Host-based backup of VMware vSphere VMs.
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googlemad
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Removing old VCenter server

Post by googlemad »

Using Veeam v7 R2 we have recently built a new ESX vSphere server which we have managed to get into Veeam.

However, trying to delete the old one an error 'Veeam cannot delete the host [old server]' as some backup jobs are still using it.

Which makes sense.

However the list shows old backup jobs that have been deleted from the console so how are we supposed to modify those? :lol:
foggy
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Re: Removing old VCenter server

Post by foggy »

John, please contact technical support, they will assist you in clearing up the Veeam B&R database to remove the stale record.
googlemad
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Re: Removing old VCenter server

Post by googlemad »

Thanks, I opened a support case Case # 00488286

The support team sent me a query which I tried to run however when I do I get the following error

Code: Select all

Msg 102, Level 15, State 1, Line 1
Incorrect syntax near '<'.
Msg 102, Level 15, State 1, Line 2
Incorrect syntax near '<'.
Msg 102, Level 15, State 1, Line 3
Incorrect syntax near '<'.
Msg 102, Level 15, State 1, Line 4
Incorrect syntax near '<'.
The query does reference <jobname1> <jobname2> which I then assumed might need replacing with the 'ghost' job names however when I tried to substitute with the job name the query / queries still didn't work
foggy
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Re: Removing old VCenter server

Post by foggy »

Please work with your support engineer on this.
lelsrud
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[MERGED] Trying to remove old vcenter-server

Post by lelsrud »

Hi all.
I'm trying to remove my old vcenter server from the veeam backup and replication console.
When I try to delete it, I get the error: Job xxx is still using the vcenter server.
But this job is not present, cant find it anywhere.
We use veeam only for replication, so the job should be under the jobs-section. But it is not there.

Anybody got any clues?
We run veeam 7.0.0.833.
Thank you in advance
foggy
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Re: Removing old VCenter server

Post by foggy »

Please contact technical support to get assistance in clearing up the database. Thanks.
HHansen
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[MERGED] Issues with removing old vcenter from backup infras

Post by HHansen »

Hi,

Does anyone know what to do to remove an old vcenter from the backup infrastructure?

I've recently installed a new vcenter and moved all hosts to this one and deleted the old one.

But when i go to Veeam backup infrastructure and try to delete the old vcenter it says there are still backup and replica jobs that uses it (all jobs in the list it gives are old jobs that does not exist) and i can see 2 hosts under it even though they are in the new vcenter and the old vcenter doesn't exist anymore.

Is there a tool to remove old jobs and so on that veeam apparently still think exists?

I also have a lot of replicas that cant be removed since it says that either it cannot login to the non-existing vcenter or that the hosts doesn't exist and gives a name that looks like a SID.

Is this known errors when changing vcenters?

Thanks :)
foggy
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Re: Issues with removing old vcenter from backup infrastruct

Post by foggy »

Henrik, please contact technical support for assistance in cleaning up Veeam B&R database from obsolete records.
KLinville
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Re: Removing old VCenter server

Post by KLinville »

The support team sent me a query...
Could someone please share this query on this thread?

Thanks!
- Kris
Mike Resseler
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Re: Removing old VCenter server

Post by Mike Resseler »

Hi KLinville,

We cannot sent that query as we need to be sure that it solves the specific problem. Otherwise there might be some really unwanted things going on. Please contact support and explain your problem so they can look if that specific query can help. As per forum rules, please post the support case ID here and let us know what the outcome is after the support case has been done

Thanks
Mike
KLinville
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Re: Removing old VCenter server

Post by KLinville »

We did not contact support.

After working through the SQL tables manually for a while in attempt to cleanup the orphaned entries, we eventually just restored the old vCenter server with a different IP address than the current vCenter and a valid DNS entry. Then we went through the remaining removal steps via the GUI. Now that the B&R server could communicate with the "old" vCenter, it was able to remove those entries gracefully.

This process (which seems to me could be automated by Veeam) was entirely too complicated. Fortunately, this isn't a process that I anticipate will be encountered on a very regular basis.

In hindsight, the best practice would be to fully remove all instances of a decommissioned vCenter server before removing it from the vSphere Inventory since Veeam doesn't do a great job of cleaning itself up in this particular scenario.

- Kris
GeraldS
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Re: Removing old VCenter server

Post by GeraldS »

I ran into the same problem and want to share the suggestion by Veeam support that solved the issue for us without the need to modify the database manually.

In our case the problem were old exclusions in the backup jobs that were preventing the deletion of the old vCenter server.

We went through all jobs that were listed as reasons why vCenter could not be deleted and removed all exclusions. Then we re-added only the exclusions of VMs that were still active. Afterwards vCenter could be deleted without problems.
Veeam Certified Engineer 2023
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