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Hello,
Just wondering if anyone could help with an SCCM backup issue i am having. I am trying to use the inbuilt tools to backup a primary site. When i run the backup it comes up with the following errors -
Error: SMS Writer service either does not exist or is not running .
I see a lot on the web on how to trouble shoot but nothing is working for me. Looking at the sms writer log, when the backup runs the following error occurs -
D:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\CD.Latest is not readable.
Error: Failed to include D:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\CD.Latest into the metadata.
I can confirm the server has full access to the cd.latest folder. I have removed my antivirus on the server to see if it was locking it, but it is still present.
Any help would be appreciated.
Can you post something more from the log? What you shared is not enough to troubleshoot. Post like 10-15 rows before and after the error.
SMSbkup.log
LogEvent(): Successfully logged Event to NT Event Log. (4 - 48 - 1,073,746,879) SMS_SITE_BACKUP 18/01/2021 02:15:34 3504 (0x0DB0)
Starting VSS initialization... SMS_SITE_BACKUP 18/01/2021 02:15:34 3504 (0x0DB0)
Starting Asynchronous GatherWriterMetadata. SMS_SITE_BACKUP 18/01/2021 02:15:34 3504 (0x0DB0)
Number of writers that responded: 12. SMS_SITE_BACKUP 18/01/2021 02:15:36 3504 (0x0DB0)
Error: SMS Writer service either does not exist or is not running . SMS_SITE_BACKUP 18/01/2021 02:15:36 3504 (0x0DB0)
Hi Rahul,
Posted the output from backup log. I am new to q&a so struggling with the 1000 character limit. Not sure if there is a way to do attachments?
smswriter.log -
CD.Latest is not readable. SMS_SITE_VSS_WRITER 18/01/2021 02:15:34 2324 (0x0914)
NUMATTRS=0 LE=0X0 SMS_SITE_VSS_WRITER 18/01/2021 02:15:34 2324 (0x0914)
Error: Failed to include D:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\CD.Latest into the metadata. SMS_SITE_VSS_WRITER 18/01/2021 02:15:34 2324 (0x0914)
Successfully included \server.domain.LOCAL\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\SMS - D:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\BackupTemp\SMSbkSiteRegSMS.dat into the metadata. SMS_SITE_VSS_WRITER 18/01/2021 02:15:34 2324 (0x0914)
Building meta data failed. SMS_SITE_VSS_WRITER 18/01/2021 02:15:34 2324 (0x0914)
Hi,
Thanks for sharing the log. Do you have anything else installed on the server that may be interfering with the site backup like Symantec net backup or something? You can run vssadmin list providers to list down the providers.
Hi Rahul
We do have backup exec installed. I see some articles relating to netbackup and vss writers. I have been through them and can confirm the VSS writers all appear to be healthy. I have also switched off using VSS snapshots for backup exec.
Thanks
When we run maintenance tasks to back up the site, please make sure:
Have we checked the Smsbkup.log located on C:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\Logs? Some back up details should be recorded in it.
For more details, please refer to this back up article:
how-to-backup-sccm-2012-r2-server
Note: This is non-official Microsoft article just for your reference.
Have a good day!
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Hi Fiona,
Thanks for the info. SMS writer is working correctly and permissions setup as per your guidance. Computer account is full admin on server and can write to the local drive for backups.
Thanks
Thank you for the reply.
For the error " SMS Writer service either does not exist or is not running", please try to restart the SMS_SITE_VSS_WRITER service.
And then, please check if the smsbkup.ctl file was missing from the inboxes\smsbkup.box.
Have a good day!
Hi Fiona-Yan,
Tried restarting a few times. Also the server has been rebooted aswell. Inboxes does contain smsbkup.box and file within it smsbkup.ctl
Thanks
Thank you for the reply.
For the "CD.Latest is not readable", please try to use the process monitor to track the backup process for more details.
Here is an article about process monitor:
https://support.sophos.com/support/s/article/KB-000034769?language=en_US
Note: This is non-official article just for your reference.
Have a nice day!
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@Ross Mcleod @Rahul Jindal [MVP] @Fiona Yan-MSFT
Good Morning,
Not an answer just wanted to add more as the below exceeds the character count for a comment..... Has anyone found an answer to this issue?
I have found that I'm having the same issue.
Running version 2111
Site Version 5.0.9068.1000
The backups have been working fine and the error started about week after updating the 2111. If i try to manually kick of the backup it still fails however if i reboot the site server, and run it manulally again, it will . and the autobackup will work a few times but then fail again with the same issue.
I have read that it failing on cd.latest could be cause of the autorun.inf but that has been added to the AV exclusions.
The errors flow like the below.
Error: Failed to backup \\?\GLOBALROOT\Device\HarddiskVolumeShadowCopy2\CM_FSC\install.map up to \\data.DOMAIN.org\shared\SCCM_DB_BACKUPS\CM_FSC_BACKUP\FSCBackup\SiteServer\SMSServer: ERROR: CopyFile to \\data.DOMAIN.org\shared\SCCM_DB_BACKUPS\CM_FSC_BACKUP\FSCBackup\SiteServer\SMSServer failed: [error code: 5, error message: Access is denied.].
Error: Failed to backup \\?\GLOBALROOT\Device\HarddiskVolumeShadowCopy2\CM_FSC\CD.LATEST up to \\data.DOMAIN.org\shared\SCCM_DB_BACKUPS\CM_FSC_BACKUP\FSCBackup\CD.Latest: CTool::TreeCopy to \\data.DOMAIN.org\shared\SCCM_DB_BACKUPS\CM_FSC_BACKUP\FSCBackup\CD.Latest failed: A directory cannot be copied to itself..
WARNING: SMS backup failed for atleast one component. Error message - ERROR: CopyFile to \\data.DOMAIN.org\shared\SCCM_DB_BACKUPS\CM_FSC_BACKUP\FSCBackup\SiteServer failed: [error code: 5, error message: Access is denied.]
STATMSG: ID=5060 SEV=E LEV=M SOURCE="SMS Server" COMP="SMS_SITE_BACKUP" SYS=CM-PS.DOMAIN.ORG SITE=FSC PID=7084 TID=4548 GMTDATE=Fri Feb 11 12:45:05.887 2022 ISTR0="WARNING: SMS backup failed for atleast one component. Error message - ERROR: CopyFile to \\data.DOMAIN.org\shared\SCCM_DB_BACKUPS\CM_FSC_BACKUP\FSCBackup\SiteServer failed: [error code: 5, error message: Access is denied.]" ISTR1="" ISTR2="" ISTR3="" ISTR4="" ISTR5="" ISTR6="" ISTR7="" ISTR8="" ISTR9="" NUMATTRS=0 LE=0X0
Thoughts?
Access denied error would mean either issues with permissions, file in use or 3rd party security solutions. Since you mentioned that backups are working after a reboot, then look at other services or apps on the server that may using the volume shadow for the purpose of taking snapshots. Try procmon. Alternatively, move the backup schedule to a time where you know nothing would be running (if not already done)