VSS error on servers with VSF installed
Updated: 21 May 2010 | 2 comments
A customer is trying to capture a snapshot of a physical server in order to build a virtual image. He is using a VMWare client to perform a VSS snapshot. But when using it on a server with Veritas Storage Foundation for Windows installed, an error occurs. Same action ends up with no errors if no VSF is installed on the server. Note that the VSF version installed is Basic, thus without the Flashsnap feature. Is Veritas Flashsnap needed to do a snapshot on the servers with VSF or is there a workaround to make VSS work even without the Flashsnap option installed ?
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...and here is the error
Volume Shadow Copy Service error: Unexpected error calling routine CoCreateInstance. hr = 0x80029c4a.
Volume Shadow Copy Service information: The COM Server with CLSID {faf53cc4-bd73-4e36-83f1-2b23f46e513e} and name VSSEvent cannot be started. [0x80029c4a]
Try SFW eval version with Flashsnap to see if issue is same
Error for hex 0x80029c4a TYPE_E_CANTLOADLIBRARY which isn't something we normally see with a VSS snapshot. Usually VSS errors relate to the quiesce of the server, such as a timeout waiting for an Exchange database.
VMware uses a VSS provider to quiesce the guest OS, and it can't do attached storage. So if by installing SFW you get access to SAN storage VMware VSS provider shouldn't be trying to quiese it. VMware VSS provider should be doing any applications (eg Exchange) assuming local storage for the databases.
If you used SFW with flashsnap, it will install the Veritas VSS provider, but even then you wouldn't be using that for the snapshot, that would be the VMware VSS provider.
The message is showing "VSSEvent" cannot be started so maybe we would get a different message if it could be started - ie, one relating to a quiesce, provider or maybe a writer. You may get errors in the application event log at time of the snapshot, and also there might be clues in the output of the vssadmin list writers and vssadmin list providers commands when SFW is installed.
You can try the same snapshot by using SFW evaluation version that would install Flashsnap option, this might tell us more about the problem.
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