VSS issue on SBS 2008

**tct14** · 05-01-2010

I am using Backup Exex 12.5 on SBS 2008. For 6+ months my backups have been running fine, but last week they began failing with the following:

Backup- SBS2008 - AOFO: Initialization failure on: "\\SBS2008\Microsoft Information Store\First Storage Group". Advanced Open File Option used: Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS).

V-79-10000-11226 - VSS Snapshot error. The Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) snapshot provider selected returned: "Unexpected provider error". Ensure that all provider services are enabled and can be started. Check the Windows Event Viewer for details.

I have been working with Symantec on the issue, but they told me it was a Microsoft issue. They did suggest that I install Windows Server 2008 SP2 to re-register all dll's, which I did, but that did not resolve the issue. I have checked that all of the services are enabled (Volume Shadow Copy, Symantec SymSnap VSS Provider, Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider, and some others they had me check).

I also receive the following errors in the system event logs:

Log Name: Application
Source: VSS
Date: 1/5/2010 7:07:45 AM
Event ID: 12292
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: SBS2008.McClymond.local
Description:
Volume Shadow Copy Service error: Error creating the Shadow Copy Provider COM class with CLSID {790f2886-9889-4c99-8ef5-531add05d044} [0x8007007e].

Operation:
Obtain a callable interface for this provider
Add a Volume to a Shadow Copy Set

Context:
Provider ID: {262b716e-bb23-41b5-aaef-e2c15e767167}
Class ID: {790f2886-9889-4c99-8ef5-531add05d044}
Snapshot Context: 0
Execution Context: Coordinator
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="VSS" />
<EventID Qualifiers="0">12292</EventID>
<Level>2</Level>
<Task>0</Task>
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2010-01-05T13:07:45.000Z" />
<EventRecordID>420278</EventRecordID>
<Channel>Application</Channel>
<Computer>SBS2008.McClymond.local</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data>{790f2886-9889-4c99-8ef5-531add05d044}</Data>
<Data>0x8007007e</Data>
<Data>

Operation:
Obtain a callable interface for this provider
Add a Volume to a Shadow Copy Set

Context:
Provider ID: {262b716e-bb23-41b5-aaef-e2c15e767167}
Class ID: {790f2886-9889-4c99-8ef5-531add05d044}
Snapshot Context: 0
Execution Context: Coordinator</Data>
<Binary>2D20436F64653A20434F52534F46544330303030303038372D2043616C6C3A20434F52534F465443303030303030 36352D205049443A202030303031323833362D205449443A202030303031323731322D20434D443A2020433A5C57696E646F 77735C73797374656D33325C76737376632E6578652020202D20557365723A204E5420415554484F524954595C5359535445 4D20202020202D205369643A2020532D312D352D3138</Binary>
</EventData>
</Event>

and

Log Name: Application
Source: VSS
Date: 1/5/2010 7:07:45 AM
Event ID: 13
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: SBS2008.McClymond.local
Description:
Volume Shadow Copy Service information: The COM Server with CLSID {790f2886-9889-4c99-8ef5-531add05d044} and name SW_PROV cannot be started. [0x8007007e]

Operation:
Obtain a callable interface for this provider
Add a Volume to a Shadow Copy Set

Context:
Provider ID: {262b716e-bb23-41b5-aaef-e2c15e767167}
Class ID: {790f2886-9889-4c99-8ef5-531add05d044}
Snapshot Context: 0
Execution Context: Coordinator
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="VSS" />
<EventID Qualifiers="0">13</EventID>
<Level>2</Level>
<Task>0</Task>
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2010-01-05T13:07:45.000Z" />
<EventRecordID>420277</EventRecordID>
<Channel>Application</Channel>
<Computer>SBS2008.McClymond.local</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data>{790f2886-9889-4c99-8ef5-531add05d044}</Data>
<Data>SW_PROV</Data>
<Data>0x8007007e</Data>
<Data>

Operation:
Obtain a callable interface for this provider
Add a Volume to a Shadow Copy Set

Context:
Provider ID: {262b716e-bb23-41b5-aaef-e2c15e767167}
Class ID: {790f2886-9889-4c99-8ef5-531add05d044}
Snapshot Context: 0
Execution Context: Coordinator</Data>
<Binary>2D20436F64653A20434F52534F46544330303030303038302D2043616C6C3A20434F52534F465443303030303030 36352D205049443A202030303031323833362D205449443A202030303031323731322D20434D443A2020433A5C57696E646F 77735C73797374656D33325C76737376632E6578652020202D20557365723A204E5420415554484F524954595C5359535445 4D20202020202D205369643A2020532D312D352D3138</Binary>
</EventData>
</Event>

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

**Patton** · 07-01-2010

You will need to register the VSS writer dlls. Or else the issue with common. That can be done through a bat file. It can be a slow process but it is really going to help you and offer you a proper way of fixing the issue. You can use the following in bat file:

Code:

net stop "System Event Notification Service"
net stop "COM+ Event System"
net stop "Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider"
net stop "Volume Shadow Copy"
cd /d %windir%\system32
net stop vss
net stop swprv
regsvr32 /s ole32.dll
regsvr32 /s oleaut32.dll
regsvr32 /s vss_ps.dll
vssvc /register
regsvr32 /s /i swprv.dll
regsvr32 /s /i eventcls.dll
regsvr32 /s es.dll
regsvr32 /s stdprov.dll
regsvr32 /s vssui.dll
regsvr32 /s msxml3.dll
net start "System Event Notification Service"
net start "COM+ Event System"
net start "Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider"
net start "Volume Shadow Copy"

Run this bat file in your server and then check back.

**tct14** · 18-01-2010

Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery was previously installed. It looks like it was not completely uninstalled. Symantec did provide me a batch file to completely uninstall System Recovery, which I ran. The backup jobs began completing successfully, but the VSS errors continued to appear in the event logs. After 4 days of sucessful backups, the jobs have began failing again with various errors.

Tonight I am going to take Larry's suggestion and register the VSS dlls and restart the server.

There is a Symantec VSS provider, but Symantec support told me this was used by BE 12.5.

Provider name: 'Symantec Software VSS Provider'
Provider type: Software
Provider Id: {262b716e-bb23-41b5-aaef-e2c15e767167}
Version: 1.0

Provider name: 'Microsoft Software Shadow Copy provider 1.0'
Provider type: System
Provider Id: {b5946137-7b9f-4925-af80-51abd60b20d5}
Version: 1.0.0.7

After finally being escalated to a Senior Support Engineer at Symantec, I was told:

If the Symantec provider is still listed you should be able to delete it from the Providers list in the registry. Just delete the whole GUID for which ever one is for the Symantec Provider, usually "262b716e-bb23-41b5-aaef-e2c15e767167", just make sure to export a copy before hand to be safe.

So apparently the Symantec VSS provider is only used by System Recovery and not Backup Exec. After I did this, all VSS errors stopped and my backup jobs are working again.

Thanks for your help.