backup issues

[bhwong]

When a VM backup is completed with warnings (not successful nor failure), is that backup complete and safe to be used for restore? or do we have to backup again to ensure that it shows success?

For example, if my VM has snapshot which cause Veeam to show a warning:
Changed block tracking cannot be enabled: one or more snapshots present.

Can I safety assume that this full backup is complete with success, just that changed block tracking for incremental backup may not work?

Also, Veeam backup to local storage has no issue, but when backing up to a mapped network storage, Veeam will show this error:

Could not perform threshold check for backup location "Y:\" due to space info retrievement fail!

How do I get mapped shared storage to work with Veeam without having to backup to local storage first and move to a shared network storage?

Finally, some VMs cannot be backed up. Veeam will just show this:
Waiting for backup infrastructure resources availability

What could be the possible cause?

[veremin]

Can I safety assume that this full backup is complete with success, just that changed block tracking for incremental backup may not work?

Yep, this message is supposed only to indicate that CBT has not been used for some reason.

Moreover, even incremental backup will be possible, though it’s VB&R proprietary mechanism that will be utilized instead of CBT. If CBT doesn't work, VB&R scans through the VM image and a checksum (hash) is calculated for every data block, then it verifies what blocks have been changed on your VM compared to the VM image stored in the backup file.

Also, Veeam backup to local storage has no issue, but when backing up to a mapped network storage, Veeam will show this error:
Could not perform threshold check for backup location "Y:\" due to space info retrievement fail!

This issue must have been resolved in patch#1; so, it might be worth updatining your VB&R instance.

How do I get mapped shared storage to work with Veeam without having to backup to local storage first and move to a shared network storage?

Unfortunately, Veeam agents are not supported on SMB share, thereby, data to the SMB share is written from a Windows-based proxying server. The role of default proxying server is played by VB&R server.

Finally, some VMs cannot be backed up. Veeam will just show this:
Waiting for backup infrastructure resources availability
What could be the possible cause?

In nutshell, resource availability issue means that the Veeam proxies have all the jobs they can handle - i.e. each proxy's max concurrent task settings (the Proxy rule is 1 task per 2 CPU). For instance, if a proxy has a setting of 2 concurrent tasks and you schedule 10 jobs to start simultaneously. Then, only the first 2 will be run, meanwhile, the other 8 will be waiting till a job is finished and free up required resources for others to run.

You can either give the proxy more cpus and change the concurrent task setting or add more proxies.

Hope this helps.
Thanks.

[Dima P.]

Hello,

VM backup is completed with warnings (not successful nor failure), is that backup complete and safe to be used for restore? or do we have to backup again to ensure that it shows success?

To clarify the question about the change block tracking here is the quote from the Users Guide:

In some situations, Veeam Backup & Replication cannot leverage VMware vSphere CBT due to VMware limitations. Delete all snapshot before running backup and replication jobs against the VM for the first time to allow Veeam Backup & Replication to enable CBT on a VM automatically for you. Whenever Veeam Backup & Replication cannot leverage VMware vSphere CBT – for example, if your VMs run an earlier version of virtual hardware or Changed Block Tracking is disabled at the ESX host level – it fails over to Veeam’s proprietary filtering mechanism.


So if even you get the warning message - the backup should be well processed, and you would be able to restore it. If it is possible remove the snapshot from VM so the vmware change block tracking started to work properly.

Could not perform threshold check for backup location "Y:\" due to space info retrievement fail!

The error you mentioned was resolved in the Veeam B&R 6.5 patch1, however the latest version Veeam B&R 6.5 patch 3 - could you please confirm that you got it installed?

Finally, some VMs cannot be backed up. Veeam will just show this:
Waiting for backup infrastructure resources availability

This seems to be the separate issue indicating the heavy load on the proxy you are using for backup - please reffer to this thread Maximum number of simultaneously jobs

Thank you.

[bhwong]

I installed veeam_backup_6.5.0.109.

When I right-click a VM and select the first option - VeeamZIP, then manually browse to my network storage and enter my credentials, it will work. But when I repeat this a second time, selecting the second option - VeeamZIP to Z: (which is a history/record of my first selection), it won't prompt for my credentials and will fail.

I also notice that the 32bit version of Veeam I have installed on Windows XP as a VM is able to backup to network storage, but the 64bit version of Veeam I have installed on Windows Server 2008r2 as a physical machine is not able to show any network storage using Veeam browsing dialog box!

Cheers,
Boon Hong.

[Vitaliy S.]

I installed veeam_backup_6.5.0.109.

The latest patch has a higher build number, so please update your Veeam B&R installation.

I also notice that the 32bit version of Veeam I have installed on Windows XP as a VM is able to backup to network storage, but the 64bit version of Veeam I have installed on Windows Server 2008r2 as a physical machine is not able to show any network storage using Veeam browsing dialog box!

This shouldn't be the case, both x86 and 64bit versions work the same. Most likely this difference can be explained by different machines you're installing Veeam B&R server to.