Troubleshooting End-User Recovery Issues

Published : September 27, 2005

Table 6.6 provides guidance for troubleshooting issues that may occur when end-users try to recover data.

Table 6.6   End-User Recovery Issues

Issue	Details
The end user cannot view previous versions of a file stored on the DPM server, but previous versions of the file stored on the file server are listed.	If Shadow Copies of Shared Folders are enabled on the protected file server, the end-user recovery client will display shadow copies that are located on the protected file server rather than the shadow copies that are located on the DPM server. Disable Shadow Copies of Shared Folders on the file server. For more information on Shadow Copies of Shared Folders in Windows Server 2003, see the white paper “Introduction to Shadow Copies of Shared Folders” (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=19622).
You cannot view previous versions of a folder by using the admin share. (For example, you protect c:\folder but you cannot view previous versions by accessing it as \\server\c$\folder.)	DPM does not support access through admin shares. To recover the folder, use the Recovery task area in DPM Administrator Console.
Nothing appears on Previous Versions tab.	No changes have been made to the file, or all the previous versions of the files that are in snapshots on the DPM server match the version on the file server. Make a change to the file and wait a full synchronization cycle, or try looking at previous versions of the directory.
Previous Versions tab not available.	To identify and resolve this issue: Verify that the Shadow Copy Client software is installed on the client computer. For instructions, see “How to install the shadow copy client software” (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=52006) in DPM Help. From either the Protection or Recovery task area in DPM Administrator Console, browse to the share and verify that shadow copies do exist for that share. If you enabled end-user recovery after protecting a share, you need to wait for the next scheduled consistency check to occur or run a manual synchronization (with or without consistency check). Run the net share command and view the shares or use the Shares item under the Computer Management console. You should see a replica share that corresponds to the file share. Replica shares are named server_share, where server is the file server name, and share is the original share name. Check the DNS settings on the DPM server and client computers and ensure that they can contact the DNS server. See “Identifying DNS Errors,” earlier in this chapter, for instructions. Verify that the client computer is a member of the same domain as the DPM server.
End-user recovery can fail on shares that have been removed and then re-added to protection groups.	DPM can fail to delete shares from replicas when the source shares, or volumes that contain the source shares, are removed from protection groups and the option to delete the replica and shadow copies is selected. If you re-add such a share to a protection group, previous versions of the data on the share will not be available for end-user recovery. To prevent this problem, before re-adding a previously protected share to a protection group on a DPM server on which end-user recovery is enabled, verify that DPM has deleted the associated share from the replica. If the associated share was not deleted, delete the share manually. To identify and delete a share from a replica: In Administrative Tools, click Computer Management. In Computer Management, expand System Tools, expand Shared Folders, and select Shares. Shares on the replica are identifiable by their folder path: Program Files\Microsoft Data Protection Manager\2006\Volumes\Replica\<file server>\<volume GUID>\ReplicaDir\<share name>. Use the volume letter and GUID to determine whether the path of a replica is still valid. Right-click the share you want to delete, and click Stop Sharing. On the confirmation prompt, click Yes.