Endpoint Backup hangs Windows Update service on 2016 server

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I am posting what is a likely bug in Veeam Endpoint Backup 2.0.0.700 free on Windows 2016 server. It seems to conflict with the Windows Update service.

After installing Endpoint Backup, the Windows Update service will eventually get stuck on "stopping" state and only a reboot or "Taskkill" command will fix the Windows Update service so that it behaves normally for awhile, but eventually (less than 24 hours) it will revert back to "stopping" state requiring another reboot or taskkill command.

I confirmed Endpoint Backup was the problem on three separate physical 2016 Hyper-V servers. While the Windows Update service was stuck in the "stopping" state on all three servers, I uninstalled Endpoint Backup which then immediately returned the service back to "running" state, and the service didn't get stuck again.

This is unfortunate because I like Veeam and use Endpoint Backup Free edition on my workstations. Hopefully this issue will get fixed in a future release.

[Dima P.]

Hello Jon,

Please clarify what agent version are you running (latest version we have is Veeam Agent for Windows 2.0)? Thank you.

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Veeam Agent for Windows 2.0.0.700 which should be the latest version as of 11/2/17.

[Dima P.]

Jon,

Thank you for the update. Is it possible for you to submit a case from any affected computer and share the case id? Thanks in advance!

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I'm not sure what you mean by "submit a case from any affected computer". I've already uninstalled the Veeam Agent from my servers because they break an important Windows process (Windows update). Regardless, this bug should be easy to reproduce in your testing environment using these requirements: 2016 Windows Server with Hyper-V role installed + October Cumulative patches/updates applied, and Veeam Agent for Windows 2.0.0.700.

[Dima P.]

Jon,

Thanks for the information. I passed this information to our QA team, we will try to reproduce and investigate the mentioned issue.

[Gostev]

Do you have a 3rd party antivirus program installed on those servers by chance?

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Do you have a 3rd party antivirus program installed on those servers by chance?

Two of the servers have Symantec Endpoint Protection v14 installed (basic protection only, meaning only virus definitions are installed. No sonar, no network threat protection). The third server has only the default Windows Defender antivirus program that's included with a clean install of 2016 server. All three exhibited same behavior with Windows Update process getting stuck on "Stopping" state when Veeam Agent for Windows 2.0.0.700 is installed.

To be clear, the third server having only Windows Defender for antivirus is a 2016 clean install, with no other 3rd party apps. However all three 2016 servers also have Hyper-V role installed with the October 2017 cumulative updates from Microsoft.

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Was the dev team able to reproduce this issue? If so, has it been fixed?

Thanks