IT31453: OFFLOADED BACKUP IN WINDOWS ENVIRONMENT FAILS WITH ANS5250E AN UNEXPECTED ERROR WAS ENCOUNTERED

APAR status

• Closed as program error.

Error description

• IBM Spectrum Protect Snapshot off-loaded backups in Windows
  environments may stop, even after hours of backup activity, with
   ANS5250E An unexpected error was encountered
  due to a previously failed snapshot backup where the
  transportable VSS copies were not removed.
  
  The problem impacts IBM Data Protection for Microsoft
  Exchange Server and Microsoft SQL Server environments where
  offloaded backups are being taken.
  
  dsmerror.log file will show entries like:
  ANS5250E An unexpected error was encountered.
     IBM Spectrum Protect function name : PrivObjEnumBack
     IBM Spectrum Protect function      : fioGetAttrib failed for
     <filename>
     IBM Spectrum Protect return code   : 162
     IBM Spectrum Protect file          :
     ..\..\common\winnt\psincrsubs.cpp (1318)
  ANS5280E Object enumeration from a file set or file list failed.
  ANS5250E An unexpected error was encountered.
     IBM Spectrum Protect function name : vssCloseGroups
     IBM Spectrum Protect function      : vssCloseGroups() was
     skipped for fs: '<...>', hl: '<..>', ll: '\null'
     IBM Spectrum Protect return code   : 115
     IBM Spectrum Protect file          :
     ..\..\common\winnt\vssback.cpp (2977)
  ANS5250E An unexpected error was encountered.
  
  
  Customer/Support Diagnostics:
  
  The issue is caused by the presence of multiple VSS snapshots on
  the offload machine having the same original volume name.
  The list of available snapshots on the system can be obtained
  through
  diskshadow list shadows all
  
  Spectrum Protect Versions Affected:
  IBM Spectrum Protect Backup-Archive Client for Windows
  versions 7.1.x and 8.1.x
  
  Initial Impact: Medium
  
  Additional Keywords:
  TS002480394 ANS5250E
  

Local fix

• 1. On the storage system unmap and remove any unused snapshots
  presented to the offload server
  2. On the offload server use following commands to list and
  remove VSS snapshots
  diskshadow list shadows all
  diskshadow delete shadows id <ShadowID>
  

Problem summary

• ****************************************************************
  * USERS AFFECTED:                                              *
  * IBM Spectrum Protect backup-archive client versions 8.1.7,   *
  * 8.1.8, 8.1.9 and 8.1.10 running on all Windows platforms.    *
  ****************************************************************
  * PROBLEM DESCRIPTION:                                         *
  * See ERROR DESCRIPTION                                        *
  ****************************************************************
  * RECOMMENDATION:                                              *
  * Apply fixing level when available.  This problem is          *
  * currently projected to be fixed in levels 8.1.11.  Note that *
  * this information is subject to change at the discretion of   *
  * IBM                                                          *
  ****************************************************************
  

Problem conclusion

• During a offloaded backup, if multiple snapshots with the same
  snapshot ID is detected a warning "ANS3019" will be present in
  the dsmerror.log.
  Note the backup operation for users of IBM Spectrum Protection
  for Databases:Data Protection for Microsoft SQL and IBM Data
  Protection for Mail:Data Protection for Microsoft Exchange may
  continue to fail until the orphaned snapshots are removed from
  the server.
  

Temporary fix

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

• dsmagent
  

Fix information

• Fixed component name

  TSM CLIENT

• Fixed component ID

  5698ISMCL

Applicable component levels