Failed to delete VSS snapshot. It's in use by job

[ckbrou]

Since upgrading to v8 and leveraging storage snapshots (NetApp) I am unable to run two jobs at the same time backing up the same VMs. I get the error "Failed to delete VSS snapshot. It's in use by job 'job name'". Our strategy has always been to send one backup off-site to a Data Domain device and send another to a local NAS for faster recovery. This stopped working now that we can't run the jobs at the same time (if we stagger the jobs we can't fit them in our backup window).

I opened a support case (Case # 00699854 ) and was told that this is by design with v8 and storage snapshots. I would have thought the storage snapshot technology would have been less likely to have a concurrent job conflict because the VSS snapshot is open for a much shorter time. Can someone help me better understand this?

I am guessing that someone will recommend that I use a backup copy job instead of the strategy above. I would love to go this route but from previous testing, the transform operations take too long on my DD690. I also like the idea of having two separate backup jobs running for additional redundancy.

[chrisdearden]

Have you got boost licencing for your DD690 ?

[ckbrou]

Sadly I don't have a boost license and its not in the budget.

[foggy]

I've checked with R&D and confirmed that the snapshot is currently kept during the entire job execution, primarily with the purpose of logs truncation. However, even if logs truncation is disabled, the snapshot is not released. This will probably be addressed in one of the next updates.

[ckbrou]

So the VSS snapshot is held open for the whole job and not just the backup of each VM within that job? Why would that be helpful for log truncation?

[foggy]

My previous response sounds a bit confusing. If logs truncation is disabled, yes, the snapshot is held open for the entire job duration. If it is enabled, the snapshot is released upon logs truncation.

[ckbrou]

Thanks for the update. I will install Patch #1 and report back with whether or not it helps.