Deleting helper snapshot Error

[itdirector]

We have 5 independent installs of VBR 6.1 running. Before, we were running VBR 6. Ever since the upgrade, we have been getting random "Deleting helper snapshot Error" below during our nightly replication (job hasn't changed from version 6.0.). It happens across all 5 VBR installs, & it is with different VM's & it doesn't happen everynight (pretty much every other day). The replication is running from vSphere 5 to vSphere 5. Is this a know issue or are we an isolated incident that would require us to open up a ticket?

Deleting helper snapshot Error: Another task is already in progress.
Error: Another task is already in progress.

After the replication Job runs through (with the one VM failing), we have it set to the default setting to try again in 10 minutes; the 2nd time it runs (against just the failed VM), it goes through fine.


I searched through the forums & already went through most of the suggestions (including rebooting the ESXi hosts).

Thx.

[Vitaliy S.]

No, it's a not known issue, please open a support ticket to troubleshoot this issue with our support engineers.

[tuxracer01]

We got exactly the same error since upgrading to version 6.1. And also the retry works fine. We have already contact with support about this problem.

[Jfmoots]

We got exactly the same error since upgrading to version 6.1. And also the retry works fine. We have already contact with support about this problem.

Could you please post your Support Case number?

[cbachel]

We have also been seeing this issue after upgrading to 6.1. The support case is 5198875.

[homerjnick]

Some of my replication jobs since going to 6.1 stay at 100% and do not delete the snapshot but the job never finishes. Kill the job and restart it and it works...support case was opened.

[tuxracer01]

Could you please post your Support Case number?

Nr. 5198735, but the main topic of the case was an other issue.

[crichardson]

Did support offer a solution for this? We have been having the same issue since upgrading to 6.1. Just curious if it was a quick fix or not.

[foggy]

Still no resolution in the mentioned support cases so I would suggest to open your own case for investigation. Thanks.

[devzero]

same here - on our replicated testing machine (replication interval one hour) we are getting at least one error every 1 or 2 days.

we are getting

Deleting helper snapshot Error: Another task is already in progress.
Error: Another task is already in progress.

or

Failed to apply retention policy Error: Another task is already in progress.

[rbrambley]

Although it has nothing to do with Veeam 6.1 upgrades, VMware has the following KB for this error

vCenter operation times out with the error: Operation failed since another task is in progress
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1004790

The KB was last updated Feb 29,2012 and is good for all versions of vCenter and ESX(i)

vCenter has a default 15 minute timeout for any task. Starting with the vCenter 2.5 Update 4 release, to prevent VI Client from displaying unnecessary timeout error messages, you can configure the timeout values by editing the vpxd.cfg file and the vpxa.cfg file of the source and destination ESX host.

Note: If you are using VCB, and your backup failed due to a timeout, check your virtual machine for a backup snapshot which has been left behind.
Lengthy Tasks which Time Out

When a task is reported to timeout within vCenter, the task may continue to run in the ESX host level. Certain tasks (such as a snapshot consolidation) may take a long time to complete and should not be interrupted. For information on how to identify tasks within a VMware ESX host, see Collecting information about tasks in VMware ESX (1013003).

Note: In the case of snapshot consolidation, even though the VI Client timeout occurs, the operation on the ESX host is still running. You can verify by observing the .vmdk file for the virtual machine. It is updated every minute which means the delta files are being committed to the .vmdk file.

More in the KB on how to adjust the timeout.

Based on the fact that some report the job fails, but then is OK after a retry, this makes sense.

[f.daoulas]

Hello,

@rbrambley

About : http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1004790

Please, can you tell us which 'timeout' will have to change for solving this problem ?
(and how many time we should put)

Rgds.
Fabrice

[souperstar]

I am seeing this as well. We didn't seem to have this problem in 6.0. On an unrelated troubleshooting venture, support recommended I upgrade to 6.1 Update 1. Did that, which didn't resolve my replication issue (it was something else, had to set a remote proxy to Network instead of HotAdd all of a sudden), but now we get this on occasion. Seems random. No specific job or VM appears to be affected more or less than any other.

Did any of you find a resolution? Have your support tickets been updated?

I don't really want to contact support, my last experience was a little to cat/mouse with them sending me a daily email (over the course of weeks) with a smattering of things to try on my own. If I wanted to guess and test I would Google it, like I did here, but that's not why we're paying for support!

[foggy]

Chris, I cannot see the resolution in any of the support cases mentioned in this thread (and one of them is still open). Have you tried to play with the timeouts described in the VMware article referred to above?

Note, that if you are not happy with the support provided, you can always let the support management know about that (using the Talk to a Manager button on our support portal). Otherwise, they simply will not know there is an issue.

[arthurp]

FYI: We experienced this situation too (case 5203106). If the underlying issue is related to the one we had, support now has updated dlls that resolved our problem.

[Gostev]

Deleting helper snapshot Error: Another task is already in progress.
Error: Another task is already in progress.

So this issue took us a while to troubleshoot, because the bug was not on our side... the issue sits in VMware, and we are now working with them to address it. Meanwhile, we have create a pilot hotfix that works around this bug by simply retrying failed operations, and so far it seems to be addressing the issue for everyone affected.

[f.daoulas]

Hello,

Meanwhile, we have create a pilot hotfix that works around this bug by simply retrying failed operations, and so far it seems to be addressing the issue for everyone affected.

Do you know when this fix will be available ?

Rgds.
Fabrice.

[foggy]

Fabrice, I believe you can contact support and get it.

[YoMarK]

FWI: I also have this on a regular basis lately.
I will contact support also.

[souperstar]

So this issue took us a while to troubleshoot, because the bug was not on our side... the issue sits in VMware, and we are now working with them to address it. Meanwhile, we have create a pilot hotfix that works around this bug by simply retrying failed operations, and so far it seems to be addressing the issue for everyone affected.

Maybe, but it wasn't an issue with a previous version of Veeam. My ESX version hasn't changed since I started using Veeam. The techie in me would appreciate more detail from either Veeam or VMware on the issue, so if VMware has a KB article and you have it saved somewhere, I'd like to read it.

For what it's worth, we were getting 8-10 of these errors per day. The issue seems resolved in version 6.5 (upgraded to it last Wednesday-ish I believe). Haven't had this error since the upgrade.

[Gostev]

Yes, the workaround you have quoted was added to 6.5 as well.