Server 2016 No Volume is Eligible for Shadow Copies

Question

My new backup software (BackupAssist ER) uses VSS for their backups. The backup worked on my 2019 server, but not my two 2016 servers. Every backup I run errors out while performing a VSS snapshot. Event Viewer shows VSS error event id 12289 and 12293. I'm currently working with their tech support, but I'm wondering the issue is with Windows instead of them. I tried Windows Server Backup itself and got a catastrophic error. 12289 and 12293 showed up again. When I right click on the drive and choose Configure Shadow Copies, nothing comes up. "No volume is eligible for shadow copies."

The solutions I've found in other forums haven't applied to my servers. VSS service is running. There's no .bak profile in the registry. I've given Network Service full control to the VSS group. Vssadmin commands don't show any errors either. They list everything as stable.

I've been going at this all week and have only been able to fix a few minor things attributing to it. Has anyone else experienced/fixed this with Server 2016?

Answer 1

I ended up finding a fix. This is a different software, but solution 2 worked.

https://www.veritas.com/support/en_US/article.100046128

A registry key was altered when BackupAssist was installed. I edited it back to what the article shows, and now the no eligible volume error is gone. My 2016 server can make shadow copies again.

Answer 2

Hi,

Thanks for your posting!

Based on your descriptions, I suppose the issue is more related with BackupAssist ER, your third-party tool. Event id 12289 may occur if the third party backup application is used and id 12293 occurs when:

-There was an Error calling a routing from a Shadow Copy Provider.
-The GUID for the Shadow Copy Provider is the StorageCraft Providers GUID. This can be checked with the following command in an admin command prompt: vssadmin list providers
-The error happened during the calling of the “Commit Snapshots” routine.
-The error received was 0x80070079 – Google and Microsoft will confirm that this is a Semaphore Timeout.

Here is an article that can help you better understand id 12293:

https://support.storagecraft.com/s/article/VSS-Errors-12293-and-12298-What-does-it-all-mean?language=en_US

(Please note: Information posted in the given link is hosted by a third party. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy and effectiveness of information.)

This failure in calling a routing from a Shadow Copy Provider could be caused if the third-party tool you are currently using does not support SMB 3 protocol used in windows Server 2016. So id 12293 can be also related with the third-party tool. In addition, your error message: "No Volume is Eligible for Shadow Copies" is exactly the error message which will pop up if you have imcompatible issue between Microsoft and your third-party backup tool.

So, for one thing, keep waiting for the supporters from the third-party vendor. For another, just do a test:

1. Try to backup to local drive to see if it is the backup function issue.
2. Try to create another Windows 2016 to see if issue could be reproduced when backing up to the third-party tool.

If 1 works fine and 2 is ture, try to contact device manufacturer to see if there is such a limitation (that it does not support SMB3 protocol).

Finally, here is an article sharing a similar issue with yours, although their versions are not server 2016, the environment should be similar:

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/WINDOWS/en-US/1b926c85-b866-464b-9590-70506ba9d8ce/vss-issue-event-id-22-12289-12293-error-0x8004230f-failed-to-retrieve-volumes-that-are-eligible?forum=windowsbackup

Thanks for your understanding and support!

BR,
Joan

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