VAW- backup failed because of VSS

[JardaCZ]

Dear community,

this is another server with fresh install of Veeam Agent for Windows Server (VAW 2.2) which fails to backup because of VSS. I set to backup entire server to USB drive. I'd say default settings, but it failed with VSS SqlWriter error.
10/2/2018 5:51:58 PM :: Creating VSS snapshot Error: Failed to create snapshot: Backup job failed. Cannot create a shadow copy of the volumes containing writer's data. A VSS critical writer has failed. Writer name: [SqlServerWriter]. Class ID: [{a65faa63-5ea8-4ebc-9dbd-a0c4db26912a}]. Instance ID: [{22f03160-18d7-4117-a0f2-d1ec706b8016}]. Writer's state: [VSS_WS_FAILED_AT_FREEZE]. Error code: [0x800423f2].

When I try "vssadmin list writers", some of them have "Last error: Timed out".

It's HPW ProLinat ML110 Gen9 with Server 2016 Standard. We use 2 1 SATA drives in RAID1 via HPE B140i raid controller. There is only Active Directory and 200GB file shares for about 30 users, but no one use IT after 6 PM. I'm sure there is no heavy traffic on it, CPU 1%, 3GB of free RAM, hard drives are almost idle.

I'm not sure why almost every VAW fails because of VSS, but Windows Server Backup works fine. You must have same experience, don't you? I'm experiencing the same behavior with multiple HPE servers, different locations, different customers, different backup targets. It seems this error is by default

My support case number is 03220766


Regards,
Jaroslav

[JardaCZ]

Finally, I have to say I'm quite upset because I spent many hours trying to solve Veeam VSS errors. On the other hand I hope this effort makes Veeam Agent a better product for all of us.

I'm not sure why, but od on those servers completed backup successfully during night schedule.
I didn't any change, didn't restart the server, just closed RDP.

All the best!
Jaroslav

[Dima P.]

Hello Jaroslav.

VSS issues are usually related to operating system and not Veeam Agent for Windows (as it basically leverages Windows VSS service to properly take backup). I am glad to hear that you found a solution and thank you for updating the thread with the investigation results. For the root case investigation please keep working with our support team. Cheers!

[JardaCZ]

You can try to increase time-out limit.

Error message:
==============
server backup one of the system components is not consistent in the shadow copy created for backup the writer's timeout expired between the freeze and thaw events


Solution:
=========
https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/asi ... x81000101/

Run regedit.exe and navigate to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SPP"
Create a new Registry value of type DWORD with name "CreateTimeout" DWORD 32-bit
Change value to 1.200.000 in decimal (2*10*60*1000 = 20 mins, default is 10 mins)


Additionally, for Server 2012 or later:
=======================================
Run regedit.exe and navigate to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\VSS\Settings"
Create a new Registry value of type DWORD with name "IdleTimeout" DWORD 32-bit
Change value to 1.200.000 in decimal (2*10*60*1000 = 20 mins, default is 10 mins)

Please note: for Server 2012 or later, you will need to change both keys


Regards,
Jaroslav

[Dima P.]

JardaCZ,

Can confirm that increasing the timeout for VSS writers can help in certain situations (for example when exclusions are not working properly). Thanks for sharing detailed explanation with the community!

[JardaCZ]

Hello, unfortunately it worked just for single backup. Maybe it was just a lucky chance. It failed again with the same error next day

Regards,
Jaroslav

[Dima P.]

Jaroslav,

Thanks for sharing. Any update from our support team?