Dec. 4, 2007
MCPmag.com News
http://MCPmag.com
Tech Line: Virtual Server Backup Trouble
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IN THIS ISSUE:
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2007 SP1
- Tech Line: Virtual Server Backup Trouble
- Job of the Week: SQL/Windows System Admin (Hiram, Ohio)
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REDMOND RADIO: IT News, Dec. 3
This week: MCP program adds new benefits; Exchange Server
2007 SP1
released; Google bids for wireless spectrum; Bill Lavelle
with
Insightix on network access control.
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TECH LINE: Virtual Server Backup Trouble
If your Virtual Server VM backups are failing, here are a
few places
to look for the cause.
By Chris Wolf
Chris: My team and I are having a bit of trouble reaching
the highly
valuable ability to back up live machines as you've
described in this
article: http://tinyurl.com/2bpmn2 . When we run the script, this is
what logs to the event viewer and why it is taking the
machine
offline temporarily:
Event Type: Error
Event Source: Virtual Server
Event Category: Vss Writer
Event ID: 1029
Description: The VSS writer failed to get the properties of
the virtual machine vm1, since the operation did not
complete in maximum allowed time. The virtual machine
is allowed for Offline backup only. Check if the virtual
machine vm1 is running and then retry the operation, if
needed to be back online.
Another odd thing -- not sure if it is related -- but for
some reason
our machines .vmc files say they are Virtual PC 2004 files:
Event Type: Warning
Event Source: Virtual Server
Event Category: Virtual Machine
Event ID: 1069
Description: The "Virtual Hardware Standard"
(Virtual PC
2004) in the configuration .vmc file for "vm1" was
not
created by Virtual Server. "vm1" can start, but
some
settings may be changed and some settings may not
be used.
Any ideas?
--Jeremy
/-----------------------------------------------------------
---
GOT A WINDOWS, EXCHANGE OR VIRTUALIZATION QUESTION OR
NEED
TROUBLESHOOTING HELP? Or, perhaps you're looking for a
better explanation than what's provided in the manuals or
a
TechNet article? Describe your dilemma in an e-mail to
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MCPmag.com editors at editormcpmag.com; the best
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get answered in this column by our experts and the
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-----------------------------------------------------------
---/
After working with Jeremy, we were able to quickly determine
that his
two problems were related. Virtual Server was unable to
confirm the
VM additions or guest OS status and, in turn, was suspending
the VM
in order to grab a clean backup. That behavior is consistent
with
any VM that does not have the VM additions installed or any
VM
whose guest OS doesn't support VSS.
To solve the problem, Jeremy had to login to Virtual Server,
create
a new VM and add the old VM's disk to the new VM as an
existing disk.
That action created a new .vmc file that is fully compatible
with
VS 2005 R2. Once the VM booted, Jeremy then needed to
install the
latest VM additions to solve the problem.
I performed a similar test in my lab after importing a .vhd
file
from a Virtual PC 2007 VM. After importing the VM, the first
time I
tried to run the backup I received an error:
1093 -- Virtual Machine Additions on "W2K3-vpc" is
out
of date. Please update to the latest version of Virtual
Machine Additions.
Once I updated the additions, I reran the backup and it
completed
successfully without suspending the VM.
Since publishing a script on backing up live Virtual Server
VMs
http://redmondmag.com/columns/article.asp?EditorialsI
D=2324 , I have
received a number of e-mails on Virtual Server backup
troubleshooting.
A few readers had run into problems with Virtual Server
backup;
thankfully, none so far have been related to my script.
Here are a few more tips to troubleshoot failed live Virtual
Server
VM backups:
* Go to the event viewer and look at the Virtual Server
event log. Look for any major or critical errors that
appear. The error should help you narrow down the
cause of the problem. For example, having older VM
additions installed will generate an error message.
* If you use the vsbackup.vbs script, it will create a
file named CreateVSS.cmd in the folder where the
script is stored. Go to the command prompt and run
the CreateVSS.cmd. That will allow you to validate
that the snapshot is created successfully and if an
error occurs when the snapshot is created, you'll
see it. If the snapshot is created, you will be
able to navigate to the X drive and see its
contents.
* If you are backing up VMs using a third-party backup
agent, ensure that the backup product supports
VS Writer. Your backup vendor should be able to
tell you whether or not VS Writer is supported.
* VSS snapshots occur at the volume level, so if
select VMs are suspending during the snapshot
process, that likely means that either the VM guest
operating systems do not support VSS or they don't
have the latest VM additions installed. VMs that
support VSS should be stored on a volume separate
from VMs that do not support VSS.
Hopefully these tips will help you to resolve any Virtual
Server backup
issues that you encounter. If I missed an error that you
encountered,
please post your solution as a comment to this article.
Comment: http://mcpmag.com/columns/article.asp?editorialsid=2
401#post
Chris Wolf, MCSE, MCT, CCNA, is a Microsoft MVP for
Windows-
Virtual Machine. As a senior analyst for Burton Group,
virtualization solutions, high availability, storage and
enterprise management. He's the author of
"Virtualization: From
the Desktop to the Enterprise" (Apress, http://tinyurl.com/cgu7n
),
"Troubleshooting Microsoft Technologies" (Addison
Wesley,
http://tinyurl.com/byr4t
), and a contributor to the "Windows
Server 2003 Deployment Kit" (Microsoft Press,
http://tinyurl.com/e4pja
). chrischriswolf.com
NOTE: Check out Chris Wolf's new virtualization column on
Redmond Magazine's Web site:
http://redmondmag.com/columns/article.asp?EditorialsI
D=2324
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