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Xsibackup only backing up some files

2016-09-05
2016-09-08
  • Andy Lawton

    Andy Lawton - 2016-09-05

    I have Xsibackup running, but I am finding that it is only partially backing up some VM's. Here is my xsibackup-cron entry:

    /vmfs/volumes/NetDatastore/M3/xsibackup --time="Sun 18:00" --backup-point=/vmfs/volumes/NetDatastore/M3 --backup-type=running --backup-room=300 --date-dir=yes

    The log file shows it has found all the VM's and startes on the first one:

    [0;36mThe backup room has been limited to 300 gb.
    Getting list of all VMs...
    6 M3 System Manager [Mill3Datastore]
    M3 System Manager/M3 System Manager.vmx windows9Guest vmx-11 VNC port 5903
    7 M3 LogiCAD PC [Mill3Datastore] M3 LogiCAD PC/M3 LogiCAD PC.vmx win2000ProGuest vmx-07 VNC Port 5901
    8 M3 Engineers PC [Mill3Datastore] M3 Engineers PC/M3 Engineers PC.vmx windows9Guest vmx-11 VNC Port 5900
    9 M3 Operator PC [Mill3Datastore] M3 Operator PC/M3 Operator PC.vmx windows9Guest vmx-11 VNC Port 5902
    VMs to backup:
    6 M3 System Manager [Mill3Datastore] M3 System Manager/M3 System Manager.vmx windows9Guest vmx-11 VNC port 5903
    7 M3 LogiCAD PC [Mill3Datastore] M3 LogiCAD PC/M3 LogiCAD PC.vmx win2000ProGuest vmx-07 VNC Port 5901
    8 M3 Engineers PC [Mill3Datastore] M3 Engineers PC/M3 Engineers PC.vmx windows9Guest vmx-11 VNC Port 5900
    9 M3 Operator PC [Mill3Datastore] M3 Operator PC/M3 Operator PC.vmx windows9Guest vmx-11 VNC Port 5902
    Needed room: 127 Gb.
    Available room: 146 Gb.
    Hot backup selected for VM: [M3 System Manager], will not be switched off
    VMWare Tools detected, the system will be quiesced
    Hot backup selected for VM: [M3 LogiCAD PC]
    , will not be switched off
    VMWare Tools detected, the system will be quiesced
    Destination disk format: VMFS thin-provisioned
    Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/577fc1de-1880ce2f-7bdc-3417ebf154f7/M3 LogiCAD PC/M3 LogiCAD PC.vmdk'...

    Clone: 10% done.
    .....
    Hot backup selected for VM: [M3 Engineers PC], will not be switched off
    VMWare Tools detected, the system will be quiesced
    Hot backup selected for VM: [M3 Operator PC]
    , will not be switched off
    VMWare Tools detected, the system will be quiesced
    PID file deleted
    Backup finished

    But as you can see, it never backed up the other VM's - it only managed one. The other VM's have had the .vmsd and the .vmx files backed up, but the vmdk files are missing.

    Do you think it has something to do with the -backup-room parameter?

     
  • 33HOPS

    33HOPS - 2016-09-05

    It doesn't look like the backup room parameter is responsible. Execute this check list:

    • Delete any previously present snapshot and consolidate the VM.
    • Check that there aren't any independent disks present, as they cannot be backed up.
    • Manually verify the VM disk layout by executing cat /path/to/your/VM/VM.vmx | grep ".vmdk". This will output a list of the disks present. in the VM.
     

    Last edit: 33HOPS 2016-09-05
  • 33HOPS

    33HOPS - 2016-09-05

    And also please offer some more details so that we can help you: XSIBackup-Free version, ESXi version, output errors, etc...

     
  • Andy Lawton

    Andy Lawton - 2016-09-05

    Using the VSphere client, I have no snapshots of any VM.
    There are no independant disks. All disks are assigned to a VM.
    Running the cat command as you suggested gives the expected list of the disks in each VM.
    An automatic backup has recently started. here is the output:

    XSIBackup PID: 863596
    Mon, 05 Sep 2016 17:00:02 +0000
    Found --backup-point at /vmfs/volumes/NetDatastore/M4
    The e-mail report will not be sent becouse of the followig reasons:
    The --mail-from string has not been set
    The --mail-to string has not been set
    The --smtp-srv string has not been set
    The --smtp-port string has not been set
    The --smtp-usr string has not been set, you need --smtp-usr if --smtp-auth is other than -none-
    The --smtp-pwd string has not been set, you need --smtp-pwd if --smtp-auth is other than -none-

