NetWorker VMware Policy backup fails with Status = 'UNKNOWN

Hello Erik,

As in every troubleshooting scenario there is a need for details about the environment ( versions of every component :NW, VBA/Proxy, VC, ESX, DDOS...) and in which terms it's not working ( scheduled, manual,..., when happens, what are the recent changes if any,...). And always accompany with logs ( at least nsrget output from NW server, LogBundle, VC logs,...). My personal opinion is to use nsrlogather  ( https://support.emc.com/kb/335805 ), install it once and always run when you need to collect information for EMC support.

From the uploaded screenshot you cannot determine the exact cause. Reasons might be different ( UUID changes, time changes,...) and this should be check into the logs.

I would recommend to open a service request with EMC support and  supply all the above information when opening.

Regards,

Liliana

Hi Erik,

As mentioned by Liliana, the information is not enough. However, I guess that you have External Proxies deployed too with the VBA. When the backup is started the VBA is unable to find the proxy associated with the VMs. The reasons could be:

1. The External Proxy is not registered properly or some configuration issues. (Re-register the External Proxy)

2. The VM doesn't belong to the cluster where the External proxy has been deployed. (Check the datastore if the Proxy has the access to the VMs or not)

3. There could be credentials issues ( Using VBA configuration Utility and check the vCenter credentials)

Let me know if you need more help for this issue.

Regards,

Akshay Bhumkar

Hi Erik,

Case 1:

Yes even I have noticed the same issue but in my case whenever a vm is decommissioned we see that failure.

You can actually check from VBA about the status of VM if it was deleted.

Download Proxycp.jar file from EMC Ftp .

Copy proxycp.jar to /tmp of VBA and execute java -jar proxycp.jar --listdeletedvms

if the o/p lists the VM's as deleted then you may have to retire the VM.

Case 2:

There is a possibility of communication issue between VBA and Vcenter. I used to face this issue whenever i restarted emwebapp services.

Let me know whats the Networker version?. VBA Version and Vcenter version.

Hence case 1 and Case 2 are most frequent issues I faced.

Hi!

Case 1 is invalid since this is reported on all VMs in that policy and none are decomissioned.

Case 2 could be a source to the problem.

The following versions are being used:

NetWorker: 9.0.0.5

VBA: 1.5.0.160

vCenter: 5.5.0

Also this error only occurs when the scheduled policy backup start. If I start the policy manually the backup starts and runs successfully.

Cheers,

Erik

Hello Lilliana!

Thanks for you reply. I will create a case with EMC support aswell. I just wanted to ask if any other users out there had the same issue, which seems to be the case.

Cheers,

Erik

This just happen today. Tried regular emwebapp.sh --restart on EBR and Restarted networker services on networker.

Same thing,

Went into EBR Configure web page and re-register vcenter by modify and using same username and password

EBR: Starting vCenter Reconfiguration service

EBR: Starting vCenter Reconfiguration service

EBR: Validate vCenter credentials..

EBR: Test SSO connection..

EBR: Validate Appliance Managed By vCenter..

EBR: Validate if user has required permissions..

EBR: Determine if user is updating existing vCenter or performing new vCenter Configuration..

EBR: Updating registered vCenter configuration.

completed and backup are running again for me.

Good Luck,

Jimmy

This message is seen when the proxies are not available for backup.

Please let me know if you have any external proxies, if yes. Check if the NetWorker service (nsrexecd) is up and running or if proxy has any peer information issue. If yes, stop service on proxy machine, rename /nsr/res/nsrladb and start the service.

Command: service networker stop/start

Even then if the issue persists, download the proxycp.jar tool and check if the proxies are enabled or not.

Command: java -jar proxycp.jar --listproxy

Usage of proxycp.jar tool can be found in the support site.

Thanks,

Karthik N

Hi Erik,

If these VMs are no longer in the vCenter(deleted/decom) and VBA policy still reporting them as failed, you can probably just select the policy from EBR tab, click Edit and Finish. It should update the policy and these VMs will be removed from the rotation.

Hope that helps.