IVssBackupComponents::ExposeSnapshot method (vsbackup.h)

Article
10/13/2021

The ExposeSnapshot method exposes a shadow copy as a drive letter, mounted folder, or file share.

Syntax

HRESULT ExposeSnapshot(
  [in]  VSS_ID   SnapshotId,
  [in]  VSS_PWSZ wszPathFromRoot,
  [in]  LONG     lAttributes,
  [in]  VSS_PWSZ wszExpose,
  [out] VSS_PWSZ *pwszExposed
);

Parameters

[in] SnapshotId

Shadow copy identifier.

[in] wszPathFromRoot

The path to the portion of the volume made available when exposing a shadow copy as a file share. The value of this parameter must be NULL when exposing a shadow copy locally; that is, exposing it as a drive letter or mounted folder.

The path cannot contain environment variables (for example, %MyEnv%) or wildcard characters.

There is no requirement that the path end with a backslash (""). It is up to applications that retrieve this information to check.

[in] lAttributes

Attributes of the exposed shadow copy indicating whether it is exposed locally or remotely. The value must be either the VSS_VOLSNAP_ATTR_EXPOSED_LOCALLY or the VSS_VOLSNAP_ATTR_EXPOSED_REMOTELY value of _VSS_VOLUME_SNAPSHOT_ATTRIBUTES.

[in] wszExpose

When a shadow copy is exposed as a file share, the value of this parameter is the share name. If a shadow copy is exposed by mounting it as a device, the parameter value is a drive letter followed by a colon—for example, "X:" or a mounted folder path (for example, "Y:\MountX"). If the value of this parameter is NULL, then VSS determines the share name or drive letter if the lAttributes parameter is VSS_VOLSNAP_ATTR_EXPOSED_REMOTELY.

[out] pwszExposed

The exposed name of the shadow copy. This is either a share name, a drive letter followed by a colon, or a mounted folder. The value is NULL if ExposeSnapshot failed. VSS allocates the memory for this string.

Return value

The following are the valid return codes for this method.

Value	Meaning
S_OK	The shadow copies were successfully exposed.
E_ACCESSDENIED	The caller does not have sufficient backup privileges or is not an administrator.
E_INVALIDARG	One of the parameter values is not valid.
E_OUTOFMEMORY	The caller is out of memory or other system resources.
VSS_E_BAD_STATE	The backup components object is not initialized, this method has been called during a restore operation, or this method has not been called within the correct sequence.
VSS_E_OBJECT_NOT_FOUND	The specified shadow copy does not exist.
VSS_E_PROVIDER_VETO	Expected provider error. The provider logged the error in the event log. For more information, see Event and Error Handling Under VSS.
VSS_E_UNEXPECTED	Unexpected error. The error code is logged in the error log file. For more information, see Event and Error Handling Under VSS. Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP: This value is not supported until Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7. E_UNEXPECTED is used instead.
VSS_E_UNEXPECTED_PROVIDER_ERROR	Unexpected provider error. The error code is logged in the error log. For more information, see Event and Error Handling Under VSS.

Remarks

The caller is responsible for freeing the string that the pwszExposed parameter points to by calling the CoTaskMemFree function.

When exposing a persistent shadow copy, it remains exposed through subsequent boots.

When exposing a shadow copy of a volume, the shadow copy may be treated either as a mountable device or as a file system available for file sharing.

When it is exposed as a device—as with other mountable devices—the shadow copy of a volume is exposed at its mount point (drive letter or mounted folder) starting with its root.

When exposed as a file share, subsets (indicated by wszPathFromRoot) of the volume can be shared.

For more information on how to expose shadow copies, see Exposing and Surfacing Shadow Copied Volumes.

Requirements

Requirement	Value
Minimum supported client	Windows Vista [desktop apps only]
Minimum supported server	Windows Server 2003 [desktop apps only]
Target Platform	Windows
Header	vsbackup.h (include VsBackup.h, Vss.h, VsWriter.h)
Library	VssApi.lib