Case ID#03984520/ VSS Error

[abdulkaderanwar]

Hi there,

Trying to backup a vm using windows backup agent due to iscsi attached drive and getting below error. Tried reboot the server and issue remains same. Appreciate your assistance.

2/3/2020 9:35:38 PM :: Total size: 3.3 TB (1.7 TB used)
2/3/2020 9:35:44 PM :: Queued for processing at 2/3/2020 9:35:44 PM
2/3/2020 9:35:44 PM :: Required backup infrastructure resources have been assigned
2/3/2020 9:35:59 PM :: Initializing
2/3/2020 9:36:00 PM :: Preparing for backup
2/3/2020 9:39:00 PM :: Creating VSS snapshot Error: Failed to create snapshot: Backup job failed.
Cannot contact the VSS engine.
Cannot initialize the backup components metadata in preparation for backup.
VSS error: . Code:0x80042302
2/3/2020 9:39:05 PM :: Finalizing
2/3/2020 9:39:07 PM :: Error: Failed to create snapshot: Backup job failed.
Cannot contact the VSS engine.
Cannot initialize the backup components metadata in preparation for backup.
VSS error: . Code:0x80042302
2/3/2020 9:40:00 PM :: Network traffic verification detected no corrupted blocks
2/3/2020 9:40:00 PM :: Processing finished with errors at 2/3/2020 9:40:00 PM

thanks

tropical regards,
anwar

[Egor Yakovlev]

Thanks for sharing the case ID.
Meanwhile waiting for the answer from support team:
- check cmd: "vssadmin list writers" - all writers should be in Stable | No Error status. If some are faulty, restart VSS Service and check again(since you rebooted PC, check if they are Stable before backup and after failed backup). Focus your attention for critical application-specific VSS writers(like MS SQL VSS Writer), because those are usually ones that fail.
- check cmd: "vssadmin list shadows" - there might be some stale leftover shadow copies worth deleting
- check cmd: "vssadmin list providers" - should be Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider
- finally, try to take VSS Snapshot manually
/Cheers!

[abdulkaderanwar]

Hi Egor,

Thanks for the response. Issue with VSS service is disabled.Same has been enabled and backup running now.

Will observer and revert if any challenges.

Thanks loads

Tropical regards,
anwar

[Egor Yakovlev]

Great to hear it works!
/Cheers!

[tomers@y-tech.net]

Hi,

I have problems with backing up heavy loaded SQL servers with VAW. The backup keeps failing after 45 minutes with VSS error 0x80042302.
I have the same problem repeating on different servers, all have SQL installed with many databases (100 DBs for example).
Is there a known issue with VSS timeout or backup timeout?

Thanks.

[PetrM]

Hi Tomer,

Please provide a support case ID as requested when you create a new topic about technical issue.

Also, I've moved your question to the existing thread, please take a look at the suggestion above and you may check this article as well.

Thanks!

[tomers@y-tech.net]

Hi,

I already checked the service of course. VSS is entering timeout or retryable error for the SQL during the backup and then the backup fails.
Before I open a ticket, my question was more for understanding if there is some sort of timeout from the agent side because it always takes something like 40-45 minutes and the same issue occurs in different servers.

Thanks.

[PetrM]

I don't think that the issue comes due to agent timeout as long as we see VSS error code 0x80042302, however it's an interesting question why it's thrown after 40-45 minutes after the job is started. I'm pretty sure that our support engineers will be able to identify the root cause based on debug logs analysis.

Thanks!