Troubleshooting

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Solutions to Data Protection for VMware vSphere GUI and Data Protection for VMware command-line interface issues are provided.

Locating log files

For information about Data Protection for VMware log files, see the following topics:

Data Protection for VMware vSphere GUI backup or restore operation fails

Complete these tasks to resolve a backup or restore failure:

Log on to the system where the data mover is installed.
Start a command-line session:
- Open the Windows Start menu and select Programs > IBM Storage Protect > Backup-Archive Command Line.
- Open a terminal window.
If not already there, go to the installation directory:
```
cd C:\Program Files\IBM\StorageProtect\baclient
```
```
cd /opt/tivoli/tsm/client/ba/bin
```
By default, error log files are in the installation directory.
View these data mover log files to see if an error was generated:
- dsmerror.log: All client messages.
- dsmwebcl.log: All web client messages.
- dsmj.log: All client Oracle Java™ GUI messages.
These log files are located in the directory you specify with the DSM_LOG environment variable or in the current working directory.
If neither of these files contain an error, run a backup-archive client backup and restore operation to see if it fails.
If the data mover operations complete successfully, run a Data Protection for VMware command-line interface Backup and Restore operation. Set the appropriate trace parameters (as described in Profile parameters) so you can view any errors that might be generated.

Data Protection for VMware command-line interface backup fails with `scSignOnAsAdmin: Error 53`

In this situation, a Data Protection for VMware command-line interface backup operation failed and this error was generated to the data mover dsmerror.log:

scSignOnAsAdmin: Error 53 receiving SignOnAsAdminResp verb from server

Typically, this error results when the VMCLI node name is different from its administrator name. These two names must be the same.

Data mover nodes are not visible during a backup operation

Verify that the correct proxy node authority was granted on the IBM Storage Protect server. If the correct authority exists, then the data center mapping specified by the VE_DATACENTER_NAME profile parameter is incorrect. See Profile parameters for a complete description and correct syntax of the VE_DATACENTER_NAME parameter.

The `inquire_detail` command failed with `Return Code 53`

In this situation, the vmcli -f inquire_detail command failed and this error was generated to your log file:

ANS1033E (RC-53)  An invalid TCP/IP address was specified.

This error occurs when a node name does not match its administrator name. This issue can happen when you rename a node but do not rename its administrator. The solution is to either rename the administrator to match the new node name or register a new administrator for the new node.

The commands in these examples are issued from the IBM Storage Protect administrative command Line:

Rename the administrator at the same time you rename the node:

rename node <current_node_name> <new_node_name>
rename admin <current_admin_name> <new_node_name>

For example:

rename node DC_VC5 DC_WIN2K8_X64
rename admin DC_VC5 DC_WIN2K8_X64

As a result, the new administrator name matches the new node name.

rename node <current_node_name> <new_node_name>
register admin <new_admin_name> <password>

For example:

rename node DC_VC5 DC_WIN2K8_X64
register admin DC_WIN2K8_X64 DC_WIN2K8_X64PWD

As a result, the new administrator name matches the new node name.

Session timeout

The IBM Storage Protect server COMMTIMEOUT option affects the duration of the Data Protection for VMware session. If the processing time of the Data Protection for VMware operation exceeds this value, the server ends the session with Data Protection for VMware. Therefore, if you are sure that no error occurred during a Data Protection for VMware operation and the COMMTIMEOUT value has been reached, increase the value. Likewise, if an error occurred but Data Protection for VMware did not report the error in a timely manner, then decrease the value for better real-time reporting.

Resolving a VM guest (with application protection) backup failure

In this situation, a backup (with application protection) of a guest machine is stopped by the user. When the data mover backup process (dsmagent or dsmc) ends in this manner, the cleanup of the application protection does not take place. As a result, the next backup (with application protection) of the same guest machine can be issued only after a 10-minute interval. This interval is the length of time necessary for the process to recognize that the guest machine is not backed up.

To manually clean up application protection without waiting 10 minutes for communication to clear, complete these steps:

Log on to the guest machine with the same user ID and password that was entered when you issued the backup operation.
Open a command prompt window and issue this command:
```
echo %TEMP%
```
Go to the %TEMP% directory, then change to the TSM directory. For example:
```
C:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Local\Temp\TSM
```
Delete the BackupHeartBeat.txt file.
Back up the guest machine.

Event log contains `event ID 8194, VSS` message

After a backup of a VM guest with application protection completes, the event log contains the event ID 8194, VSS error message. This cause of this message is an incorrect security setting in the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) writer or requestor process.

