ISSUE: The shadow-copy set only contains only a subset of the volumes needed (Failed to generate the backup image of MS System Backup / System State Backup)

Director of Engineering
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ISSUE: The shadow-copy set only contains only a subset of the volumes needed (Failed to generate the backup image of MS System Backup / System State Backup)

1.      Product Version:

ServosityPRO: All
OS: Windows

2.      Problem Description:

When performing a MS Windows System or System State backup, the following error message is received in the backup report:

SystemStateIssue.png


Note:
This issue may occurs for Windows Server with SharePoint Foundation 2010 Service Pack 1, or Windows SBS 2011 as SharePoint 2010 is included with this operating system.

3.      Cause:

This issue can occur if the Sharepoint patching process is incomplete. 

Updating Sharepoint 2010 is a two steps process. Without completing the second step that involves running the PSCONFIG command, backups of the server on which Sharepoint is installed will fail.


This issue may also be related to a known issue of SBS 2011.

4.      Resolution:

To confirm if the service pack update process is incomplete, please perform the following steps:

  • Confirm if the SPSearch4 VSS Writer is giving error. 

    A vssadmin list writers command will list the following vss writer as having failed:

    Writer name: 'SPSearch4 VSS Writer'
    Writer Id: {35500004-0201-0000-0000-000000000000}
    Writer Instance Id: {ffdde2b3-5175-466b-87f7-3973278c7fbe}
    State: [8] Failed
    Last error: Inconsistent shadow copy

  • Confirm if the following event can be found in the Event Viewer:

    Event Type: Error 
    Event ID: 70
    Description: 
    The mount operation for the gatherer application GUID has failed because the schema version of the search administration database is less than the minimum backwards compatibility schema version supported for this gatherer application. The database might not have been upgraded.

  • Administrator can also run the following commands to determine if you need to complete the update process with PSCONFIG:
    • Launch an administrative SharePoint 2010 management shell.
    • Type the following command:

      >(get-spserver $env:computername).NeedsUpgrade



If the result of this command is True, please complete the update process with PSCONFIG.

SharePointUpgrade.png

For instruction, please refer to the Official SBS Blog:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/sbs/archive/2011/05/24/you-must-manually-run-psconfig-after-installing-sharepoint-2010-patches.aspx



Alternatively, if the Sharepoint application is not in use, please disable all Sharepoint related services, then re-register the Volume Shadow Copy Service by following the instructions below:

  • Download the 'RegisterVSS2010.zip' file by Clicking Here
  • Extract the zip file to ${PRO-Install-Home}\bin
  • Execute the extracted script file
  • Reboot the machine


Run the vssadmin list writers command again to confirm if there is any error afterward.


On Small Business Server 2011 Standard, confirm if there are warnings in the application event log similar to the following:

Event Type: Warning
Event ID: 8230
Description:
Volume Shadow Copy Service error: Failed resolving account spsearch with status 1376. Check connection to domain controller and VssAccessControl registry key. 


Refer to the following article from Microsoft Support for resolution:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2537096

5.      Also See:

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/pl-PL/smallbusinessserver/thread/94c5f178-f020-4d0f-ba7c-11c415d0d862