AOFO Problems on Several Servers

[m1ke69]

Hi,

I have a fresh installation of Backup Exec 10d, which is patched to SP3 and remote agent/AOFO rolled out to approx six servers. There is one backup job for all servers, which varies between system to include folder, database and system state backups. On the first run of the backup job, I got the following errors on all servers:


Backup- SERVERNAME
AOFO: Initialization failure on: "C:". Advanced Open File Option used: Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS).
Snapshot provider error (0xE0008524): Unable to initialize the snapshot because the Advanced Open File Option (AOFO) is not installed on the target computer. You must install this option, restart the computer, and then run the job again.

Backup- \\SERVERNAME\C: System
AOFO: Initialization failure on: "Shadow?Copy?Components". Advanced Open File Option used: Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS).
Snapshot provider error (0xE0008524): Unable to initialize the snapshot because the Advanced Open File Option (AOFO) is not installed on the target computer. You must install this option, restart the computer, and then run the job again.


Backup Exec took me to a support document to try and get the problem resolved (

http://seer.support.veritas.com/docs/277257.htm)

and suggested that I change the AOFO option to "VERITAS Volume Snapshot Provider" instead of the "Automatically select open file technology". The backup job was then run again that night and the next day, it came up with the following errors:

Backup- SERVERNAME
AOFO: Initialization failure on: "C:". Advanced Open File Option used: Symantec Volume Snapshot Provider (VSP).
Snapshot provider error (0xE0008500): The Advanced Open File Option (AOFO) is not installed on the target computer. You must install this option, restart the computer, and then run the job again.

Backup- \\SERVERNAME\C: System
AOFO: Initialization failure on: "Shadow?Copy?Components". Advanced Open File Option used: Symantec Volume Snapshot Provider (VSP).
Snapshot provider error (0xE000851D): The backup selections for this job include Shadow Copy Components or Microsoft Exchange, which can only be snapped by the Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS). Select VSS as the snapshot provider, or select the option 'Automatically select open file technology', and then run the job again.


Then once again Backup Exec took me to a support document to resolve the issue (

http://seer.support.veritas.com/docs/280645.htm),

suggesting that I change the AOFO option back to "Automatically select open file technology".


It appears that I am going in circles with this problem and cannot find a quick and easy solution to the problem. I have also tried re-installing the remote agent and AOFO option on the servers again, but still no luck.

Can anyone advise me on solving this problem?

TIA, Mike.

 

[SnoopFrogg]

Mike,

I'm also experiencing this issue. I have two DCs with identical hardware and OS setups that are not having the problem while two others are. I'll let you know if I find a fix.

Snoop Frog

[purple]
SnoopFrogg
MCSE - Windows Server 2003
[/purple]

 

[SnoopFrogg]

Mike,

Something I found that's interesting. On the two servers that I'm backing up the Shadow Copy Components (w/o using the AOFO, mind you), the file version of the remote agent is 9.1.4691. On the servers that are failing, the file version is 10.0.5520. Looks like the newer version breaks the backup.

[purple]
SnoopFrogg
MCSE - Windows Server 2003
[/purple]

 

[SnoopFrogg]

After running about 20 test backups of the Shadow Copy Components, I decided to try a different set of credentials and the backup worked. I had to use domain admin credentials so I imagine these two servers are locked down tighter than the other two.

Obviously the ideal fix is to give the backup account permission to backup Shadow Copy Components.

[purple]
SnoopFrogg
MCSE - Windows Server 2003
[/purple]

 

[m1ke69]

Thanks for the info SnoopFrogg. My jobs already make use of the domain admin login, so im not sure where I should go from here.

Will do some experimenting of my own and report back!

Mike

 

[m1ke69]

OK, so its still not working... I have tried various jobs with different logon credentials and also tested them, which confirmed to be fine.

However, im still experiencing the problems and its really starting to bug me. Really not sure where to go from here...


Mike