    The backup room has been limited to 300 gb.
    Getting list of all VMs...
    1 M4 LogiCAD PC [Mill4Datastore]
    M4 LogiCAD PC/M4 LogiCAD PC.vmx win2000ProGuest vmx-07 VNC Port 5901
    2 M4 System Manager [Mill4Datastore] M4 System Manager/M4 System Manager.vmx windows9Guest vmx-11 VNC port 5903
    3 M4 Operator PC [Mill4Datastore] M4 Operator PC/M4 Operator PC.vmx windows9Guest vmx-11 VNC Port 5902
    4 M4 Engineers PC [Mill4Datastore] M4 Engineers PC/M4 Engineers PC.vmx windows9Guest vmx-11 VNC Port 5900
    VMs to backup:
    1 M4 LogiCAD PC [Mill4Datastore] M4 LogiCAD PC/M4 LogiCAD PC.vmx win2000ProGuest vmx-07 VNC Port 5901
    2 M4 System Manager [Mill4Datastore] M4 System Manager/M4 System Manager.vmx windows9Guest vmx-11 VNC port 5903
    3 M4 Operator PC [Mill4Datastore] M4 Operator PC/M4 Operator PC.vmx windows9Guest vmx-11 VNC Port 5902
    4 M4 Engineers PC [Mill4Datastore] M4 Engineers PC/M4 Engineers PC.vmx windows9Guest vmx-11 VNC Port 5900
    Needed room: 175 Gb.
    Available room: 232 Gb.
    Hot backup selected for VM: [M4 LogiCAD PC], will not be switched off
    VMWare Tools detected, the system will be quiesced
    Destination disk format: VMFS thin-provisioned
    Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/578909e6-fb0ad9aa-3c8e-3417ebf155b3/M4 LogiCAD PC/M4 LogiCAD PC.vmdk'...

    Clone: 10% done.
    .......etc etc
    Clone: 11% done.
    Clone: 12% done.
    Clone: 13% done.

    Clone: 99% done.
    Clone: 100% done.
    Hot backup selected for VM: [M4 System Manager], will not be switched off
    VMWare Tools detected, the system will be quiesced
    Hot backup selected for VM: [M4 Operator PC]
    , will not be switched off
    VMWare Tools detected, the system will be quiesced
    Hot backup selected for VM: [M4 Engineers PC]
    , will not be switched off
    VMWare Tools detected, the system will be quiesced
    Destination disk format: VMFS thin-provisioned
    Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/578909e6-fb0ad9aa-3c8e-3417ebf155b3/M4 Engineers PC/M4 Engineers PC.vmdk'...

    Clone: 9% done.
    Clone: 10% done.
    Clone: 11% done.
    Clone: 12% done.
    Clone: 13% done.
    Clone: 14% done.
    Clone: 15% done.
    Clone: 16% done.
    Clone: 17% done.

    As you can see, two VM's were skipped. All VM's are Windows 10. All have the latest VMWare tools. The backup appears to have left one VM (M4 Operator PC) in a state where it's using 100% CPU. Before the backup, there was no user logged on, but the VM was running. I can't log on to it now, so I'll have to reset it.

    It's quite odd, as we have this working fine on another server, but the VM's are a lot smaller on that one. The problem above appears on three other servers. They all have the same number and type of VM's, and the backup script is identical, apart from the folder on the remote NFS server that they back up to. They don't all back up at once - the backups are staggered by a day, and there is only one each week. None of the VM's are busy - they are mostly idling.

     
  • Andy Lawton

    Andy Lawton - 2016-09-06

    A bit more information. I have kicked off a backup from the command line using putty. Here is the output:

    [root@M4HYPER:/vmfs/volumes/b4472de3-b4d8f8b1/M4] ./xsibackup --backup-point=/vm
    fs/volumes/NetDatastore/M4 --backup-type=running --backup-room=300 --date-dir=ye
    s

    © XSIBACKUP-FREE 5.1.5 backup for © VMWARE ESXi Hypervisor by 33hops.com

    XSIBackup PID: 994573
    Tue, 06 Sep 2016 12:38:49 +0000
    Found --backup-point at /vmfs/volumes/NetDatastore/M4
    The e-mail report will not be sent becouse of the followig reasons:
    The --mail-from string has not been set
    The --mail-to string has not been set
    The --smtp-srv string has not been set
    The --smtp-port string has not been set
    The --smtp-usr string has not been set, you need --smtp-usr if --smtp-auth is other than -none-
    The --smtp-pwd string has not been set, you need --smtp-pwd if --smtp-auth is other than -none-

