IC82767: EXPIRATION OF ACTIVE BACKUP VERSIONS CAN OCCUR IF WINDOWS DELETES THE VSS SNAPSHOT WHILE THE BACKUP IS RUNNING

IBM Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) Client 6.2.5 Downloads and READMEs

APAR status

• Closed as program error.

Error description

• If the VSS snapshot for a given volume is deleted during an
  incremental backup of that volume, the Backup-Archive client
  cannot process the remaining files on that volume. When this
  occurs, it can appear to the Backup-Archive client that the
  files no longer exist on the volume, so the active backup
  versions of the unprocessed files will be treated as if they
  had been deleted from the volume: the active version is
  expired (marked inactive), and older inactive versions might
  be deleted from Tivoli Storage Manager server storage if
  the management class VERDELETED setting is lower than the
  VEREXISTS setting.
  
  The problem is not very obvious, but an excessive number
  of objects in the "Total number of objects expired:" ending
  statistic might be indicative of this problem.
  
  TSM Versions Affected:
  All 6.x Windows client
  
  Customer/L2 Diagnostics (If Applicable):
  Check the Windows Application and System Event Logs for
  possible VSS related error messages that indicate why the
  snapshot was deleted. For example, one possible cause of the
  snapshot deletion is if there is insufficient space for the
  snapshot to grow.
  
  The Windows Application Event Log might contain an entry like
  this:
  
   Event Type: Error
   Event Source: VolSnap
   Event Category: None
   Event ID: 25
   Description: The shadow copies of volume were aborted because
      the diff area file could not grow in time. Consider reducing
      the IO load on this system to avoid this problem in the
      future.
  
  Initial Impact:
  Medium
  
  Additional Keywords:
  None
  

Local fix

• Review the Windows Application and System Event Logs to
  identify the cause of the deleted snapshot, and correct
  the problem accordingly.
  
  If the Application Event log contains the Event ID 25
  described above, see Microsoft KB article 925799 for
  remediation steps.
  
     http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925799
  
  If the cause is otherwise not immediately evident,
  discontinue use of Open File Support, at least for the
  affected volume, until the cause of the snapshot
  deletion is identified and resolved.
  
  To suppress Open File Support for the volume, add the
  following statement to the bottom of the Backup-Archive
  client options file (dsm.opt):
  
    INCLUDE.FS ?: SNAPSHOTPROVIDERFS=NONE
  
  Replace the question mark (?) with the drive letter of
  the affected volume (file system).
  

Problem summary

• ****************************************************************
  * USERS AFFECTED: Backup-archive clients Version 5.4 to 6.3    *
  *                 running on Microsoft Windows.                *
  ****************************************************************
  * PROBLEM DESCRIPTION: See ERROR DESCRIPTION                   *
  ****************************************************************
  * RECOMMENDATION: Apply fixing level when available. This      *
  *                 problem is currently projected to be fixed   *
  *                 in levels 6.2.5 and 6.3.1. Note that this    *
  *                 is subject to change at the discretion       *
  *                 of IBM.                                      *
  ****************************************************************
  *
  

Problem conclusion

• When the TSM client is unable to read data from a Microsoft
  Volume Shadowcopy Service (VSS) snapshot (for example, in the
  case of the error ERROR_PATH_NOT_FOUND) the backup will be
  stopped.
  

Temporary fix

• An interim fix is currently targeted for version 6.3.0.16
  and 6.2.4.6. Note that until the interim fix is actually
  available, this information is subject to change at the
  discretion of IBM.
  

Comments

APAR Information

• APAR is sysrouted FROM one or more of the following:

• APAR is sysrouted TO one or more of the following:

Modules/Macros

• DSMC
  

Fix information

• Fixed component name

  TSM CLIENT

• Fixed component ID

  5698ISMCL

Applicable component levels

• R62W PSY

     UP

• R63W PSY

     UP