172

I have an existing case ( 07360064 ), but we don't seem to be making it very far. The current recommendation is:

1. Create a new folder on the repo and move the backups to the new folder.
2. Rename the metadata file for the job (.vbm) to .vbm_old.
3. Remap the backup to the job.
4. Rescan the repository.
5. Trigger the job and let us know the outcome.

HOWEVER... the backups are at my datacenter and I would have to reconfigure the service provider config to "move" the backups. I did try steps 2-4 and still get the same error.

I would really like to get it resolved today and get a good offsite backup tonight.

Does anyone have a suggested fix?

[david.domask]

Hi NorthGuard,

Thank you for the detailed write up and sorry to hear about the challenges. I checked the case and the previous issue you're referring to (630634), was indeed resolved in an earlier release, so likely the fix is not applicable.

Please continue with the Support Team and discuss the challenges with the proposed plan within the case, and Support will work with you to discuss the available options.

The behavior described isn't immediately familiar as a known issue in 12.1.2.172, so please continue the discussion with Veeam Support. If you have concerns regarding the handling of the case or the proposed action plan, please use the Talk to a Manager button within the Case Portal and discuss the concerns with Support Management. They will review the case and assist with addressing these concerns.

[NorthGuard]

Just an update - STILL not fixed.

Support transferred it to a different group and created new case - 07362144

[Moderator: Edited to include the correct case number]

They have begun mentioning just doing a new FULL backup, which I do not want to do for a few reasons - first, the backup is over 4TB and would take weeks to re-upload... and also because that doesn't seem to fix the real underlying issue.

Going on almost 4 days now of this not working. Starting to get very frustrated

[david.domask]

Hello NorthGuard,

Checking the case, it looks like some actions were done to re-map the backups and last I can see the backup was reported as successful. Can you confirm that the unexpected behavior is still present?

[ricmitch]

I also get the same error when attempting to export to a USB drive. vERSION 12.1.2.172
Cannot export to a usb drive.
I also have a ticket open Case #07358401 — exports fail
I was able to export to local but not a usb drive.
This started after the last update.

[david.domask]

Hi Rick,

Thank you for sharing the case number -- still waiting on confirmation from the above case that all is good, but that case involved backups on Veeam Cloud Connect, so the root cause may be different. Please continue with your Support Engineer on the case as I can see the research is still on-going.

If you have concerns about the handling of the case, use the Talk to a Manager button from the Case Portal to contact Support Management and describe the concerns. Support Management will review the case and assist with addressing the concerns.

Thanks!

[robnicholsonmalt]

I also get the same error when attempting to export to a USB drive.

Might be totally unconnected, but I ended up on this post because had the same error trying to export a backup to a separate drive on the computer. I was attempting to restore the root of the drive and that failed. Created a folder (e.g. G:\Restore) and that worked.

[Murigar]

Exporting to a sub folder also resolved this for me.
I was presented with the same error when exporting to the drive root.

[robnicholsonmalt]

It looks like there is a small bug here when restoring to the root of any drive. The error message does make some sense - the parent of the root of a drive will be empty.

[david.domask]

Hi all,

@robnicholsonmalt, indeed, it looks like a known issue (608693) set to be resolved in an upcoming release. For now, please use the workarounds discussed above and target any location besides the root of a volume. (e.g., instead of C:\, target C:\restore)