    The backup room has been limited to 300 gb.
    Getting list of all VMs...
    1 M4 LogiCAD PC [Mill4Datastore] M4 LogiCAD PC/M4 LogiCAD PC.vmx win2000ProGuest vmx-07 VNC Port 5901
    2 M4 System Manager [Mill4Datastore] M4 System Manager/M4 System Manager.vmx windows9Guest vmx-11 VNC port 5903
    3 M4 Operator PC [Mill4Datastore] M4 Operator PC/M4 Operator PC.vmx windows9Guest vmx-11 VNC Port 5902
    4 M4 Engineers PC [Mill4Datastore] M4 Engineers PC/M4 Engineers PC.vmx windows9Guest vmx-11 VNC Port 5900
    VMs to backup:
    1 M4 LogiCAD PC [Mill4Datastore] M4 LogiCAD PC/M4 LogiCAD PC.vmx win2000ProGuest vmx-07 VNC Port 5901
    2 M4 System Manager [Mill4Datastore] M4 System Manager/M4 System Manager.vmx windows9Guest vmx-11 VNC port 5903
    3 M4 Operator PC [Mill4Datastore] M4 Operator PC/M4 Operator PC.vmx windows9Guest vmx-11 VNC Port 5902
    4 M4 Engineers PC [Mill4Datastore] M4 Engineers PC/M4 Engineers PC.vmx windows9Guest vmx-11 VNC Port 5900
    Needed room: 175 Gb.
    Available room: 203 Gb.
    Hot backup selected for VM: [M4 LogiCAD PC], will not be switched off
    VMWare Tools detected, the system will be quiesced
    Destination disk format: VMFS thin-provisioned
    Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/578909e6-fb0ad9aa-3c8e-3417ebf155b3/M4 LogiCAD PC/M4 LogiCAD PC.vmdk'...
    Clone: 100% done.
    Hot backup selected for VM: [M4 System Manager], will not be switched off
    VMWare Tools detected, the system will be quiesced
    Destination disk format: VMFS thin-provisioned
    Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/578909e6-fb0ad9aa-3c8e-3417ebf155b3/M4 System Manager/M4 System Manager1.vmdk'...
    Clone: 100% done.
    Destination disk format: VMFS thin-provisioned
    Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/578909e6-fb0ad9aa-3c8e-3417ebf155b3/M4 System Manager/M4 System Manager.vmdk'...
    Clone: 100% done.
    Hot backup selected for VM: [M4 Operator PC], will not be switched off
    VMWare Tools detected, the system will be quiesced
    Hot backup selected for VM: [M4 Engineers PC], will not be switched off
    VMWare Tools detected, the system will be quiesced
    Destination disk format: VMFS thin-provisioned
    Cloning disk '/vmfs/volumes/578909e6-fb0ad9aa-3c8e-3417ebf155b3/M4 Engineers PC/M4 Engineers PC.vmdk'...
    Clone: 11% done.

    As you can see, the VM M4 Operator PC was not backed up. I looked at the system event log on this machine, and there was an error:

    "Event 8, Volsnap. The flush and hold writes operation on colume C: timed out waiting for a release write command"

    Around a minute later in the application log, "The VSS service is shutting down due to an idle timeout".

    So it would appear that the VSS service is being told to create a snapshot, but for some reason the command to release it is not being given, so it fails and times out. I'm not sure why this would be. it's certainly not because the VM is busy. It's running at about 5% utilisation, and no disk writes. The whole server is similarly loaded.

    I hope this gives a few more clues.

     
  • 33HOPS

    33HOPS - 2016-09-06

    First of all update to XSIBACKUP-FREE 6.0.7, download a key or send a Contact Form to have it sent.

    https://33hops.com/formulario-de-contacto.asp

    Once you have updated, you just have to overwite the xsibackup file, read this related posts, they will shed some light on the matter.

    https://33hops.com/xsibackup-most-common-issues.html

    Windows VSS does not seem to work well in every situation. There are a number of workarounds that you can read about here. Apart from that, we will offer the chance to disable quiescing from the argument list in future versions.

    Regards

     
  • Andy Lawton

    Andy Lawton - 2016-09-06

    Thanks for the reply. I'll install the latest version and try again. If that doesn't work, then I'll disable quiescing.

     
  • 33HOPS

    33HOPS - 2016-09-07

    That Windows quiescing feature fails more often than it should. Probably the presence of third party software (non-Microsoft) might have something to do.

     
  • Andy Lawton

    Andy Lawton - 2016-09-08

    Well I have done that thing you should never do, which is to change several things at once. I have started the Windows Virtual Disk service and set it to auto start, changed the networking of my server so that the management interface is using a separate NIC so that the NFS traffic is isolated from the VM traffic, and updated to the latest version of xsibackup. Yesterday I manually started backups on all the servers and none of them failed. I'll set off a few more today just in case, but it's looking promising.

     
  • 33HOPS

    33HOPS - 2016-09-08

    The "Windows Virtual Disk" service being turned off explains everything by itself. I took for granted you had it switched on.

     
  • Andy Lawton

    Andy Lawton - 2016-09-08

    Well no. As default it's set to manual startup. And I did several succesfull backups with the service off, but it does appear to have made a significant difference.

     

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