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namiko78
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Vmware 5.1 - veeam no longer backs up vm's with snapshots

Post by namiko78 »

In previous versions (vmware 4.1 and veeam 6.0) If i took a snapshot of a VM, veeam would still process it that night (although a little slower, since it would "map disk region" over and over.

Since we upgraded to vsphere 5.1 and VMFS 5, (and veeam 6.5 patch 1) if i make a snapshot, that VM will fail to backup later that night. with - Error: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

Support says there cannot be a snapshot in place when veeam starts the backup, and therefore will not help troubleshoot it.

This is a big loss of functionality in our environment, has anyone else experienced this, and does anyone know if it will be corrected in a later patch?

Thank you
foggy
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Re: Vmware 5.1 - veeam no longer backs up vm's with snapshot

Post by foggy »

namiko78 wrote:Support says there cannot be a snapshot in place when veeam starts the backup, and therefore will not help troubleshoot it.
That's not actually correct. CBT cannot be enabled for VMs with existing snapshots, but these should still be successfully backed up using our proprietary algorithm.

Are you sure that snapshot is the reason? Could you successfully back up other VMs? I would recommend to investigate this deeper with support.
namiko78
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Re: Vmware 5.1 - veeam no longer backs up vm's with snapshot

Post by namiko78 »

I agree, if it was a new VM, in previous version, it would not be able to enable CBT. Once that first backup was complete and CBT was enabled, i'd be able to create snapshots at will.
The error i'm getting are with existing vm's that have long ago had CBT enabled.
Other VM"s work fine, and if i delete the snapshot, the error would go away and it would backup fine.

Support said it's against best practice to have a snapshot, and won't help me any further... Should i ask to escalate?
foggy
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Re: Vmware 5.1 - veeam no longer backs up vm's with snapshot

Post by foggy »

Steven, what is your support case ID, please?
namiko78
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Re: Vmware 5.1 - veeam no longer backs up vm's with snapshot

Post by namiko78 »

Case # 00175210
Ben Milligan
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Re: Vmware 5.1 - veeam no longer backs up vm's with snapshot

Post by Ben Milligan »

Ben Milligan with Veeam Technical Support.

"Support says there cannot be a snapshot in place when veeam starts the backup, and therefore will not help troubleshoot it."

This is certainly incorrect as Alexander mentioned. The only time this is affected is CBT enablement, which is mentioned above. I apologize for this miscommunication/misinformation. We are coaching the engineer that made this mistake so it will not reoccur.

This case is still under review. I understand currently that the snapshot is creating normally, however there is an error post vCenter hierarchy load in the logs. My engineer is conducted the Webex today and I will post the resolution once confirmed.
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Re: Vmware 5.1 - veeam no longer backs up vm's with snapshot

Post by namiko78 »

Thanks guys, Zach from support is going to connect today over webex to see what's going on.
pufferdude
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[MERGED] Snapshot causes backup failure

Post by pufferdude »

Just wondering if anyone else has seen this... it's not a big deal because I don't keep snapshots around for long, but lately I've noticed that if I have a snapshot on a VM, when Veeam then runs a job to back up that VM it fails with "Object reference not set to an instance of an object." Not sure when it started (maybe after upgrading to vSphere 5.1 from 4.1?) but I know I *used* to be able to have a snapshot on a VM and Veeam would just add another snap, without issue.

It's no annoying enough for me to open a case and all that, since as I said I don't keep snaps around long, but wanted to see if anyone is seeing similar and if you think it's something to worry about.
foggy
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Re: Vmware 5.1 - veeam no longer backs up vm's with snapshot

Post by foggy »

Jim, your issue seems to be similar to the one discussed in this thread. According to the OP's case, there was an investigation with VMware support on that and I'm currently trying to find out the results.
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Re: Vmware 5.1 - veeam no longer backs up vm's with snapshot

Post by namiko78 »

This ended up with vmware escalation, and after discussions with veeam escalation, this won't be fixed until veeam 7. It only occurs if you choose the quicese option. So to be safe, i shutdown vm's now if i want to take a snapshot.
foggy
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Re: Vmware 5.1 - veeam no longer backs up vm's with snapshot

Post by foggy »

Steven, thanks for the update.

Basically, we were able to reproduce the issue while backing up VMs running not from the most recent snapshot with VMware Tools quiescence enabled using v6.5 patch 1 and later versions. If not using VMware Tools quiescence, backup works fine. This should be addressed in v7.

However, I'm not stating that Jim is experiencing the same issue, it just looks similar. Obviously hard to tell without reviewing the log files.
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