Avamar: Exchange Proxy Backups Fail with 'get-mailboxdatabase' Not Recognized as Name of cmdlet"

Summary: Exchange proxy backups failing with "The term 'get-mailboxdatabase' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet"

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Symptoms

Exchange DAG backups failing with the following errors: 
2019-07-16 11:43:32 avexvss Error <0000>: The term 'get-mailboxdatabase' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again.
2019-07-16 11:43:32 avexvss Error <0000>:    at System.Management.Automation.CommandDiscovery.LookupCommandInfo(String commandName, CommandTypes commandTypes, SearchResolutionOptions searchResolutionOptions, CommandOrigin commandOrigin, ExecutionContext context)

   at System.Management.Automation.CommandDiscovery.LookupCommandProcessor(String commandName, CommandOrigin commandOrigin, Nullable`1 useLocalScope)

   at System.Management.Automation.Runspaces.Command.CreateCommandProcessor(ExecutionContext executionContext, CommandFactory commandFactory, Boolean addToHistory, CommandOrigin origin)

   at System.Management.Automation.Runspaces.LocalPipeline.CreatePipelineProcessor()

   at System.Management.Automation.Runspaces.LocalPipeline.InvokeHelper()

   at System.Management.Automation.Runspaces.LocalPipeline...
2019-07-16 11:43:32 avexvss Error <16954>: Unable to initialize Powershell interface process -- cannot continue.
2019-07-16 11:43:32 avexvss Error <13072>: Unhandled Exception in avexvss.

Cause

Avagent (Backup Agent) services are still configured with the local SYSTEM account, which does not have the necessary permissions to run Exchange PowerShell commands.

All Exchange Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) plug-in installations require an Avamarbackupuser or similar privileged account for Exchange backup and restore purposes.

Resolution

Configure Backup Agent services on all Exchange DAG nodes with Avamarbackupuser or a similar privileged account.

The Avamarbackupuser account requires the following permissions and security groups (as of Exchange 2010, 2013, and 2016 - Avamar 7.1 SP1 or later):
  • Avamar Roles
  • Exchange Trusted Subsystem
  • Domain Users
  • Exchange Servers

Some AD environments that contain parent and child domains may require the AD Group Organization Management as well.

Launch the Avamar Exchange Backup User Configuration Tool to set up the Avamarbackupuser account after the plug-in installation or create the account manually as outlined in the Installation portion of the Avamar Exchange VSS User Guide document.

Additional Information

Note: The AD Role Group Avamar Roles is automatically created when the Backup User Configuration tool is used to create and provision the Avamarbackupuser account. It can also be created manually using the following syntax in the Exchange Management Shell: 
New-RoleGroup -Name "Avamar Roles" -Roles 'Database Copies', 'Databases', 'Mail Recipient Creation', 'Mail Recipients', 'View-Only Configuration', 'View-Only Recipients', 'Disaster Recovery'

Affected Products

Avamar

Products

Avamar, Avamar Plug-in for Hyper-V VSS, PowerProtect DP4400
Article Properties
Article Number: 000048868
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 14 May 2025
Version:  4
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