Windows 2003 Virtual server R2 sp1 and ntbackup

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jeff S.
  • Start date Start date
J

Jeff S.

On the Virtual server host I schedule NTbackups for the guests. I do not
shutdown or save the state on the virtual guests as I thought SP1 supports
this method of guest backups.

The ntbackup job backs up the folders where the *.vhd, *.vnc and *.vsv files
are located. The ntbackup jobs finish successfully, however I get the
following message in the virtual server event viewer when the ntbackup begins:

The VSS writer failed to get the properties of the virtual machine "virtual
machine name". The virtual machine is allowed for Offline backup only.

I noticed that this message only occurs for 2003 guests, the 2000 guests do
not produce this message.

Can I feel confident with these backups or should I go back to shutting down
the servers before I back them up?

Thanks Jeff
 
Hi Jeff,

Virtual Server 2003 SP1 does allow VSS backups but your backup software also
must be able to support this, and i do not beleive that NTbackup does.
Research other backup products which will allow online virtual backups, such
as Microsoft Data Protection Manager.
http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/dpm/default.mspx
...or you should shut them down to backup.

Coraleigh Miller



"Jeff S." <JeffS@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:758AE8E0-65FA-4FBC-8162-20A3A8385B17@microsoft.com...
> On the Virtual server host I schedule NTbackups for the guests. I do not
> shutdown or save the state on the virtual guests as I thought SP1 supports
> this method of guest backups.
>
> The ntbackup job backs up the folders where the *.vhd, *.vnc and *.vsv
> files
> are located. The ntbackup jobs finish successfully, however I get the
> following message in the virtual server event viewer when the ntbackup
> begins:
>
> The VSS writer failed to get the properties of the virtual machine
> "virtual
> machine name". The virtual machine is allowed for Offline backup only.
>
> I noticed that this message only occurs for 2003 guests, the 2000 guests
> do
> not produce this message.
>
> Can I feel confident with these backups or should I go back to shutting
> down
> the servers before I back them up?
>
> Thanks Jeff
 
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