DPM 2012 R2–System State Backup (BMR) of Windows Server 2012 R2 fails with error “Replica is inconsistent”

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Scenario:
Failover Cluster with a bunch of clustered Hyper-V virtual machines residing on a CSV. Data Protection Manager (DPM) 2012 R2 with UR8 installed. Configured a “Protection Group 1” with all hosts in the cluster + System State and Bare Metal Recovery Option:

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Problem:System State
/ Bare Metal Recovery (BMR) is shown as inconsistent within DPM console.
Status:    Replica is inconsistent

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Troubleshooting:Eventlog
says: “The replica of Non VSS Datasource Writer on host3.cos.local is inconsistent with the protected data source. All protection activities for data source will fail until the replica is synchronized with consistency check. (ID: 3106)
DPM failed to create the backup. If you are backing up only System State, verify if there is enough free space on the protected computer to store the System State backup. On protected computers running Windows Server2008, verify that Windows Server Backup (WSB) is installed and that it is not performing any other backup or recovery task. (ID: 30214)”

seen also:
https://www.tech-coffee.net/replica-is-inconsistent-in-dpm-2012r2/
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc161593.aspx

Solution:
Install Windows Server Backup feature on host3 (Server to be backed up) and run “Perform consistency check” afterwards

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Then the verification process takes longer now and in the end you should get the ok:

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It seems that Windows Server Backup feature is lousy documented a software / Feature requirement for Data Protection Manager 2012 R2 for System State / Bare Metal Recovery Replicas of Windows Server 2012 R2

Hopefully this blog post helps you save some time.