unable to complete this action because this backup agent is centrally managed by your system administrator

[daystrom]

Case #05993343

I have vbr installed backing up vms and agent installed on the same machine for bare metal backups and restore. I've done this for years. Since upgrading to later versions of vbr and agent it's never worked.

vbr has been running ok for months. I just installed agent for windows 6, and as with 5.x it now reports

unable to complete this action because this backup agent is centrally managed by your system administrator

I found several articles like
veeam-agent-for-windows-f33/never-been- ... 59889.html
but nothing there helps. I've uninstalled agent and removed the pc from the protection group, restarted, identical issue. When I installed agent the other day it ran the initial backup without issue but since then it's been locked down like this. This issue has wasted a ton of my time.

[Mildur]

Hi Daystrom

Thanks for the case number.
Where can you see this error message? When you open the agent? If the agent runs a managed by server job, then this message is expected. Is this still the same infrastructure as in your last question?
veeam-agent-for-windows-f33/unable-to-c ... 84376.html

Best,
Fabian

[daystrom]

Thanks for the reply Fabian. It's the same infrastructure. That error message appears as a little dialog if I try to fire up Agent direct from windows start. The only option is to close it.
Out of curiosity, a few months ago I tried setting up an agent job in vbr, to see if I might not need a separate, stand alone installation of agent. I don't think I every ran that job. I decided the standalone installation was still needed.
Maybe that test job is what caused agent + vbr to become so problematic for me? I following the guidace, I did remove the vbr agent job, then uninstalled agent from the host server listing on the infrastructure page (Manually Added), and then removed the host server from the "configuration". I wasn't totally sure if removing from configuration was the same as "protection group", so maybe I performed the disconnect incorrectly.
Am I right that the issue is because vbr understands that agent operations are only to be performed under it's umbrella?

[daystrom]

Can anyone help with this issue?

[Mildur]

Hi Daystrom

I'm sorry.
I was out of office because of easter. Public holiday in Switzerland.

Am I right that the issue is because vbr understands that agent operations are only to be performed under it's umbrella?

Yes. As soon you managed jobs by the VBR server, the agent is "managed". But a removal from the protection groups or manual added should reset the agent.

What you could try is to reset the agent database:
https://www.veeam.com/kb2335

There is also a registry key which tells the agent if he is managed or not:
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Veeam\Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows\ManagedMode

Best,
Fabian

[daystrom]

Thanks Fabian.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Veeam\Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows\ManagedMode
shows Default (value not set)

I found that RecreateDatabase already existed with value 0. I set the value to 1. I restarted the agent service via ps. No change - Agent is still presents the centrally managed dialog. RecreateDatabase is now set to 0. Managed Mode still says Default (value not set)

So it didn't work?

[daystrom]

Can anyone help with this issue? Isn't this a flaw in the way that the two programs (vbr and agent) work together?

[EmilS]

I now also have the same issue.

What happened was that we had a sudden power failure, and as a result, one of our VM's got corrupted.

I have restored a backup of this specific VM (and three others) made with Veeam Backup Agent from inside the VM.

The restore went well without any issues.

The other VM's are doing just fine, they're getting backed up by their respective Veeam Backup agents, no issues.

However, the VM Ihave an issue with keeps defaulting to managed mode, no matter what I do.

I have uninstalled the backup agent, removed everything Veeam from the Registry, but when reinstalling the backup agent, get a message telling me that it is managed.

Forcing a database reset via the Registry does not work, as it seems to be stuck permanently in managed mode.

Anybody have any suggestions at this stage?

[Mildur]

Hi Emil

Do you have a case number for that issue?
I suggest strongly to involve support, if the steps here doesn't had helped.
Such issues cannot be solved over a forum post.

Best,
Fabian

[EmilS]

Hi Fabian

The ticket was closed automatically with the following message :

Dear <name redacted>,
We cannot always guarantee support for free cases as our team needs to prioritize paid support customers. This support case has been archived automatically this time.
Many customers found answers at Knowledge Base and Veeam R&D Forums.
If you believe this is in error, please reach out to our management team via 'Talk to Manager' option on the portal.
Kind regards,
Veeam Support
ref:_00D30RWR._5007V2N5Tl7:ref

[Gostev]

You can just keep reopening it, and eventually it should be picked up once someone is available. It is just a bad time right now due to the recent V12 release, and all support engineers are busy supporting paying customers upgrading.

[EmilS]

Good morning all

I may have found a workaround to this issue, not sure if it will work for others.

On the affected VM, I have installed the trial version of Veeam Backup and Replication. I then set up a backup job, and let it run for a week or so.

All went well. Backups got done and all that.

Then I uninstalled Veeam Backup and Replication, and installed the latest (v6) Veeam Backup Agent for Windows.

And suddenly the issue is gone. I now have full control over the Backup Agent, things are looking good. I will let it run for a while to see if there's any issues, but I expect none.

The only gotcha left over is to clean out the stale backups as the switch to V B&R caused the backup to use another name for the backup job. No biggie, just something to keep in mind and prevent clogging future backups with old backups.

A big shout out to the team for an excellent product. Thank you!