To resolve this error, complete these steps:

Log on to the VM guest as an administrator and run the Microsoft dcomcnfg.exe utility in the Start > Run dialog:
```
dcomcnfg.exe
```
Click OK.
The dcomcnfg.exe utility is used to modify registry settings.
In the Component Services interface, go to Component Services > Computers. Right-click My Computer and select Properties.
In the My Computer properties panel, go to COM Security > Access Permissions: Edit Default.
In the Access Permission panel, add the Network Service account with Local Access permission set to Allow.
Apply your changes and close all open Component Services panels.
Restart the VM guest.
Back up the VM guest and verify that the event ID 8194, VSS error message is not issued to the event log.

Data Protection for VMware installation failure: deployment engine initialization

The Data Protection for VMware installation might be stopped due to a deployment engine initialization failure due to .lock files. If the deployment engine interferes with the Data Protection for VMware installation, the following error message is produced:

Deployment Engine failed to initialize.
The installer will now shutdown. Please check with the log files for a more
complete description of the failure.
PRESS ENTER TO CONTINUE:

The cause might be deployment engine .lock files that come from a concurrent installation that is running or from an installation that stopped before it completed. If another installation is running, wait until that installation finishes before you install Data Protection for VMware. If there are no other installations that are started and you encounter this problem, delete any .lock files.

Important: Do not delete any .lock files if there are other Data Protection for VMware installations running.

To delete .lock files on Windows, issue the following command:

cd C:\Program Files\IBM\Common\acsi\logs
del .lock*

To delete .lock files on Linux®, issue the following command:

cd /usr/ibm/common/acsi/logs
rm .lock*

After you remove these files, restart the installation.

Unsupported characters in VM or datacenter name

Data Protection for VMware does not support backing up VMs or datacenters that contain any of the following characters in their name:

": Double quotation mark
': Single quotation mark
:: Colon
;: Semicolon
*: Asterisk
?: Question mark
,: Comma
<: Less than sign
>: Greater than sign
/: Forward slash
\: Backward slash
|: Vertical bar

Issues encountered after changing the vCenter

After you change the vCenter in the Data Protection for VMware vSphere GUI, the following two issues might occur:

A data center that is associated with the new vCenter does not appear on the Configuration Status page.
To resolve this issue, manually set the domain for the new vCenter. See Set_domain for details about issuing this command.
In the Restore tab, an ESX host (associated with a previous data center) displays under a new data center within the new vCenter. This issue is a known limitation. There is not a workaround for this issue.

Consolidating VM backups

After a VM backup, the VM might contain preexisting snapshots even though no snapshots are present in the Snapshot Manager. For example, the VM hard disk points to snapshot VMDK files (for example *-000001.vmdk) instead of regular VMDK files. Although preexisting snapshots might be intentionally retained, Data Protection for VMware does not provide a mechanism to verify whether the VMDK points to a valid snapshot. When snapshots are not consolidated, and a VM with preexisting snapshot files is backed up, Data Protection for VMware might report an incorrect size for the backup on the IBM Storage Protect server. Snapshot consolidation also prevents other VMware related issues. As a result, consolidate your snapshots whenever this situation occurs.

To resolve this potential problem, VMware vSphere Client 5.x (or later) notifies you when a VM requires snapshot consolidation. For detailed information, see the following article: Consolidate Snapshots

For vSphere 4.1 (or earlier), no consolidation option is available. However, the equivalent task is to create a snapshot and then complete a Delete All action.

An error occurred while making the Web server request (GVM0103E)

In this situation, the Data Protection for VMware vSphere GUI shows the following error when you tried to access it:

GVM0103E: An error occurred while making the Web server request. If this error persists,
check the network connection with the Web server and verify that the Web server is running.

To prevent this error, make sure that the following conditions exist before you start the GUI:

The Data Protection for VMware vSphere GUI is installed on a system that meets the operating system prerequisites. It must have network connectivity to the following systems:
- vStorage Backup Server
- IBM Storage Protect server
- vCenter Server (Data Protection for VMware vSphere GUI)
The Data Protection for VMware vSphere GUI host URL address must be set in your Internet Explorer trusted sites zone. In the Internet Explorer menu bar, go to Tools > Internet Options > Security > Trusted sites. Click Sites and add the host URL address. Make sure to apply your changes. For example:
```
Add this website to the zone:http://myvctrmachine.xyzco.com
```

Return codes for VM backup operations

The following return codes apply to VM backup operations on Linux or Windows systems:

Table 1. Return codes for VM backup operations
Return Code	Description
0	A command to process one or more VMs completed successfully.
8	A command to process multiple VMs succeeded on only some of the VMs that were targeted by the command. Examine the log file to determine the processing status for each of the targeted VMs.
12	A command was issued to process one or more VMs. The command did not complete for any of the VMs that were targeted by the command. Examine the log file to determine possible reasons for the failure.