Backup Exec 10d - AOFO Problems

Question

I have a fresh installation of Backup Exec 10d, which is patched to SP3 and remote agent/AOFO rolled out to approx six servers.   There is one backup job for all servers, which varies between system to include folder, database and system state backups. On the first run of the backup job, I got the following errors on all servers:   Backup- SERVERNAME AOFO: Initialization failure on: 'C:'. Advanced Open File Option used: Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS). Snapshot provider error (0xE0008524): Unable to initialize the snapshot because the Advanced Open File Option (AOFO) is not installed on the target computer. You must install this option, restart the computer, and then run the job again. Backup- \SERVERNAME\C: System AOFO: Initialization failure on: 'Shadow?Copy?Components'. Advanced Open File Option used: Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS). Snapshot provider error (0xE0008524): Unable to initialize the snapshot because the Advanced Open File Option (AOFO) is not installed on the target computer. You must install this option, restart the computer, and then run the job again.   Backup Exec took me to a support document to try and get the problem resolved ( http://seer.support.veritas.com/docs/277257.htm) and suggested that I change the AOFO option to 'VERITAS Volume Snapshot Provider' instead of the 'Automatically select open file technology'.   The backup job was then run again that night and the next day, it came up with the following errors: Backup- SERVERNAME AOFO: Initialization failure on: 'C:'. Advanced Open File Option used: Symantec Volume Snapshot Provider (VSP). Snapshot provider error (0xE0008500): The Advanced Open File Option (AOFO) is not installed on the target computer. You must install this option, restart the computer, and then run the job again.   Backup- \SERVERNAME\C: System AOFO: Initialization failure on: 'Shadow?Copy?Components'. Advanced Open File Option used: Symantec Volume Snapshot Provider (VSP). Snapshot provider error (0xE000851D): The backup selections for this job include Shadow Copy Components or Microsoft Exchange, which can only be snapped by the Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS). Select VSS as the snapshot provider, or select the option 'Automatically select open file technology', and then run the job again.   Then once again Backup Exec took me to a support document to resolve the issue ( http://seer.support.veritas.com/docs/280645.htm), suggesting that I change the AOFO option back to 'Automatically select open file technology'.     It appears that I am going in circles with this problem and cannot find a quick and easy solution to the problem.   I have also tried re-installing the remote agent and AOFO option on the servers again, but still no luck. Can anyone advise me on solving this problem? TIA, Mike.

msgale · Answer

Skip the knowledge base and call Symantec/Veritas support.  PS Current version is 11D/11.1, you may wish to consider updating to it.

dimen8100 · Answer

Thanks for the advice, however I would prefer to try and get it working without upgrading to the latest version, due to the expense for very little additional benefit.   I'd also rather not contact Symantec and pay for support, when their knowledge base should be adequate (not in this case) and if not support from online forums.   Mike

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