VBR U3a and SQL Application Aware Issues

[JaxIsland7575]

I have been battling issues with SQL backups since we upgraded to U3a.

The first issue was with warnings that were resolved following https://www.veeam.com/kb2689

That then led us to a warning that says "SQL VSS Writer is missing: databases will be backup up in a crash-consistent state and transaction log processing will be skipped"

Now it appears the only solution is to have a pre-backup script that stops and starts the SQL Server VSS Writer service and the Volume Shadow Copy service. These issues are easily seen by running 'vssadmin list writers' after a failed backup and no writers will report back. Restart the volume shadow copy service and the system writers appear. Restart the SQL Server VSS writer and re-run the command, you will see the writer is now listed with no errors.

Is this a confirmed bug with U3a that has a road map to being fixed? Is there something else out there to do rather than pre-backup scripts? The support solution so far has been to install Tuesday's (8/14/18) windows updates to the guest and HV host. We are current on all other updates, and have not seen anything specific in this weeks updates to address a SQL VSS issue, so I am not hopeful that will work.

Open Case ID: 03150208

[k00laid]

I too have been seeing this since upgrading to 9.5 u3a. Simply restarting the SQLWriter service daily on my SQL servers fixes the issue, but it would be great to not have to do that.

[foggy]

Hi Ryan, I recommend you to continue tracking the writer issue down with the help of support, triggering it via pre-job script is not an elegant solution, indeed. Are there any related Windows Event log messages?

[JaxIsland7575]

Log Name: Application
Source: VSS
Date: 8/16/2018 3:46:59 AM
Event ID: 12347
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: MASPAPER1.mohawk.com
Description:
Volume Shadow Copy Service error: An internal inconsistency was detected in trying to contact shadow copy service writers. The Registry Writer failed to respond to a query from VSS. Check to see that the Event Service and Volume Shadow Copy Service are operating properly, and please check the Application event log for any other events.

Operation:
Gathering Writer Data
Executing Asynchronous Operation

[foggy]

Looks like an issue outside Veeam B&R, so taking a closer look with the help of support is recommended.