Host-based backup of VMware vSphere VMs.
Post Reply
AlexD
Influencer
Posts: 16
Liked: never
Joined: Jul 16, 2013 1:09 pm
Full Name: Alex Dunlop
Contact:

SureBackup VM not booting properly

Post by AlexD »

Hi all.
Just wanted to check with people here for a solution to my problem before I go to support (im trying not to go to support just yet as they are already dealing with a virtual lab internet access problem)

I hav set up a sure backup to check all the vms on the network.
In the apllication group I have the two DC servers and it is linked to the nightly backup (which contains all vms)
The majority of the VMs pass. I think i have figured out why some of the vms fail, but there is one VM that refused to boot.
It is our main file server. One of its drives has been excluded from the backup which caused the file server to fail in SureBackup becasue it couldnt connect to the drive so in the sure backup I ticked the "Remove Excluded disks from VM configuration" but now the backed up vm wont boot.

I have ran a file restore Job and the C: drive and D: drive were there and file restore was possible (the production server has C,D and F drives. The F drive was excluded from the backup).
I have opened the console to see what the problem is and noticed the VM wasnt getting to the login screen. The majority of the time it was blank but every now and then the Microsoft Corporation load bar will appear (if you know the one I mean)

Does anyone have any advice on what settings I should check on the production or in the backup settings? Or should I just contact the support person dealing with my Virtual Lab Internet Access problem?

Hope I have made things clear

Thanks in advance
Alex
Vitaliy S.
VP, Product Management
Posts: 27055
Liked: 2710 times
Joined: Mar 30, 2009 9:13 am
Full Name: Vitaliy Safarov
Contact:

Re: SureBackup VM not booting properly

Post by Vitaliy S. »

Hello Alex,

Do all restore points have the same behavior? Have you tried to run an Instant VM recovery for this VM?

Thank you!
AlexD
Influencer
Posts: 16
Liked: never
Joined: Jul 16, 2013 1:09 pm
Full Name: Alex Dunlop
Contact:

Re: SureBackup VM not booting properly

Post by AlexD »

Hi,
None of the restore points have worked.
I have not tried an instant restore for the VM, I'll give that a go.
Vitaliy S.
VP, Product Management
Posts: 27055
Liked: 2710 times
Joined: Mar 30, 2009 9:13 am
Full Name: Vitaliy Safarov
Contact:

Re: SureBackup VM not booting properly

Post by Vitaliy S. »

So this VM is failing all the time, right? Try to run an active full backup only for this VM (if possible) to see if this issue confirms or not. BTW, do you have application aware image processing enabled for this VM?
AlexD
Influencer
Posts: 16
Liked: never
Joined: Jul 16, 2013 1:09 pm
Full Name: Alex Dunlop
Contact:

Re: SureBackup VM not booting properly

Post by AlexD »

Hi
Sorry for the late reply.

I was about to do an instant restore when i read that I have to turn the original server off before booting the restored version. Is that true?

The VM has failed to start in SureBackup since I fixed the error with the excluded disk. I have application aware image processing enabled.
I would just like to add that we only have one backup job which includes all vms and templates. (I am working on getting it split up into servers, clients, templates etc.)

I havent tried an active full backup yet because the problem vm takes a while to backup and I'm worried that it will mess up the ususal backup job.

Any other advice?

Many thanks
Alex
veremin
Product Manager
Posts: 20270
Liked: 2252 times
Joined: Oct 26, 2012 3:28 pm
Full Name: Vladimir Eremin
Contact:

Re: SureBackup VM not booting properly

Post by veremin »

If you’re instantly restoring a VM into isolated environment, you can leave a production VM up and running. Otherwise, please, turn a production VM first in order to avoid conflicts. Thanks.
AlexD
Influencer
Posts: 16
Liked: never
Joined: Jul 16, 2013 1:09 pm
Full Name: Alex Dunlop
Contact:

Re: SureBackup VM not booting properly

Post by AlexD »

This is probably a silly question but what do you class as an Isolated Environment?

At the moment I have renamed the server (from FS2 to FS2-Test) and relocated it to a Virtual Lab folder located on the local drive of an Exsi host in our "dev" cluster (the original server is in the "prod" cluster.
I also unticked the "join to network" option.

Would that be classed as Isolated?
veremin
Product Manager
Posts: 20270
Liked: 2252 times
Joined: Oct 26, 2012 3:28 pm
Full Name: Vladimir Eremin
Contact:

Re: SureBackup VM not booting properly

Post by veremin »

Actually, I’ve referred to Virtual Lab.

From my perspective, the steps mentioned above should guarantee sufficient isolation. In order to guarantee network isolation you can either untick “connect to network” option or connect a VM to a Virtual Lab appliance.

Thanks.
AlexD
Influencer
Posts: 16
Liked: never
Joined: Jul 16, 2013 1:09 pm
Full Name: Alex Dunlop
Contact:

Re: SureBackup VM not booting properly

Post by AlexD »

Ok so I booted up the instant restore and it did the same thing as it does with the Sure Backups
It gets to the Microsoft Corporation Loading screen then it just sits with a blank screen.

Im guessing my best bet would be to contact support. It might take a while as I already have a support ticket open for another issue.

Thanks for your help
Alex
veremin
Product Manager
Posts: 20270
Liked: 2252 times
Joined: Oct 26, 2012 3:28 pm
Full Name: Vladimir Eremin
Contact:

Re: SureBackup VM not booting properly

Post by veremin »

As mentioned above, you might also want to confirm this behavior with a new active full backup. If you’re worried about messing around other VMs that are included in the job, you can just exclude them temporarily and, then, perform an active full backup.
Im guessing my best bet would be to contact support. It might take a while as I already have a support ticket open for another issue.
Yep, it would be the best idea, indeed, since it’s rather hard to investigate this issue without taking look at backup logs, etc.

Thanks.
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 82 guests